Sandvik Mining and Construction USC officials say they are bringing the future to Canada.
The company has just released a new line of underground drills expected to revolutionize the safety and reliability aspects of mining equipment. The Axera 7 line of drills uses many of the same components of the other Axera products, and includes significant upgrades to their engines, allowing easier maintenance and safer applications.
“A big feature that is a benefit to some customers is an electronic-control engine,” says Dan Lemieux, Business Line manager of underground drills for Sandvik. “We were the first to go electronic in underground drills. It offers more reliability for the amount of energy, which lowers the operating costs.
“It’s the highest technology we have right now.”
To create the electronic-control engine, the company partnered with Mercedes-Benz Detroit, which designed the on-board computer.
“They (Mercedes) have a very good support network and a very good warranty for underground applications,” Lemieux says. “There’s a lot of on-board self-diagnostics, and it interfaces with the operator.”
The Axera 7 line of products includes hydraulic-control machines as well as electric control machines with instrumentation, Lemieux says, adding that the main focus of the new line is safety.
“The safety standards have been raised very high,” he says. “The other big benefits of this machine are the floor access for serviceability and the safety for mount/dismount.”
The on-board computer is not the only difference from previous models that increase safety.
“The way that the assembly is done, the hot and cold side of the diesel engines, the protection of the wiring, the separation of electrical and hydraulic hoses and the location of fuel and oil filters” all help to keep the operators safer, according to Lemieux.
“That’s what everything is about: to prevent fires on an underground piece of mining equipment.”
Despite the changes, customers can still expect the same level of reliability that Sandvik insists upon with all their models.
“We’ve used common elements,” Lemieux says. “A lot of the components are common components we were already using with the previous generation, and they were proven, so we utilized them.”
Sandvik has done several ergonomic studies around the globe to ensure the quality of the product.
“We get input from both customers and product managers in each region, who bring that in to the engineering people at the factory to see what are the implied needs in the industry,” Lemieux says.
Although the new generation of machines went into production late last year at the company’s facilities in Finland, it hasn’t been introduced into the Canadian marketplace until now. The company held a product launch event at its facility in Lively on Oct. 6 to allow customers to see the new product up-close and take it for a test run.
Sandvik is confident that the new machine will do well in Canada, and will add to their reputation as a world leader in the production of mining equipment.
“We’ve already delivered units to other mining regions like Australia, and so far it’s been a big success,” Lemieux says. “Customers have been responsive, and so far we’ve had very good feedback.”
