Caterpillar and Utah dealer wheeler Machinery have completed the installation of a Cat MineStar fleet management system at Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Bingham Canyon copper mine outside Salt Lake City.
The operation opted to deploy MineStar fleet over an upgrade of its previous fleet management system, and with the new implementation the site’s equipment tracking, production recording, material management and truck assignments have been optimized.
Mike Gray, who serves as the general manager for Cat dealer Wheeler Machinery, noted that, even though it wasn’t the easiest route for the mine, the cost-benefit analysis showed significant benefits long-term using MineStar Fleet, including seamless integration with MineStar Terrain currently used by the mine.
Ryan Howell, mining technology commercial product manager at Caterpillar, added that Rio Tinto had used MineStar Terrain over the past 15 years and had expanded its MineStar capabilities in recent years at locations like Gudai Darri and Marandoo, each autonomous mine sites in Western Australia.
“Bingham Canyon Mine is the first MineStar Fleet site in Rio Tinto history, and this extends the company’s application of MineStar capabilities,” he added.
An incremental approach was devised to minimize the system installation loss-time impact on mining operations for bringing nearly 100 trucks plus more than 40 supporting dozers, shovels and drills online with MineStar Fleet. Caterpillar and Wheeler worked together to provide a quick turn-around time with best-in-class implementation.
“We have been impressed with the partnership, and we share the same vision and have the correct team to get us there,” explains Bryce Olson, mine monitoring and control superintendent at the Kennecott Bingham Canyon mine. “We flipped the switch, and we haven’t gone backwards. We immediately started using MineStar Fleet’s open assignment, load-haul-dump and auto fuel advanced features.”
Source: caterpillar.com