Mining automation is already here – it’s just not what you think
Discover the mining automation technology already operating in mines around the world – and how it’s helping sites to reduce downtime of critical equipment, cut maintenance costs and increase productivity.
With more than 70 years of mining industry experience combined, Michael Longbottom and Brett Hearn help miners improve the productivity of their operations through effective lubrication practices. By embedding best practices across markets, they know all the tricks, and their wealth of knowledge is invaluable to customers working to address their critical maintenance challenges and improve total cost of ownership.
Miners around the world know that extending equipment life, optimising consumables and preventing downtime are key, especially when it comes to managing the total cost of ownership of their operations and increasing productivity. But, to drive efficiencies, there is a growing need for digital and equipment technologies to modernise mining operations. When it comes to automation technologies specifically, it’s easy to imagine a science fiction movie’s worth of technologies – with AI systems, robots and autonomous vehicles carrying out the work. It’s the type of highly technical scenario that makes automation seem more of an unobtainable ideal for the distant future than a set of tools that deliver impact for sites today.
The reality is that mining automation is already here – and it’s a lot easier to implement than you might realise. Michael Longbottom and Brett Hearn, explain why automated single-point lubricators are replacing manual greasing practices for fixed-plant mining equipment and how they’re as easy to programme as a rugged watch.
Why mining sites need to replace their manual greasing practices
If you want a good test of how hard it is to be a miner, try applying grease to the bearings in equipment like electric motors and conveyors. Many sites around the world don’t currently have automated systems for doing this, which means somebody must go around each bearing system and reapply the grease manually.
As Michael explains, this is a process rife with issues: “So, normally you have a grease gun where you put a cartridge in and pump the grease onto the bearing where it’s needed. It’s a difficult job. And the problem is that every time you pull the gun apart, it creates an opportunity for material to get into the grease. When that happens, you’re contaminating the bearing.”
The risk of abrasive contamination is only one of the issues. Manual greasing practices can also cause irregular application intervals or incorrect grease volumes, leading to increased downtime and maintenance costs while reducing the lifetime of the bearing.
This is where automated single-point lubricators like Shell Tactic EMV have a key role to play. Replacing manual practices with consistent, contamination-free methods, can help miners to improve productivity by protecting their bearing equipment more effectively.
What are automated single-point lubricators and how they can improve mining efficiency
To understand how automated single-point lubricators can drive mining productivity, it’s important to know how they work. The Shell Tactic unit comes in two parts:
- A battery-powered electro-mechanical drive motor with a programmable controller
- A sealed cartridge and battery pack filled with clean, uncontaminated grease
“At the top of the drive motor, there are buttons and a little screen – just like a rugged watch,” says Brett. “You use the buttons to programme the time and the amount of grease you want to dispense, then mount it directly onto the bearing. Turn it on and it’ll deliver the same amount of grease every time.”
The latest technology offers Shell Tactic EMV with a Bluetooth connection, allowing miners to manage their greasing regime remotely via a Shell app, which is also very helpful where the location of the lubricators on site is harder to access by staff. But the process is the same. As Brett explains, once the cartridge runs out, replacing this is just as easy as the initial installation.
“You only have to buy the motor once, but you can replace the cartridges in various sizes,” he says. “Every time you get a new cartridge, you also get a battery pack that powers the motor, so you don’t have to worry about getting that separately either. The grease in the new, unopened cartridge is clean and it screws easily onto the motor to get your lubrication point back up and running again.”
Already, this highlights how simple automation methods can improve repetitive mining processes. So, what impact do they have on a site’s wider operations?
How Shell Tactic helped a copper mine in Chile save $129,000 a year
The Los Pelambres mine in Chile produced more than 300,000 tonnes of copper and needed to keep increasing its output.
By implementing Shell Tactic EMV across the site, it was able to significantly improve the availability of its bearing equipment and lower its grease consumption by more than 280kg a year. Similarly, the switch to automated practices helped to optimise the mine’s lubrication team – preventing more than 2,000 unnecessary labour hours while reducing their exposure to accidents.
Overall, this enabled the mine to reduce its operating costs by more than $129,000 and cut its CO2 emissions by more than 840kg each year.
Extending equipment life should be the focus for miners
“The
thing that Michael wants all miners to realise is that their bearing equipment
has a designed life. This is the length of time that a bearing should last, all
being well. And ‘all being well’ includes lubricating it correctly. “When
talking to site teams, we ask them which of their bearings are failing most,”
says Michael. “And they’ll say they need to replace the bearings on conveyor
number four every six months. That’s when we tell them those bearings should
last five years.”
It’s not just the cost of replacing the bearing either. There’s the impact on site productivity as well. “Sometimes, the replacement parts aren’t that expensive,” says Michael. “But, if you have to shut a plant down for five hours to change a couple of bearings, that’s a lot of downtime and a lot of money you lose during that time.”
Starting with critical equipment is the way to go
The challenge for Michael, Brett and their colleagues is that many miners need to be convinced that automated single-point lubricators can work for them. Especially as the replacement grease cartridges can cost more than the lubricants already in use.
“We often run events with demo bearings that need greasing and separate the customers into teams to race each other,” Brett says. “One team will have a grease gun they have to fill and use. The other will have a Shell Tactic lubricator to assemble and set up. The team working with the Shell Tactic lubricator always wins, and everyone quickly sees how hard it is to use the grease gun properly.”
Once they’ve seen the lubricators in action, they quickly recognise the potential. The next step is for miners to explore where automated lubrication can have the greatest impact. “We start by asking sites what their most critical equipment is,” says Brett.
Brett Hearn“We start by asking sites what their most critical equipment is,” says Brett. “We usually find that, once customers have installed Shell Tactic lubricators at those critical points, you’ll soon see the number of lubricators expand rapidly. When customers see how effective they are and how easy they are to use, they quickly install them on their less critical equipment as well.”
How one Australian iron ore mine saved AU$15,000 a year with Shell Tactic
The mine was experiencing two lubrication-related failures per year in its critical Warman slurry pumps. As well as disrupting operations that produced 32 million tonnes of iron ore annually, this required additional repairs that led to a significant increase in maintenance costs. On top of this, manual lubrication practices were adding unnecessary costs just to keep up with OEM maintenance requirements.
The Shell technical team installed Shell Tactic EMV electro-mechanical single-point lubricators on the pump bearing barrels to automatically supply grease and flush contaminants from the seals.
The automated units improved bearing lubrication while reducing the ingress of abrasive contaminants. This eliminated lubrication-related failures, extended bearing life and reduced the mine’s maintenance costs by 45%.
Reshaping thinking around automation technology
A common misconception that many industries have about AI and automation is that it exists to help a workforce achieve more with their time. But Shell Tactic EMV shows that, when it comes to mining operations, there’s so much more you can achieve with the technology.
“While you no longer have site staff running around doing the greasing, you still need people to walk the route, inspect the automated lubricators and change the cartridges,” says Brett. “With Shell Tactic lubricators, it’s about saving workers’ time as well as improving operational safety and efficiency.”
As the headline suggests, mining automation is here – but it might not be what many expect. Most importantly though, it also subverts expectations with the results it delivers.
To learn more about how lubricants and technology can support efficient and productive mining operations, visit Shell.com/Mining or speak to one of our experts today.
Micheal Longbottom“Sites think they can use this technology to reduce their labour costs, but a big portion of the savings lies in keeping your bearings running as efficiently as possible for as long as possible.”
