A colossal 18,000kg electric vehicle is autonomously loading gold at a Canadian mine

[zohaibahd]

What just happened? Sandvik, a Swedish manufacturer of mining equipment, has announced the deployment of two fully automated electric loaders at Canada's New Afton gold and copper mine. These heavy-duty machines, weighing an impressive 18 tons each, have been operational in a designated test area since November.

The Sandvik LH518iB measures 12 meters in length, 3.1 meters in width, and 2.3 meters in height. It's powered by a high-performance 540 kW electric drivetrain, capable of delivering 6,000 Nm of torque for rapid acceleration and efficient bucket filling. The loader features a massive battery, and when it runs low, it can autonomously swap out for a fully charged replacement.

The New Afton deployment marks just the beginning. Operators are preparing to transition the loaders from the test area to the mine's "C-Zone" early next year, a section rich in valuable mineral reserves.

Once in the C-Zone, the machines will streamline operations and significantly enhance cycle times at Canada's only block cave mine.

Block caving is an underground mining technique in which ore is deliberately weakened, allowing it to collapse under its own weight into a funnel-shaped chamber for efficient extraction. Efficiency is paramount in this process, and these loaders are designed to enhance it significantly.

Sandvik highlights that adopting electric and autonomous loaders at New Afton will reduce ventilation needs, heat, noise, and greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional diesel-powered loaders operated by humans. Additionally, the autonomous functionality addresses the ongoing challenge of a labor shortage in the mining industry.

Of course, this raises an important question: what about jobs? Are these autonomous loaders simply high-tech replacements poised to displace human workers? The answer isn't clear yet, but it's reasonable to anticipate that if New Afton's deployment proves successful, other mines may follow suit with their own fleets of autonomous electric machinery.

This shift comes as demand for the minerals required to build electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure continues to soar. The International Energy Agency projects that mineral demand from EVs alone will grow 30-fold between 2020 and 2040, with the need for lithium and nickel spiking by 40x. Meeting these demands will require cutting-edge extraction technologies and innovative mining practices.

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A colossal 18,000kg electric vehicle is autonomously loading gold at a Canadian mine

 

[RudyBob]

I can still see Trudeau working the controls. Just look in that little window

 

[maxxcool7421]

This is a good thing. less dead people. and while there will be ''some'' job loss there will be new ones to maintain and run the devices .. people who embrace that will get technical training and level up their job skills and employability

 

[toooooot]

This is a good thing. less dead people. and while there will be ''some'' job loss there will be new ones to maintain and run the devices .. people who embrace that will get technical training and level up their job skills and employability

Some jobs loss at the beginning, a lot of jobs loss when robots get better.
They will not replace 1% of the jobs that always require the most talented and smartest,
they will replace average people.
But it is not a bad thing, or at least it should not be. Because a lot of people getting poor is an opportunity to realize they are not alone, and that changes are needed.
I am not talking about today or within the next few ones.
But you gotta think about it looking at how good robots and especially their brains have become.
They are getting better, each day, they will make some people very rich. Or perhaps, already rich people even richer.

 

[MonicaPython2]

This vehicle increases safety anyway.

 

[kiwigraeme]

Assuming the booty on the back is the battery, really works here as a counterweight

 

[yannus]

This is a good thing. less dead people. and while there will be ''some'' job loss there will be new ones to maintain and run the devices .. people who embrace that will get technical training and level up their job skills and employability

You'll be replaced too, you know. People always believe they are above the average and will overcome the challenge to come, but they realize, too late, that a threat to the mass is a threat to them too.

 

[Xelions]

Another article trying to spruce a semi collapsing lithium mining industry..

It continues to surprise me that electric motors are still evolving to become less power hungry and more efficient yet have the same or greater torque.

 

[AlexIL]

Horizon Zero Dawn

 

[wiyosaya]

Some jobs loss at the beginning, a lot of jobs loss when robots get better.
They will not replace 1% of the jobs that always require the most talented and smartest,
they will replace average people.
But it is not a bad thing, or at least it should not be. Because a lot of people getting poor is an opportunity to realize they are not alone, and that changes are needed.
I am not talking about today or within the next few ones.
But you gotta think about it looking at how good robots and especially their brains have become.
They are getting better, each day, they will make some people very rich. Or perhaps, already rich people even richer.

My bet is that it is/will be the latter - already rich people even richer as these are unlikely to be affordable by the not-so-rich.

But wait until the Robots revolt!!

 

[wiyosaya]

Another article trying to spruce a semi collapsing lithium mining industry..

But this is not the only way. Research continues, and batteries that don't use lithium are at least in the research pipeline, and some are already in test production - for instance.

It continues to surprise me that electric motors are still evolving to become less power hungry and more efficient yet have the same or greater torque.

Perhaps one of the ways to increase torque output and efficiency at the same time is IF there were a breakthrough in superconductors. Another way might be a breakthrough in magnetic or magnetic field permeable materials. I'm sure there's research in both areas that is happening, but developments in those areas seems a long way off, IMO.