Applications
Ever evolving tech that's tailored to your application.
AMT’s mining guidance technology was successfully deployed in the 1990s. Since that time our technology has undergone major upgrades and evolution; becoming an essential component to various underground mining operations across potash, coal and other environments.
SUCCESS FACTORS
A unique solution for high productivity mining
The MGS provides a unique and highly reliable technology solution that doesn’t rely on pre-mapped roadways, beacons and other geo-locating features or survey infrastructure. Our navigation systems are well suited to agile and high productivity mining methods operating in dynamically changing environments.
The performance and reliability of our MGS was recently demonstrated under full mining production conditions during an independently-verified trial at a large underground mining operation in Europe.
Our guidance system is best suited where some or all the following factors apply:
- high productivity mining where more consistent and controlled mining means significantly more tonnes and dollars/tonne
- there is a high-level organisational push for autonomous operation to improve safety and productivity
- where regulatory, contractual or operational conditions require adherence to a tightly specified mine plan
- where it is beneficial to reduce the need for frequent manual surveys or in-place survey devices
- a slow moving process that can accommodate frequent brief periods of stationarity as part of the cutting cycle
Underground Guidance
Inertial navigation provides a reliable and self-contained solution for underground navigation in environments where GPS solutions are not applicable.
The challenge with any inertial navigation system, and particularly for use on very slowly moving machinery, is to optimise performance and minimise the inherent position drift. The AMT guidance system achieves both by using the highest-performance military grade inertial sensors, mining-optimised algorithms and by incorporating motion aiding techniques and sensing technologies.
Potash
Around 90% of all potash mined worldwide is used in fertiliser products. Potash mining occurs in deep underground mining operations typically using very large machinery, operating over extended distances and time. This is a high production mining process that benefits significantly from automation and tightly-integrated machine control.
The AMT guidance system has been further developed for this mining application and customised to meet site-specific requirements. As a result, our guidance technology has played a key role in achieving significant productivity improvement and automation advances, and continues to be increasingly adopted in large scale potash mining operations.
Underground Coal
Underground coal mining, including development and room-and-pillar operations, requires accurate control of mining direction and roadway geometry to maximise resource recovery and maintain safe, productive operations.
The AMT guidance system has been developed for continuous miners, providing accurate, real-time lateral and in-seam guidance to maintain the required cutting profile and mining direction, while reducing reliance on conventional survey techniques.
The system provides key enabling technology for increased automation, plan adherence and safety in underground coal mining.
Highwall Mining
Highwall mining is used in open-cut coal mining operations with a continuous mining machine and a modular conveyor train being remotely driven into the exposed coal seam at the base of an open-cut highwall.
The extraction process creates multiple tunnels that can extend over 500m, with supporting coal pillars left in between. Given the structural nature of these pillars, and the aim to maximise extraction, precise guidance is needed to ensure support integrity while achieving maximum resource recovery.
As conventional survey techniques are not possible in these tunnels, the AMT guidance system is mounted on the mining machine to provide accurate lateral and in-seam guidance, which is essential for safe and productive operations.
TAILORED APPLICATIONS
Adaptable to suit the scenario
The AMT Mining Guidance System is built on a common platform that can be adapted to suit different mining applications and customer requirements. This flexible approach enables application-specific functionality to be developed while maintaining a consistent underlying system.
Beyond the established coal and potash markets, the AMT guidance system can be deployed in underground applications where there is a need to determine the 3D path of moving machinery in real time, particularly where traditional survey techniques and reactive navigation in a pre-mapped environment are not practical.