Posted by Paul Moore on twenty ninth April 2024
In its personal mine operation’s common publication Revista Antapaccay, Version 61, Peruvian copper mining firm Minera Antapaccay talks about its spectacular autonomous drill program progress. A 12 months in the past Minera Antapaccay marked a milestone each for itself and for guardian firm Glencore when its first autonomous drill rig went operational.
At the moment, it has 4 autonomous drilling rigs operating (three electrical and one diesel), demonstrating it says its dedication to the mining of the longer term. Antapaccay is utilizing the OEM-agnostic ARDVARC system from FLANDERS.
Apparently it factors out that Minera Antapaccay is likely one of the first mining corporations to implement drilling rig automation efficiently on electric-cable powered rigs. It says there are solely 9 drilling rigs on this planet which are autonomous electrical, of which 3 are in Peru at Antapaccay, 3 are in Chile and three are in Canada, although these different teams of three should not at single mining operations.
“Antapaccay is the primary operation worldwide in reaching 3 autonomous electrical drills…they can drill concurrently in the identical mission by means of a standardisation of the drilling course of with environment friendly operational self-discipline and excessive requirements of safety. Moreover, we’re the primary operation in Peru to implement autonomy in electrical drills,” highlighted Robert Copacondori, Supervisor of Organisational Transformation.
After its implementation, Antapaccay mine productiveness has elevated considerably, for the reason that drilling rigs have reached availability figures of 92% and 93%, when guide drills have ranged from 72 to 83%. Victor Cuti, Autonomous Drilling Controller: “All this makes the method extra environment friendly, fashionable and sure. One in every of our colleagues is already working with this new know-how remotely from a management room outfitted with state-of-the-art screens.”
“With automation now we have seen an enchancment in drilling instances, as a result of the process has been modelled higher this process, and this has improved each the efficiency and KPIs of the drilling rigs,” stated Milton Trujillo, Superintendent of Drilling and Blasting. Moreover, one of many major benefits is that you may have a number of drills autonomously working concurrently. Moreover, with satellite tv for pc navigation, you may place precisely the place the rig ought to drill, and the depth of the drilling is calculated routinely.
Senior Operations Supervisor, Jorge Galarza refers to a different benefit of the mission in that it’ll enable Antapaccay to take away operators from extra harmful operational zones. They now not have to show themselves to climatic modifications or different dangers that may happen each day
in a standard drilling operation. “From the management room, the work is extra comfy and calm, and we keep away from being uncovered to vibration and dirt,” stated Freddy Huamani, Drilling Operator.
For the reason that mission began, there have been no security incidents, helped by the truth that the drills are outfitted with sensors which let you detect obstacles, voids and calculate the drilling burden and mesh spacing. This additionally means higher collision avoidance.
