In a fast-paced mining environment, worker safety and productivity are significant driving factors that can determine the overall success of a project. As new technologies like automation are developed to help boost these metrics, a mine’s ability to adapt to change and effectively train their workforce becomes especially important.
For Hudbay’s Lalor Mine in Snow Lake, Manitoba, their first automation use case in 2017 was to run automation between shifts to increase tonnage. Once the technology was setup and in use, they found the greater benefit was to utilize automation during the shift. In an area where an operator could normally achieve 50 buckets per shift, the same operator could safely achieve 100 buckets running the Epiroc Scooptram autonomously from the surface if an ore pass was available.
Epiroc, a mining equipment & solution provider, worked closely with Hudbay to ensure the implementation included extensive training and process changes. To benefit from the technology, the mine started planning to have areas set up for automation. New areas of the mine needed to be mapped out with automation in mind to increase the opportunity to achieve higher tonnage. Running equipment in full automation also lowered damage costs because once an autonomous route is created, the automated Scooptrams don’t hit the walls.
This wasn’t the only time the Lalor Mine had welcomed new technology into their operation. In 2019, they were the first mine in Canada to adopt Epiroc’s Traffic Management System, now known as Deep Control. This allowed them to expand and retract safety zones on the fly and admit an Epiroc Minetruck to be loaded autonomously, then retract the safety zone to allow standard operators to access the area.
The Lalor Mine was the first in Canada to run multiple machines at the same time, with one operator tramming autonomously by themselves. They were also the first to operate an automated Scooptram ST18 and an early adopter of Epiroc Onboard – a “radar” for mine traffic. To go along with these milestones, they equipped every OEM machine in the mine with individual navigation screens.
“Hudbay has placed a lot of trust in our team at Epiroc, not only for the automation solutions we provide, but for allowing us to collaborate with them to make it a success underground; it has been a great partnership,” said Seth Patterson, Product Support Manager Automation & Electrification.
“Now Lalor has pioneered using some of this technology in the Canadian mining industry and set a benchmark that other projects can aspire to reach.”
In 2021, a combined effort on an underground project helped ensure the mine prioritized automation moving forward. At the 910-meter level, a Scooptram began taking muck from storage areas and autonomously driving back and forth, dumping into the rock breaker. This helped avoid significant congestion in the area, which allowed Hudbay to meet their daily tonnage goals. A significant benefit was the ability to continuously feed muck to the rock breakers during shift change, which hadn’t happened before.
Another advantage for Lalor was the ability to autonomously waste fill stopes and muck development rounds, which accelerates productivity by allowing Scooptrams and Minetrucks to get right to work after blasting between shift operations.
Years later in 2025, the Lalor Mine is aiming to be the first mine to run automation on Epiroc’s line of battery machines.
“Our work with Epiroc to successfully bring these new technologies underground has been a learning process for both of us at times, but our partnership has allowed us to reach some really impressive milestones,” said Joe Benoit, "Lalor Mine's Maintenance Manager at Hudbay’s Manitoba Business Unit.
“The goal is to keep pushing forward, so we can make the most of these innovative tools, remain highly productive and ensure everyone gets home safely at the end of the day.”