Page 76 - pd301-Feb22-mag-web_Neat1

SIGNED, SEALED & DELIVERED

Orica gets explosive the start of a new era for safer and more “Working with NRW is another fantas-
productive underground development tic example of great partnerships helping
with Newcrest charging,” he said. transform a critically important industry
Meanwhile, Orica has sold its ground into a safer, more efficient and envi-
Newcrest Mining Ltd’s Cadia gold mine control subsidiary Minova to European ronmentally-friendly component of the
is set to boast the world’s first mecha- investment firm Aurelius Group for $180 world’s economy,” Du Plessis said.
nised and wireless development charg- million. Meanwhile, NRW has executed a $702
ing system. million mining services works contract at
Through a deal with services company Karara Mining Ltd’s namesake iron ore
Orica Ltd, the semi-automated explosives NRW seals deal to mine.
delivery system, named Avatel, will hit site maximise tonnes NRW will undertake load and haul
in the second half of the year for its debut works, drilling and blasting, ROM re-
commercial trial. NRW Holdings Ltd expects to deliver handling and train loading of product
Swedish manufacturer Epiroc AB also “more safe tonnes” for its customers af- stockpiles. Some of these works will be
collaborated on the service offering. ter striking a deal with MaxMine – a pro- undertaken by the Action Drill & Blast Pty
Avatel’s unique automation is expected vider of military-grade hardware sensors Ltd subsidiary.
to better keep remote workers from harm’s which store and process data from min-
way and increase productivity in under- ing vehicles.
ground operations. Only a single opera- The installation process of MaxMine’s Lycopodium snags
tor is required to prepare and wirelessly technology has already begun at the Dal- Indonesian contract
charge a development face from within the garanga gold mine in Western Australia
safe confines of an enclosed cabin. where NRW is the lead mining contrac- Lycopodium Ltd has been awarded a
The wireless capability is powered by tor. $36 million engineering and construc-
another Orica service, WebGen 200. MaxMine’s offering automatically cap- tion management services contract from
At time of print, Avatel was still under- tures, enhances and contextualises up to PT Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara (PT
going testing at Epiroc’s Kvantorp under- 10,000 times more data at open pit min- AMNT) for the Batu Hijau process plant
ground trial mine in Sweden. It will then ing operations. This data is then contex- expansion project in Indonesia.
travel to Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd’s Kittila tualised to generate possible increases Batu Hijau is an open pit copper-gold
mine in Finland to complete trials. in productivity. mine located on the island of Sumbawa,
Newcrest directional studies and in- According to MaxMine, existing cus- 1,500km east of Jakarta. It stands as the
novation group manager Tony Sprague tomers have experienced up to an 11% second largest copper-gold mine in In-
expects some “teething issues” when the payload increase while streamlining op- donesia and has so far produced more
new technology is first deployed. erating costs through the service. than 8 blb copper and more than 8.5
“However, it will be well worth it if we Prior to the deal, NRW was already moz gold since kicking off production 22
can ensure our tunnel faces are charged seeking a mining technology provider to years ago.
with all human work completed from the deliver reliable and automated technol- This is the third contract PT AMNT has
safety and comfort of Avatel’s operator ogy to its existing fleet, in aims to further awarded to Lycopodium in two years, in-
cabin,” Sprague said. its operating ambitions. cluding FEED to double mineral process-
Orica chief technology officer Angus MaxMine chief executive Coert Du ing capacity. Last year, the company was
Melbourne shared mutual excitement Plessis said technological advance- awarded a professional engineering and
to continue a working relationship with ments in the mining and resources in- management services contract to facili-
Newcrest. dustry was integral to achieving net zero tate the process plant’s expansion.
“Together, we eagerly await the deliv- targets by 2050. The latest contracted work has already
ery of the first Avatel unit as it will herald begun and is expected to run for two
years.
“We are very pleased to have this
opportunity to continue to support PT
AMNT with the expansion of the Batu
Hijau mine as it progresses through the
construction stage,” Lycopodium manag-
ing director Peter De Leo said.

Perenti turns sands of
time

Perenti Global Ltd’s surface min-
ing subsidiary, African Mining Services
(AMS), has received a contract for the
provision of open pit mining services at
Sandfire Resources Ltd’s Motheo copper
project in Botswana.
The contract is valued at $US493 mil-
lion over a seven-year and three-month
term, with the option to add a year.
Orica’s wireless charging system provides a safer and more remote method of detonating
explosives underground, as the sole operator is seated safely inside a cabin

Page 76 FeBRUaRY 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT