Codelco utilising robots to monitor equipment and safety
(Minews) - Chilean copper miner Codelco plans to use robotic machinery to monitor its equipment and boost safety standards at its Gabriela Mistral project.
Many of the company’s operations are in older mining sites and to compensate for the lack of initial peak production from newer mines, Codelco has employed a variety of new technologies to improve operational efficiencies and reduce overheads.
However, the move to integrate new robotics technologies into the company’s health and safety programme is a first.
The robots at Gabriela Mistral will be deployed to inspect equipment before scheduled maintenance, which the company hopes will reduce service time as key areas can be identified before work begins, and minimise the necessary oversight of maintenance.
The move towards robotic pre-maintenance procedures is further autonomous addition to the mine’s vehicle fleet of which the haulage trucks are all reportedly 100% autonomous.
At present, Codelco is upgrading its El Teniente mine, the world’s largest underground copper project, in a $5.4 billion expansion plan, which is set to expand its operational life by half a century.
The expansion will be fitted with a fully automated system for mining, processing and transport activities controlled remotely, over 50 kilometres away as Codelco continues to advance its innovative mining programme.
Publish date : Tuesday 28 April 2015 23:00
Story Code: 24054
Source : Mining Innovation News
