Epiroc’s automation milestones at Agnico Eagle Mines’ Odyssey mine in Quebec, Canada, have continued with the OEM deploying its first autonomous Minetruck MT65 MKIII on the operation.
The corporate introduced the milestone at present, saying the truck would use its “deep management” system to show the situation of the truck in 3D underground. This similar deep management system will likely be retrofitted to 10 present vans at Odyssey within the coming months.
The mine has been a key companion in growing and testing the system on web site, with Epiroc asserting round a yr in the past that it had efficiently automated a Minetruck MT42 with a 2-km spiral ramp. On this state of affairs, the Minetruck MT42 autonomously trammed from the floor to underground, the place it was loaded by our a teleremote Scooptram ST18 earlier than it returns to the floor to dump its load.
Round a yr in the past, Vladimir Sysoev, International Product Supervisor – Truck Automation at Epiroc, informed IM that the subsequent stage of automation following this venture might see the MT42 vans changed with MT65s, with the top aim being an autonomous Scooptram ST18 loading these 65-t vans, which can transport the ore in autonomous mode to the floor.
It seems this feat is now near fruition following the arrival of the Minetruck MT65.
Within the March quarter, Agnico Eagle Mines stated whole improvement at Odyssey South was a file at roughly 4,377 m. Gold manufacturing was a quarterly file and consistent with goal at roughly 22,430 oz of gold pushed by larger ore mined of roughly 3,720 t/d in contrast with the goal of three,500 t/d.
“The elevated use of remote-operated and automatic gear (together with scoops, vans, jumbos and cable bolters) was the primary driver for exceeding the event and manufacturing targets within the first quarter of 2025,” it added.
