The Canadian mining industry is in a transformational phase, driven forward by innovative technology and a refined approach to sustainable productivity in operations. With this in mind, members from the Epiroc team made the long trip north to Red Lake Ontario, home of Evolution, mining an underground gold mine situated in one of the highest grade Archean gold camps in Canada.
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The Canadian mining industry is in a transformational phase, driven forward by innovative technology and a refined approach to sustainable productivity in operations. With this in mind, members from the Epiroc team made the long trip north to Red Lake Ontario, home of Evolution, mining an underground gold mine situated in one of the highest grade Archean gold camps in Canada.
The Evolution mine is now also home to the AP Rock Scoop Tram SD 1030 Loader, which went through its own transformation from diesel to battery electric, making it the first of its kind on Canadian soil. To make the switch, AP rock is also providing the mine with additional battery equipment to add to its growing fleet of zero emissions equipment.
So with the equipment we purchased, we're targeting to operate them in two zones. One zone is the hour zone retroactively mining. So in that zone, we have restrictions on size of gear that can access it through old workings. So with the 1030 and the profile and size of the unit, it fits and can operate in that zone. So we're getting a larger piece of gear.
We'll see increased productivity. We also have ventilation restrictions in that zone where we're limited to concurrent mining activities. So traditionally, we were operating diesel. We may only be able to complete one task with the ventilation usage, but the battery gear, we won't see that restriction moving forward. So we'll see improvements from that front as well.
The conversion involves removing the diesel engine, adding the battery and then changing to an electric drive line. The converted machine is able to offer the same or even heightened productivity compared to its diesel predecessor, all while maintaining zero emissions. Every rock is also beginning to offer additional conversion kits for other underground machines, which opens up a world of possibilities for existing fleets.
Ready to take on the transformation?
Yeah. So when we were looking at replacing our fleet and starting our fleet replacement, we we assessed both diesel and battery and there was a couple of things that really stood out for us on, on the battery fleet. First and foremost, it reduces our diesel particulate underground and they are a hazard to our workers. So we are really thinking about the safety of our workers.
There, which we don't have as much diesel underground. We actually can reduce our ventilation requirements, which actually reduces the power consumption we need as a mine site. So some really big benefits there for us in terms of cost, but also our carbon footprint. And finally, you know, the battery electric fleet from an operational and a maintenance viewpoint. It's actually a simple piece of equipment.
You don't have all the complexities you have in a diesel engine. And so the maintenance costs and the operating costs actually come down quite significantly compared to a diesel fleet. And that means we also get a more more availability on the equipment because it's simpler to maintain and operate well. That will get more uptime, which gives us an additional production bonus at no cost.
So a lot of benefits that we saw when we were assessing the diesel versus electric question.
