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MInInG seRVIces

Man’s best friend is machine

he COVID-19 pandemic has greatly ex- The cap and heavy
Taggerated a tight supply of workers in vehicle, outfitted with
the resources and mining industry’s labour autonomous software,
market. can avoid collisions al-
A decreased number of students enter- together and improve
ing mining disciplines, and an even lower safety. WA’s mining in-
number exiting as graduates, has only em- dustry alone saw 12 fa-
phasised the lack of expat workers unable talities related to under-
to travel into the country and Western Aus- ground heavy vehicles
tralia. from 2008-2018.
Investment firm Argonaut reported in IMDEX Ltd is one of
January that WA’s labour pool migration the latest to boast in-
decreased to sub-10,000 by the end of last novation as it pushes a
year. new development onto
Such labour constraints are expected to the commercial path.
continue throughout this year, in conjunc- The BLASTDOG, an
tion with a possible shortage of equipment, automated approach to The IMDEX BLASTDOG was shown off to the general public for
materials and services capacity. downhole logging in col- the first time at the company’s Balcatta headquarters last year
However, where gaps in employment laboration with Queens-
burn, technological innovation has risen land company Universal
to the occasion to support exploration and Field Robots (UFR), is an outfitted CAT ex- sults, efficiencies, and safety that will be its
mining projects. cavator with a semi-autonomous downhole trademark.”
For a number of years, robotics and au- sensor. Work between IMDEX and UFR be-
tomation has found its way into the mining The product was shown off at an industry gan in 2019 and a physical prototype was
sector as manufacturers and services com- event in November where the general pub- birthed just four months later. Testing fol-
panies seek to innovate, alleviate gaps in lic had the opportunity to see the BLAST- lowed in WA, Queensland and Chilean
manpower and improve efficiency. DOG in person and functioning for the first copper mines.
Mineral Resources Ltd, for example, has time. BLASTDOG’s path to commercial re-
partnered with automation solutions com- BLASTDOG uses GPS and advanced lease includes development partners such
pany Hexagon to develop “world-first” au- visioning systems to position itself above as METS Ignited. IMDEX has flagged there
tonomous road trains to pedal iron ore from holes, autonomously lowers its sensor is strong industry interest in the product due
down to measure physical to its reliable and speedy real-time data col-
properties of the rock and lection.
then geophysically logs BLASTDOG’s quick success is a far cry
the blast holes. from UFR’s beginnings which began with
Benefits other than im- the simple task of teaching a robot to pick
proved efficiency, speed fruit off trees.
and safety include im- “We first started off trying to pick avo-
proved fragmentation, cados autonomously on farms,” UFR me-
material and grade con- chanical engineer Hai Doan said. “That is
trol, reduced geotechnical where UFR started out, with the idea that
risk, vibrations and fumes, we would put a robot on top of another ro-
better defined ore bound- bot, to pick avocados all day and all night.”
aries and better preven- UFR engineering projects lead Rhys Mc-
tion of ore waste. Kercher said downhole logging was perfect
IMDEX chief executive for a robot’s liking.
Paul House said there “It repeats that process and it’s a very
was no other offering like nice application for the robot because it is
BLASTDOG that could repetitive in a well-structured environment,”
produce data for an im- McKercher said.
The BLASTDOG can be mass produced as robotics company pact on productivity and With the pathway to commercialisation
Universal Field Robots outfits existing CAT excavators with the downstream processing. well under way, IMDEX systems integra-
autonomous technology
“[BLASTDOG] has the tion manager John Jackson said meeting
capacity to improve pro- demands would be easy.
pit to port – allowing for a sole operator to ductivity, efficiency, and…will significantly “Because it can be mass produced, the
command an entire fleet. increase mine to mill efficiency,” House capital cost is low, as well as the operat-
Meanwhile, Barminco is collaborating said. ing cost and because it is autonomous,
with Newtrax Technologies on a “smart “Moving to a commercial prototype is a we’ll be able to have a number of these on
cap” that can automatically halt under- significant development. We will work with the bench if needed so we can deploy and
ground heavy vehicles in their tracks to prospective clients to ensure that when it scale them,” he said.
keep pedestrians on site safe. is released, the product will deliver the re-
– Fraser Palamara

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