From a single control room, operators in the Kiruna mine are now running six autonomous loaders from two different manufacturers.
For the time being, the loaders are diesel-powered, but battery-powered
'Our operators work in close collaboration with both Sandvik and
'Autonomous loading at night is optimal in terms of both safety and work environment, and from a productivity perspective. That doesn't mean manually operated machines are a thing of the past; it just means that we have more tools in the toolbox. Many parameters have to be taken into the equation for our loading operations to deliver an even flow of ore to the processing plants,' explains Roger Larkmo, engineering developer at
Battery-powered loaders to Kiruna this summer
This summer the Konsuln mine will take delivery of its first battery-powered loader, the ST14 from
'
'We participate in development work early on, so that we can understand and influence performance, loading capacity and, not least, safety aspects. We are going to test to see how battery-driven and electric loaders compare with diesel-powered machines, and how remote-control machines function in comparison with manually operated loaders. One of several objectives is that operators, regardless of the make or model of the vehicle, should be able to run remote-control vehicles via the same system and in the same production area. Then, we will be approaching a world standard,' says
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