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NEWS/4 PRB ROUNDUP/16 feature articles 16 PRB Production Regains Momentum in 2017 Midway through 2018, however, some producers are revising production guidance figures downward

20 Technology vs. Sales — The Ongoing Battle in the Blasting Business How to avoid getting caught up in technology hype that does not present any real advantage SCREENING MACHINES/26 DRIVE SYSTEMS/30

26 Designed to Stay Off Your Mind The latest in screening solution offerings are promoted as producing results while reducing labor costs

30 The Benefits of Modern Drives Several new drive configurations offer improvement for different aspects of mine operations coal in the news 4 EPA to Replace CPP With Affordable Clean Energy Rule this issue 4 Ramaco Develops Alternative Plan at Berwind Mine This month, Coal Age reviews what’s happening out West in the Powder River Basin, where 16 mines produced more than 334 million 5 Alpha Natural Resources Sees Increase in Income, tons in 2017. On the cover, a haul truck transports coal at the North Coal Sales Antelope Rochelle mine — the largest mining complex in the U.S. 6 Falkirk Adds 160 Acres to Mining Area (Photo: Peabody Energy) 7 Pennsylvania Offers Funding to Blaschak to Reopen Mammoth Reserves 8 Gardner Withdraws OSM Nomination 10 2 Small Kentucky Coal Plants Face Far Different Futures departments 11 Nipsco Using Railcar Fleet This Summer to 2 Editorial 4 Transport Coal to Power Plants News 5 World News 12 Alliance Reports Increased Coal Sales and Exports 10 People 11 world news Awards 12 Calendar 5 Coal Demand Continues to Rise Despite China’s 36 Operating Ideas Effort to Switch Fuels 40 Suppliers News 6 SUEK Sets Longwall Record at Yalevsky Mine 41 Product News 7 NOBLE Sues Australian Coal Producers 46 Classifieds 48 8 Mongolia’s Tavan Tolgoi Sees Coal Exports Legally Speaking Increase 28%

September 2018 www.coalage.com 1 editor’s note

Clean, Affordable Energy from Coal

his month, the Coal in the News section opens with a report www.coalage.com Ton the new Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule. During Au- gust, Andrew Wheeler, the acting administrator of the Environ- Mining Media International, Inc. mental Protection Agency (EPA), signed the proposal, which 11655 Central Parkway, Suite 306 Jacksonville, Florida 32224 U.S.A. would remove environmental restrictions on power plants and Phone: +1.904.721.2925 return much of the industry regulation to the states. Ultimate- Fax: +1.904.721.2930 ly, the administration needs to repeal the Clean Power Plan (CPP) to balance the playing field for electricity markets, which Editorial Publisher & Editor-in-Chief—Steve Fiscor, [email protected] will help keep pricing competitive. The ACE rule, however, is Associate Editor—Jennifer Jensen, [email protected] an important step in the right direction and Wheeler should be BY STEVE FISCOR Technical Writer—Jesse Morton, [email protected] applauded for restoring the EPA to its traditional role of pro- PUBLISHER & Contributing Editor—Russ Carter, [email protected] tecting the environment from actual threats. Latin American Editor—Oscar Martinez, [email protected] EDITOR-IN-CHIEF One could easily make the argument that the CPP was Graphic Designer—Tad Seabrook, [email protected] never about clean power. America’s fleet of coal-fired power plants is the cleanest Sales in the world and getting cleaner. Collectively, they have reduced pollution by nearly Midwest/Eastern U.S. & Canada, Sales—Victor Matteucci, [email protected] 70% since 1970. The real purpose of the CPP was to shift the economy away from Western U.S., Canada & Australia—Frank Strazzulla, [email protected] cheap, reliable energy and toward renewable energy. This fit the Obama adminis- Scandinavia, UK and European Sales—Colm Barry, [email protected] tration’s climate change narrative. Using the CPP, which was not based on credible Germany, Austria & Switzerland Sales—Gerd Strasmann, [email protected] science, the EPA wrongly interpreted its powers under the Clean Air Act and act- Japan Sales—Masao Ishiguro, [email protected] ed recklessly to disrupt power markets. Few renewable power projects could stand Production Manager—Dan Fitts, [email protected] alone without subsidies. The disruption tilted the scales in favor of natural gas and the U.S. is blessed with inexpensive natural gas. With all these favorable changes in policies toward coal, no new coal-fired pow- er plants have been announced yet in the U.S. The situation, however, is different in other parts of the world. In this month’s World News section, Coal Age reports a new coal-fired power plant commissioned in Panama and another under construction in Vietnam. Japanese and Korean firms have announced several new coal-fired power projects throughout Asia. As this edition was going to press, Clive Palmer, an Austra- lian mining magnate, had announced plans for a $1.5 billion coal-fired power plant in Australia. What do these places have in common? They don’t have natural gas and Coal Age, Volume 123, Issue 7, (ISSN 1040-7820) is published monthly ex- they need affordable, clean power. cept January and July, by Mining Media International, Inc., 11655 Central In early September, Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido suffered a magnitude Parkway, Suite 306, Jacksonville, Florida 32224 (mining-media.com). Pe- riodicals postage paid at Jacksonville, FL, and additional mailing offices. 6.6 earthquake. The epicenter for the quake was the island’s only source of energy, a Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 41450540. Canada return coal-fired power plant. The plant will be repaired and power will be restored. Imag- address: PO Box 2600, Mississauga ON L4T 0A8, Email: subscriptions@ ine how the conversation would have gone if it were a nuclear plant similar to the coalage.com. Current and back issues and additional resources, including subscription request forms and an editorial calendar, are available online one in Fukushima in 2011. Today, Japan is talking about building more coal-fired at www.coalage.com. power plants. In the Powder River Basin Roundup this month (See p. 16), Cloud Peak SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Free and controlled circulation to qualified subscribers. Energy discusses its plans to export more coal to Japan. Visit www.coalage.com to subscribe. Non-qualified persons may subscribe at The world’s appetite for coal will only grow and miners will satisfy that energy the following rates: U.S. domestic addresses, 10-issue subscription, US$75. All addresses outside the USA for a 10-issue subscription, US$125. For subscriber hunger. American coal operators are getting a taste of that action, but they are con- services or to order single copies, contact Coal Age, c/o Stamats Data Manage- strained by export facilities. The U.S. needs to ramp up export capacity to capture ment, 615 Fifth Street SE, Cedar Rapids IA 52401, 1-800-553-8878 ext. 5028 this growing market. Russian coal operators are already competing with those in or email [email protected]. Australia and Indonesia to supply China and its neighbors. These regions are not ARCHIVES AND MICROFORM: This magazine is available for research and forging ahead with massive plans for renewable energy. Why? It’s unable to meet retrieval of selected archived articles from Proquest. For microform avail- ability, contact ProQuest at 800-521-0600 or +1.734.761.4700, or search their needs because renewable energy is not scalable and it’s costly. the Serials in Microform listings at www.proquest.com.

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by jennifer jensen, associate editor On August 21, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a new rule to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired plants that would replace former President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP). The proposal, the Affordable Clean Energy Rule (ACE), would establish emissions guidelines for states to use. According to the EPA, this rule will empower states, promote energy in- dependence, and facilitate economic growth and job creation. Andrew Wheeler, acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, appears before President Donald Trump issued an ex- the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on August 1. (AP Photo) ecutive order back in March 2017 to have federal agencies review potential “burden- some” regulations. Following this order, the EPA announced it date technologies” that can be used to establish standards of was proposing a repeal of the CPP after a thorough review. When performance and be incorporated into their state plans; up- the CPP was announced, 27 states, 24 trade associations, 37 ru- dates the New Source Review (NSR) permitting program to ral electric co-ops, and three labor unions challenged the rule. further encourage efficiency improvements at existing pow- Additionally, the Supreme Court issued a stay of the rule. er plants; and aligns regulations under Clean Air Act section “The ACE Rule would restore the rule of law and empower 111(d) to give states adequate time and flexibility to develop states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide mod- their state plans. ern, reliable and affordable energy for all Americans,” said EPA In regard to the new rule, Trump said, “We’re ending intru- Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Today’s proposal pro- sive EPA regulations that kill jobs … and raise the price of ener- vides the states and regulated community the certainty they gy so quickly and so substantially.” need to continue environmental progress while fulfilling Pres- The EPA projected that replacing the CPP with the pro- ident Trump’s goal of energy dominance.” posal could reduce the compliance burden by up to $400 The proposal defines the “best system of emission re- million a year. The EPA also estimated that the rule would

duction” (BSER) for existing power plants as on-site, heat-rate reduce 2030 CO2 emissions by up to 1.5% from projected lev-

efficiency improvements; provides states with a list of “candi- els. When states have fully implemented the proposal, CO2

breaking news Ramaco Develops Alternative Plan at Berwind Mine

After new exploratory drilling at the Berwind mine, Ramaco Resourc- The Berwind coal reserve consists of 31,200 acres of controlled es has further defined the extent of a sandstone intrusion and has mineral and approximately 72 million clean recoverable tons of proven implemented an alternative plan to mine around it and ramp up into and probable reserves located on the border of West Virginia and Vir- the Pocahontas No. 4 seam. The company said it will continue to ginia, in McDowell County, West Virginia, and Buchanan and Tazewell mine in an alternate path through the Pocahontas No. 3 Seam at an counties, Virginia. expected annualized rate of about 200,000 tons per year (tpy). These Ramaco Resources has new commitments for the sale and de- development tons are expected to be sold at current pricing levels livery of more than 1.2 million tons of various qualities of metallur- into the low volatile metallurgical market. gical coal to domestic customers in 2019. The average price of these Ramaco Resources now estimates that it will reach the thick- sales is approximately $113/ton FOB mine, which compares to the er Pocahontas No. 4 seam low-volatile reserve in the second quar- company’s 2018 average sales price to domestic customers of $79/ton ter of 2020, as opposed to the third quarter of 2019. When reached, FOB mine, an increase of roughly 43% year-over-year. The company the level of production anticipated from both the Pocahontas Nos. also contracted earlier this year with various export customers for the 3 and 4 reserves remains as originally forecast at approximately sale of an additional 200,000 tons of metallurgical coal for delivery 800,000 tpy. in the first half of 2019, at prices set against various index prices.

4 www.coalage.com September 2018 news continued

top 10 coal-producing states world news (in Thousand Short Tons) Week Ending (8/25/18) Coal Demand Continues to Rise Despite China’s Effort to YTD ‘18 YTD ‘17 % Change Switch Fuels Wyoming 198,793 205,054 -3.1 China’s growing demand for power means that coal will remain an important source of fuel for many years to come. Although coal’s West Virginia 61,453 60,160 2.1 share in power is expected to gradually fall as the government’s Illinois 32,406 32,485 -0.2 desire to shift to gas increases. However, soaring gas import prices Pennsylvania 30,826 32,376 -4.8 and insufficient infrastructure, according to CRU, are limiting the Kentucky 30,826 28,633 -8.9 extent to which gas can replace coal in the medium term. th Montana 24,051 21,434 12.2 In early 2016, China ratified its 13 five-year plan. It included more stringent environmental policies designed to reduce air pol- Indiana 20,995 20,799 0.9 lution by promoting the use of natural gas. Power demand in China Texas 19,222 22,825 -15.8 has been rising rapidly. During the first five months of 2018, power North Dakota 18,823 18,383 2.4 demand grew by 8.5%, up from 6% in 2017. CRU attributes this Alabama 9,625 8,512 13.1 rise to the growing demand for power from the residential sector, U.S. Total 490,602 504,092 -2.7 which increased by 13% year-over-year since the start of 2017. They also believe that improving environmental efficiencies has forced industry to become more power intensive to meet specific emissions could be 33% to 34% below 2005 levels, the EPA said. requirements. As such, CRU said it expects total power generation The CPP required states to reduce emissions by 32% below to continue to rise at a similar rate, with coal power generation also 2005 levels by 2030. increasing from current levels. However, its share in the power mix is expected to fall over time. Those in the coal industry applauded the proposed rule. “The replacement rule respects the infrastructure and Russia Will Export More Coal in 2018 economic realities that are unique to each state, allowing for Russia is expected to export more than 200 million metric tons (mt) state-driven solutions, as intended by the Clean Air Act, rather of coal in 2018, according to Xinhua. At a fuel and energy com- than top down mandates,” National Mining Association Pres- mission held in the Kemerovo Region, Energy Minister Alexander ident Hal Quinn said. “It also embraces American innovation, Novak said, “Russia is expected to produce over 420 million mt of by encouraging plant upgrades. coal in 2018, surpassing the maximum level of former Soviet times West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney said reached in 1988.” He added, “The export of coal from Russia, according to our the set of regulations under the ACE are more reasonable than estimates, is expected to exceed 200 million mt — about 100 mil- ones outlined in the CPP, but would still aim to reduce carbon lion mt in the west and about 100 million mt in the east. Russia’s dioxide emissions. total share in the global coal market has increased more than 3.5 “The coal industry has proven time and again that we times over the past 20 years and now amounts to 14%.” are the best environmentalists out there,” Raney said. “U.S. Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the meeting that coal plants have reduced toxic air emissions by more than Russia will further expand its presence in the world coal market. He noted that Russian companies exported more than 190 million 90% over the last few decades. We are committed to continu- mt of coal last year, ranking the third in the world. ing to make improvements while protecting America’s domes- “The current situation provides an opportunity to expand tic energy security and, most importantly, to keep our West Russia’s presence in the global coal market, strengthen its posi- Virginians working.” tions and increase our share,” Putin said. While many in the coal industry expressed optimism about how the proposed rule would affect the industry, Moody’s lead New Power Plant Commissioned in Panama coal analyst Benjamin Nelson offered a different view, saying, South Korea’s Posco Engineering & Construction Co. held a cere- “The proposed rules could benefit coal producers by slowing the mony to dedicate the completion of the construction of the largest combined-cycle power plant in Panama. The 381-megawatt (MW) ongoing decline in demand for thermal coal in the United States. plant is located near Colon, 60 kilometers (km) north of Panama “While the proposal is a modest credit positive for the City, Panama. coal industry, we expect that economics will continue to drive In addition to providing power for First Quantum’s Cobre Pan- substitution away from coal, with numerous coal-fired power ama mine and the Panama Canal, the new $671 million plant is plants slated for retirement in the coming years.” expected to provide about a quarter of Panama’s total electrical EPA will take comment on the proposed rule for 60 days demand. The project was finished in 27 months, the fastest among after publication in the Federal Register and will hold a public similar projects in Latin America, according to the company. Looking to expand its footprint in the region, Posco was the hearing on Monday, October 1 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Chicago, first power plant construction company to venture into Latin Amer- Illinois, at the Ralph Metcalfe Federal Building. ica’s energy market in 2006 with a coal-fired power plant deal in Ventanas, Chile. The company now holds an impressive track re- Alpha Natural Resources Sees Increase in cord in Latin America, having secured more than $5.6 billion worth Income, Coal Sales of power plant deals during its 10 years of operation in the region. Alpha Natural Resources, a leading coal supplier in Central Appalachia, reported first-half 2018 net income of $64.6 Continued on p. 6...

September 2018 www.coalage.com 5 news continued

million, compared with $23.7 million in the first half of 2017. It also updated its sales guidance to 13.8 million tons to 14.5 Continued from p. 5... million tons. “Although the first quarter proved to be challenging from a logistics and weather perspective, we are pleased with the first six months of 2018,” said David Stetson, chairman and CEO. “We had a strong first half with an average price of $111.01 for metallurgical coal, $52.84 for steam coal, and Alpha is seeing a strong, stable market in the second half of 2018 and into 2019.” Total revenues in the first half of 2018 were $606.7 million compared with $639 million in the first half of 2017. The de- crease in total revenue was attributable to lower average per ton realizations and fewer brokered tons sold, along with im- pacts to shipments caused by persistent logistical disruptions in the period, the company said. The Yalevsky mine produced 1.627 million mt in August. During the first half of 2018, metallurgical coal shipments were 3.7 million tons, compared with 3.5 million tons in the SUEK Sets Longwall Record at Yalevsky Mine first half of 2017. Steam coal shipments were 3.1 million tons, The “hero of Kuzbass,” Yevgeny Kosmin, and his brigade set anoth- compared with 3.1 million tons in the year-ago period. Bro- er record for monthly coal production record at the Yalevsky mine, kered coal shipments were 100,000 tons during the first half of according to the Siberian Coal & Energy Co. (SUEK). The brigade 2018, compared with 500,000 tons in the first half of 2017. produced 1.627 million metric tons (mt) of coal in August, the highest monthly underground coal production figure for Russia Alpha updated its 2018 shipment guidance range of 13.8 and the world.“SUEK has invested a lot in equipment upgrades million tons to 14.5 million tons. As of June 30, the com- and [this longwall] is the best in the world,” Kosmin said. “We pany had domestic commitments for 2.5 million tons of have a new generation Eickhoff SL 900 shearer loader that can met coal. produce up to [4,000 mt/h]. We moved to a new seam, where we The company will have access to approximately 146 mil- began to mine panels with face lengths of 400 meters, which are lion tons of metallurgical coal, thanks to projects at Black Ea- unique in Russia at the moment. The new mining technology makes it possible to produce more coal with fewer passes.” All coal was gle, Road Fork 52, Lynn Branch and two completed projects at mined from panel No. 5004, which is 3.8-m thick and contains Panther Eagle and Workman Creek. 5.7 million mt of coal.In 2017, the Yevgeny Kosmin brigade set “This coal is primarily high vol A and low vol A reserves, several production records. In May and July the team produced therefore completion of these projects will serve to strengthen 1.407 million mt and 1.567 million mt respectively. By the end of Alpha’s position as the leading provider of high-quality metal- 2017, however, total production only amounted to 5.3 million mt. lurgical coal,” Stetson said. Starting the new panel in April, the brigade has already produced The company reported that merger of ANR Inc., Alpha 4.9 million mt, having updated its monthly record in August.SUEK CEO Vladimir Rashevsky congratulated the miners. “This is a new Natural Resources Holdings Inc. and Contura Energy Inc. remains step in the development of the modern, technologically advanced on track. The transaction is expected to close prior to the end Russian coal industry,” Rashevsky said. SUEK has invested 10 bil- of the year. lion rubles (more than $145 million) in the Yalevsky mine during the past five years. Falkirk Adds 160 Acres to Mining Area The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Indian Coal Imports Surge (OSM) has approved the Falkirk mining plan located in Mc- India’s coal imports appear to be headed for another strong month in August, raising the question as to why the usually cost-sensitive Lean County, North Dakota, following a supplemental environ- market hasn’t scaled back purchases given a surge in prices to mental assessment. The approval authorizes the Falkirk Min- the highest in nearly seven years. According to vessel-tracking and ing Co., a subsidiary of North American Coal Corp., to mine port data compiled by Thomson Reuters, total coal imports may approximately 2.2 million tons, adding seven months to the life reach 17.7 million metric tons (mt) in August. of the mine. This figure may be revised as it becomes clearer when ships The assistant secretary, land and minerals management, will arrive and discharge their cargoes, but the August imports are OSM issued an approved mining plan modification to add likely to be more or less in line with the 17.4 million mt imported in July, which was the strongest monthly outcome so far in 2018. approximately 160 acres to the approved mining plan area of India’s coal imports have been exceptionally strong despite the Falkirk mine. The surface facility is located about four miles prices for thermal coal rising to the highest in 6.5 years, with the south of Underwood and 45 miles north of Bismarck, North Australian benchmark Newcastle cargoes trading above AUD 120/ Dakota, and currently employs 530 people. The mine is pro- mt recently, taking the year-to-date gain to around 18%. The gain jected to produce an average range is 3.4 million tons per year in prices has been largely driven by strong Chinese imports. (tpy) to 4.2 million tpy. The Falkirk permit provides for a post-mine land use of Continued on p. 7... cropland, fish and wildlife habitat, and native grassland, which

6 www.coalage.com September 2018 news continued will continue with this modification. The North Dakota Public Service Commission holds a reclamation performance bond in Continued from p. 6... the amount of $88.7 million on the site. NOBLE Sues Australian Coal Producers Pennsylvania Offers Funding to Blaschak to Reopen NOBLE Group Ltd. has filed a claim in Australia against two coal Mammoth Reserves producers for alleged breaches of contractual obligations under a marketing services agreement, according to Bloomberg. The Anthracite coal operator Blaschak Coal Corp received a $1 Singapore-listed commodity trading group said a unit has filed million grant to develop a new, large mine in eastern Penn- the claim in the Supreme Court of New South Wales against sylvania. Provided by the Redevelopment Assistance Capi- Yancoal Australia Ltd. and Gloucester Coal Ltd. for damages esti- tal Program and supported by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, mated at least US$127 million. The claim relates to a marketing the funding will support the reengineering, reopening and services agreement it entered into in 2011. Yancoal said it is re- redevelopment of a large reserve of Mammoth coal in Mount viewing the claim. Carmel. Once the development is complete, it will allow for the India’s NTPC to Start 5.68GW of Coal-based Power India’s largest state-run power producer, National Thermal Pow- production of high-quality anthracite for the next 20 years. er Corp. Ltd. (NTPC) will bring 5.68 gigawatts (GW) of coal-based Throughout the mining process, the land will be reclaimed and thermal-power generation capacity into production in the current restored to its natural condition. The development will employ fiscal year completing an investment to the tune of $3.28 billion. 25 to 30 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) miners, The addition to NTPC’s thermal power-generation capacity during with wages that are more than double the median household 2018-2019 was part of the power utility’s plans to add a total of income in the region, the company said. 20.2 GW of coal-based power generation over the next five years, government officials said. “The grant serves as validation of our belief in the continued Significantly, NTPC is among the few power utilities in the development and growth of the anthracite market in Pennsyl- country going ahead with capital expenditure on coal-based ther- vania,” said Greg Driscoll, president and CEO of Blaschak Coal mal power plant comes at a time when solar power has emerged as Corp. “We are proud to further economic development in our the cheapest energy priced in the range of Indian rupees 2.44 per region and create new jobs, all while continuing to prove our unit to 2.92 per unit against thermal power priced at around Indian commitment to environmental stewardship through the pro- rupees 3 per unit. cess of reclamation.” NTPC accounts for the highest thermal power-generation ca- pacity in the country with its plants’ aggregate generation capacity Blaschak is one of the few fully integrated U.S. anthracite of 55 GW against total installed thermal power-generation capacity companies with a large reserve base, multiple mines and prep of 200 GW in the country, with NTPC accounting for 25% of total plants, a bagging plant, both rail and truck loading facilities. electricity supplied. The power utility’s aggregate-generating capacity is pegged Alcoa Pursuing Liberty Mine Expansion in Indiana at 53,651 MW. U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa is moving forward with plans to The continued investments in thermal power plants by NTPC also comes in wake of a predicted shortage of domestic supplies of expand the Liberty surface coal mine in Warrick County, In- thermal coal over the next two to three years and rising imports to diana, by asking the state Supreme Court to overturn a split bridge the demand supply gap, government officials said. lower court ruling on a controversial surface mining ordinance “Coal shortage in the power sector will persist for the next passed by the city of Boonville, the county seat. two to three years and various state governments have been asked Since early this year, the city of Boonville and the Save to allow imports to feed thermal plants operated by them,” said our Homes local citizens group have been challenging a per- India Minster for Power R. K. Singh. mit issued in early 2018 by the Indiana Department of Nat- “There is an acute shortage of coal and this is evident be- cause of demand for power is growing,” he said. “Coal will continue ural Resources for a proposed 3,516-acre extension of the to be a problem till new mines are opened.” steam coal mine operated for Alcoa by White Stallion Energy Accounting for more than 80% supplies of the dry fuel to of Evansville, Indiana. thermal power plants, Coal India Ltd. (CIL) achieved a production Liberty produced 801,272 tons of steam coal in the first half growth of 15% during April-June at 136.87 million tons and off- of 2018 and 1.4 million tons in 2017, according to the federal take by thermal power plants was also up 15% during the period at Mine Safety and Health Administration. The mine has approx- 122.8 million tons. While a section of the consumers feels the “green shoots” imately 75 employees. were a blip, CIL has set a production target of 630 million tons Pittsburgh-based Alcoa said it needs the extension to in- for 2018-2019, against 567 million tons achieved in the pre- crease production at Liberty to about 1.7 million tons per year vious year. (tpy) to supply its 755-megawatt (MW) Warrick power plant However, industry insiders felt that missed the 2016-2017 near Yankeetown. The baseload plant generates electricity for production target by 5% after having missed the target by 3% Alcoa’s nearby Warrick Operations, which includes three ener- during 2015-2016, sustaining the first-quarter production growth gy-intensive aluminum-making potlines that are restarting as through the entire year might be “optimistic.” Over the next two months, to bridge the shortfall in domes- well as a large aluminum rolling mill. tic availability, NTPC will import about 2.5 million tons of thermal Two of the three potlines are producing aluminum again, while the third is expected to resume operations on September 17 after it was idled by a brief power outage on May 28. Continued on p. 8...

September 2018 www.coalage.com 7 news continued

Alcoa has asked the Indiana Supreme Court to overturn Warrick Superior Court Special Judge Carl Heldt’s decision ear- Continued from p. 7... lier this summer. Heldt ruled that Boonville had no authority to grade coal, global tender for which will be fl oated within the next regulate Liberty’s proposed expansion. However, the judge also few weeks, a company offi cial said. upheld Boonville’s moratorium on blasting within 1,000 feet of This import shipment would be NTPC’s fi rst import of fuel city utilities and infrastructure. for its thermal power plants since the last three years, the offi cial While Alcoa is pursuing the Liberty project and has ap- added. pealed Heldt’s decision, the company also continues to talk to Mongolia’s Tavan Tolgoi Sees Coal Exports Increase 28% the homeowners’ group in hopes of reaching a mutually ac- Revenue from Mongolia’s Tavan Tolgoi coal mine surged in the fi rst ceptable settlement, a company official said in late August. half of the year due to higher commodity prices and a big jump in Supreme Court appeals in Indiana typically take months to coal exports, the project’s owner said on July 30, raising prospects resolve, making a final ruling on Alcoa’s appeal unlikely before for a planned overseas listing, according to Economic Times. De- the end of this year. velopment at Tavan Tolgoi, located in the Gobi desert, has been White Stallion, owned by veteran Midwest coal operator held back by fi nancing and infrastructure challenges, as well as political disputes over the role played by foreign investors in Mon- Steve Chancellor, acquired Liberty’s previous owner — Vigo golia’s economy. Coal Inc. of Evansville — nearly two years ago along with Solar Gankhuyag Battulga, CEO of the state-owned Erdenes Ta- Sources Inc., another small Indiana coal producer. van Tolgoi JSC, said rising revenues and production could start the mine’s expansion. The project exported 6.9 million metric Gardner Withdraws OSM Nomination tons (mt) of coal in the fi rst six months of the year, up 28% com- Steven Gardner has withdrawn his nomination to direct the pared to the same period in 2017, while net profi ts increased Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM). 31% from the same period a year ago to reach 373.3 billion tugrik ($152 million). Gardner said the decision was a difficult one and one that comes after almost a year of back and forth with the Office of Doosan Drives First Pile for New Power Plant in Vietnam Government Ethics (OGE). He said the uncertainty of if and Construction has offi cially started on the $2.79 billion Nghi Son when confirmation would actually take place led him to make 2 thermal power plant in Vietnam by driving in the fi rst pile on the decision to withdraw. August 27. Nghi Son 2 is a 1,330-megawatt (MW) thermal power “I feel I could have been of service and made a difference plant being built by Doosan that is scheduled for completion in for the country, state governments served by OSM and an in- July 2022. dustry that is still so vital to the country,” Gardner said. “I have The Nghi Son 2 Power Co. (NS2PC) is a joint venture between Marubeni in Japan and Korea Electric Power Corp. The plant is ex- worked with OSM in many capacities for the 40 years it has pected to generate enough electricity to power 6.8 million four-per- been in existence. I have many friends in OSM, state govern- son households in Vietnam. ments and knowledge of the program.” The construction of Nghi Son 2 will feature two separate high- Admitting he was saddened by the need to make this deci- tech, high-effi ciency 665-MW supercritical boilers, high-effi ciency sion, he said it was time for him to move on to refocus on his turbines, and generating units. The two units will be constructed family and business. side-by-side, but operate independently to allow for greater fl exi- bility and effi ciency. Coal Purchase Deals Pick Up in Ohio, Kentucky This Summer Donkin Mine Will Transport Coal by Seagoing Vessel As fall approaches, major electric utilities in Kentucky and The yearslong debate on coal transportation by rail versus barge Ohio were in the process of locking in steam coal supplies for appears to have ended. Offi cials at the Donkin mine are pre- later this year and, in some cases, for 2019 and beyond as the paring for geotechnical drilling, a fi rst step toward plans of domestic market continues to show signs of recovery. building a marine terminal in Port Morien, according to the Cape In August, Kentucky Power Co., a subsidiary of Columbus, Breton Post. Ohio-based American Electric Power Co., and East Kentucky “We would try to start construction as soon as possible,” said Shannon Campbell, vice president of Donkin mine. “It would be Power Cooperative (EKPC) purchased 500,000 tons and 625,200 ideal for us if we were able to ship coal out next year.” tons, respectively, of mostly barge coal from Central Appalachia The fi rst step will be to assess the seafl oor on the southern and Northern Appalachia at prices ranging from $43.50/ton in the coast of the peninsula where the mine is located on Morien Bay. The case of coal to be supplied EKPC by Murray Energy Corp.’s Con- facility would be located at the shore and secured to the seafl oor, solidation Coal Co., to $53/ton FOB barge for coal to be supplied he added. Campbell said the capital investment for rail would be Kentucky Power by Alpha Natural Resources’ Mammoth mining north of $80 million. complex in Kanawha and Fayette counties in West Virginia. The company has submitted their new mine plan and are waiting for approval. The mine’s growth at the end of 2018 will Most of the EKPC coal will be delivered to its 1,371- see production of 1 million metric tons (mt) of coal per year (mtpy). megawatt Spurlock generating station near Maysville in Campbell said they have approval to mine up to 3.6 million mtpy. Mason County, Kentucky, with a smaller amount earmarked for the Winchester-based generation and transmission co-op’s 341-Cooper station near Somerset in Pulaski County, Kentucky. A signifi cantly larger coal purchase could be made this fall, most likely in September or October, by AEP off a formal so-

8 www.coalage.com September 2018 MOUNTAINS WILL CRUMBLE BEFORE OUR BELIEFS.

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licitation seeking about 23 million tons of steam coal from CAPP/ Mark McAdams, director of fuel procurement for the Hen- Colorado, the low-sulfur Powder River Basin and high-sulfur Il- derson, Kentucky-based generation and transmission co-op, linois Basin through 2021 for several of the company’s regulated indicated he probably will buy some term coal for 2019, al- power plants. Those plants are expected to burn in excess of 30 though he was still evaluating spot coal offers. million tons in 2018. Estimates for 2019 are not yet available. According to an AEP spokesman, the company received 2 Small Kentucky Coal Plants Face Far Different Futures an unspecified number of bids by the August 14 deadline. The Two coal-burning power plants in Kentucky, of similar size spokesman did not provide a timeline for when final purchase and age, face vastly different futures — Henderson Municipal decisions will be made, although the request for proposals Power & Light’s (HMP&L) 312-megawatt (MW) Station Two called for deliveries to commence before the end of 2018. plant will likely close by May 31, 2019, while East Kentucky Meanwhile, Big Rivers Electric Corp. in late August was Power Cooperative’s 341-MW Cooper station is expected to nearing a purchase decision on a solicitation for up to 2.3 mil- operate for many years. In the case of Station Two, built in lion tons of term coal through 2023 and up to 185,000 tons of the early 1970s near Robards in Henderson County, the city- spot coal during the remainder of this year. owned municipal utility is looking at having to spend about m people in the news

Bowie Resource Partners ap- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Emily Lindley to pointed James Grech as CEO and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quali- Marc Maglione as CFO, alongside ty (TCEQ). After working at the TCEQ for 10 years, the promotion of Corey Heaps to Lindley joined the Environmental Protection Agency vice president of operations and (EPA) as chief of staff to regional administrator Anne Garrett Atwood to vice president Idsal in April. Prior to joining the EPA, Lindley held a of marketing, logistics and busi- variety of key responsibilities with the state of Texas, James Grech Marc Maglione ness development. Most recently, Emily Lindley and most recently served as special assistant to the Grech served as president of Nexus Gas Transmission and previously held deputy executive director. the position of chief commercial officer and executive vice president of CONSOL Energy. Most recently, Maglione, was CFO of Richards Bay Min- Union Pacific promoted Tom erals. Corey Heaps was appointed as vice president of operations, having Lischer to executive vice president, served as general manager of Bowie’s Skyline mine. Garrett Atwood was operations; Kenny Rocker to execu- appointed vice president of marketing, logistics and business develop- tive vice president, marketing and ment. He joined Bowie in July 2014. Carlos Pons, current co-chief executive sales; David Giandinoto to vice officer, will step down from his executive role and continue as a member president, Harriman Dispatching of the Board of Directors of BRP, while Gene DiClaudio, co-chief executive Tom Lischer Kenny Rocker Center and Network Operations; officer and chief operating officer, Jim Wolff, CFO, and Jennifer Hood, vice and Kari Kirchhoefer to vice pres- president of marketing and logistics, will all leave the company. ident, industrial. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Cameron Scott announced his re- Bighorn Mining, a Canadian coal operator based in tirement, effective February 28. He will serve as a Hinton, Alberta, has named Delbert (D.L.) Lobb as company vice president until then. president. He will be responsible for the continued development of Coalspur’s Vista mine complex and its Motion Industries announced the subsequent commercial operation, which is sched- Kari Kirchhoefer sudden passing of its president and uled to begin in early 2019. Lobb will report to Michael CEO, Tim Breen. Breen began his Snelling, senior vice president of Cutlass Collieries, career with Berry Bearing Company in 1982 and served Delbert (D.L.) Lobb which is Cline Group affiliate. A 38-year veteran of the there as a sales representative, branch manager, re- mining industry, Lobb has held senior operational and executive mining gional manager, and corporate accounts manager. His positions with Peabody Energy as COO over all USA operations and busi- responsibilities continued to grow after Berry Bearing Tim Breen ness development in Mongolia and China; Westmoreland Coal Co. as and Motion Industries joined forces in 1993. His lead- CEO; and Drummond Coal in South America. “DL has built an impressive ership as both a division officer and group officer distinguished his record record of operational accomplishments,” said Cutlass CEO Paul Vining. and he assumed responsibility of all the U.S. locations in 2011 as exec- “His experience in developing high performance teams and effective- utive vice president and COO. Breen was promoted to Motion Industries ness in communicating with all organizational levels and within unique president and COO in 2013, before his promotion in November 2014 to geographic regions to achieve world-class status in safety, productivity president and CEO. With Breen at the helm, Motion Industries attained its and financial performance make him the right person record $5 billion sales goal at the end of 2017. to execute the company’s strategic priorities.” Lobb will be relocating to Hinton. Cecil E. Roberts has been elected to a sixth full term as international president of the United Mine Work- Braden Lusk will be joining Dyno Nobel as vice pres- ers of America (UMWA) along with his entire slate of ident DynoConsult and Applications Technology. Lusk returning and new union officers. Roberts’ running has been the professor and chair of mining and nu- mate, Levi Allen, has been elected to his first full Braden Lusk clear engineering at Rolla since 2016. Cecil E. Roberts term as international secretary-treasurer.

10 www.coalage.com September 2018 news continued

$50 million on improvements over the next five years to Nick Comer said his Winchester-based G&T regards Cooper as keep the plant open. an important part of the co-op’s generating fleet. Big Rivers Electric Corp., a generation and transmission “We expect Cooper station to remain viable for years to co-op also headquartered in Henderson, has operated Station come,” he said. Two for decades under a contractual arrangement with the city. Like many smaller coal plants in the region, Cooper has, But Big Rivers told the Kentucky Public Service Commission however, been affected by the influx of renewable energy and (PSC) earlier this year that Station Two had reached its useful low natural gas prices in recent years. As a result, Cooper gen- life and, as a result, the co-op wants to end its longstanding erally has not been dispatched as often as it has been in the contractual relationship with the city. Instead of disputing Big past. What may have saved Cooper, at least for the time being, Rivers’ claims, however, HMP&L informed the PSC it essential- is EKPC’s completion of a $15 million project two years ago ly agreed with the co-op and will not oppose Big Rivers’ intent that enabled sulfur-dioxide emissions from the plant’s Unit 1 to stop running Station Two when the operating agreement to be removed by a scrubber installed on Unit 2. ends on May 31, 2019. The municipal utility had considered issuing a formal request for proposals this summer for another Nipsco Using Railcar Fleet This Summer to Transport Coal potential operator for Station Two. Instead, HMP&L plans to to Power Plants release a solicitation seeking a replacement for the approxi- Northern Indiana Public Service Co. said it has been using all mately 100 MW of power it currently uses from Station Two. of its railcar fleet this summer to transport steam coal to its Under its current arrangement, Big Rivers has been able to sell 1,780-megawatt (MW) R.M. Schahfer and 480-MW Michigan on the wholesale market any power not needed by the city. City coal-burning power plants. “We’re probably going to shut the plant down,” HMP&L’s In a late August filing with the Indiana Utility Regulatory general manager, Chris Heimgartner, said about Station Two. Commission, Nipsco’s fuel supply manager, John Wagner, said He acknowledged it is possible that other coal-fired generators the NiSource Inc. subsidiary has 1,351 railcars used to support could respond to the RFP. 10 unit trains — approximately 125 cars per train, plus 8% On the eastern side of Kentucky, the prognosis is consider- spares needed to support maintenance of the fleet. ably brighter for Cooper, whose two units went into commer- By the end of June, Nipsco was deploying 100% of its cial operation in 1965 and 1969, respectively. EKPC spokesman railcar fleet, he said, mainly because of “significantly high- % awards Spring Creek Mine Receives National Association of State Land Reclamationists Award

Cloud Peak Energy’s Spring Creek mine, located near Decker, Mon- ceived the 2017 Excellence in Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Award tana, received the 2018 Outstanding Reclamation Award from the for enhanced reclamation success through the diversity of topography, National Association of State Land Reclamationists (NASLR) for effec- soil and vegetation. tive reclamation and innovative practices. The award was presented at the NASLR annual conference in Williamsburg, Virginia, on Sep- tember 10. Reclamation plans at the Spring Creek mine incorporate a mo- saic of livestock grazing, pastureland and wildlife habitats into the post-mining environment. These habitats support a host of wildlife, including the western sage-grouse. “Actions to protect wildlife are of significant importance to all of our operations,” said Colin Marshall, Cloud Peak Energy’s president and CEO. “The innovative techniques used at the Spring Creek mine are a perfect example of our continuous improvements and focus on environmental stewardship.” Efforts to promote area sage-grouse populations are focused on two separate programs, restoring sage-grouse habitat and add- ing multiple mitigation features. “The sagebrush densities we restore go above and beyond regulatory requirements,” said David Schwend, Spring Creek’s general manager. “Coupled with additional mitigation features, these successful practices recognized by this award highlight our commitment to reclamation and wildlife conservation.” Spring Creek mined and shipped approximately 12.6 million tons of low-sulfur coal in 2017, which includes 4.2 million tons of Pictured above: Reclaimed sagebrush steppe habitat at the Spring exports to Asian customers through the Westshore terminal in British Creek mine. Reclaimed lands provide exceptional sage-grouse Columbia, Canada. In 2017, the Spring Creek mine was recognized by habitat with sage density exceeding regulatory requirements. the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement and re-

September 2018 www.coalage.com 11 news continued

er consumption at Schahfer and increases in cycle times to Alliance Reports Increased Coal Sales and Exports that station . . .” Alliance Resource Partners said strong second quarter coal According to Wagner, rail carrier performance by one of the sales volumes led total revenues higher to $516.1 million, an Merrillville-based utility’s rail carriers “has fallen off. Cycle times increase of 29.4% compared to the second quarter of 2017. — the time it takes for a unit train to make a round trip — for Nip- Alliance is now essentially sold out for its planned 2018 sales sco have increased, and Nipsco is working closely with that rail- volumes and has increased its anticipated export sales for this road to improve both railroad performance and station unload- year to approximately 11.1 million tons. ing performance.” The railroad in question was not identified. “Coal sales volumes increased significantly as we shipped While Nipsco did not have any surplus rail capacity at the substantially all of the 1.4 million tons impacted by weath- end of June, any idle train units are typically stored at Schah- er-related transportation disruptions during the Sequential fer, located at Wheatfield, Indiana, or at the now-retired Bailly Quarter,” said Joe Craft, president and CEO, Alliance. “U.S. coal generation station on the shores of Lake Michigan before trains market conditions remained favorable allowing us to secure are stored at third-party locations, Wagner said. “This practice new commitments for approximately 8.9 million tons to be de- has minimized the cost of storage,” he said. “Storage costs are livered to domestic customers through 2021. one of the many factors considered when determining the size “We also continued to strengthen our international coal sales of the unit train fleet.” position, booking an additional 4.6 million tons for delivery to Wagner added that one key consideration is the cost of unit the export markets over the next 12 to 18 months. Our operations train capacity. Specifically, the market for railcars is extremely have also performed well, increasing production volumes to meet soft, he noted, “and this has driven the cost to carry surplus additional demand while continuing to control per ton costs.” capacity down substantially.” In response to growing international thermal coal demand, In the current market, Wagner said, the reliability afford- Alliance brought the first continuous mining unit back into ed by surplus capacity “far outweighs the cost of capacity. In operation at its Gibson North mine during the second quarter addition, modest surplus capacity protects against unforeseen and they currently anticipate the second unit will commence changes in consumption and cycle times.” production by the fourth quarter of this year. These dynamics, he concluded, “drove 100% unit train uti- Coal sales volumes were 10.5 million tons, 23.9% higher lization” by the end of June “and surplus capacity allowed Nip- than the second quarter of 2017, primarily reflecting fulfill- sco to ship additional tonnage.” ments of shipments delayed during the first quarter due to Nipsco buys low-sulfur Powder River Basin coal from Arch weather-related transportation disruptions, as well as in- Coal Sales Co. and Peabody CoalSales LLC, Northern Appa- creased export volumes. Production volumes increased 2.6% lachian coal from Consol Pennsylvania Coal Co. LLC, and year-on-year to 9.7 million tons, primarily due to increased high-sulfur Illinois Basin coal from Alliance Resource Partners. production at the Gibson South and River View mines and the During the second quarter, the utility also purchased an resumption of operations at our Gibson North mine. unspecified amount of spot NAPP coal from Ohio-based Mur- ray Energy Corp. through April 2019. Warrior Met Coal Sees Net Income Decrease for Q2 2018 Typically, Nipsco burns almost 7 million tons of coal annually. Compared to Q2 2017 Warrior Met Coal reported second-quarter 2018 net income of $91.3 million, or $1.72 per diluted share, compared to sec- calendar of events ond-quarter 2017 net income of $129.9 million, or $2.46 per di- luted share. The company reported adjusted EBITDA of $128.8 million for the second quarter 2018 compared to adjusted October 14-16, 2018: The World Coal Leaders Network 2018, Pullman EBITDA of $188.5 million for the second quarter of 2017. Barcelona Skipper, Barcelona, Spain. Contact: Web: www.coaltrans.com/ Year-to-date, Warrior reported net income of $270 million, world-coal-conference/details.html. or $5.10 per diluted share, compared to net income of $238.2 November 6-8, 2018: MetCoke World Summit 2018, Pittsburgh, Penn- million, or $4.52 per diluted share, in the same period of 2017. sylvania. Contact: Web: www.metcokemarkets.com/metcoke-summit. Year-to-date Adjusted EBITDA was $345.3 million compared to $323.9 million in the same period of 2017. Janaury 27-30, 2019: 45th Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting “The market for high-quality premium met coal continued Techniques, Nashville, Tennessee. Contact: Web: www.isee.org. to be robust in the second quarter, though moderated some- February 24-27, 2019: SME Annual Conference & Expo, Denver, Colorado. what from the exceptional strength we have seen over the past Contact: Web: www.smeannualconference.com. year,” said Walt Scheller, CEO of Warrior. “Given the strength March 10-13, 2019: Haulage & Loading, Hilton El Conquistador Resort, of our financial and operating results in the first and second Tucson, Arizona. Contact: Web: www.haulageandloading.com. quarters, performance at our mines, ongoing global GDP growth, and strong demand for steel production, we are raising April 8-14, 2019: bauma, Messe Muenchen, Munich, Germany. our guidance for the balance of the year. Contact: Web: www.bauma.de. “Warrior’s performance clearly demonstrates the unique May 20-22, 2019: Longwall USA, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, value of our highly focused business strategy as a premium Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Contact: Web: www.longwallusa.com. ‘pure-play’ met coal producer.”

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Paid: ______Date: ______prb roundup PRB Production Regains Momentum in 2017 Midway through 2018, however, some producers are revising production guidance figures downward

by steve fiscor, editor-in-chief

which pushed Wyodak and Decker higher in the production rankings. By the end 2017, utility consump- tion of southern PRB coal had increased compared to the prior year. As a result, southern PRB coal inventories had de- clined 9 million tons from the prior year to 54 days of maximum burn. The average year-end stockpiles were at low levels that had not been seen since 2014. It seemed as thought the industry was ready to rally again in 2018, but that has not happened and few are expecting it to happen as the industry entered the third quarter of 2018.

Market Conditions Remain Challenging By the end of last year, Peabody recorded an 11% increase in PRB coal shipments. PRB coal consumption as a whole was relative- ly flat during the first quarter of 2018 and Peabody reported some sequencing issues with overburden removal in the PRB. The An electric shovel loads coal into a haul truck at the Spring Creek mine. (Photo:Cloud Peak Energy) company was expecting the traditional low- er shoulder season (the time between peak Gillette, Wyoming, was ground zero when purchased the Alpha Coal West mines (Eagle and off-peak demand) for PRB volumes in the coal industry took its big hit in 2016. Butte and Belle Ayr) when Contura Energy the second quarter and then the rain set in. When total national coal production fig- was spun off from Alpha Natural Resources. In its second-quarter earnings report, ures fell to levels not seen since the 1980s, With its massive North Antelope Ro- Peabody Energy noted that the North An- production from the Powder River Basin chelle complex producing more than 100 telope Rochelle mine (NARM) suffered (PRB) mines fell from nearly 400 million million tons per year (tpy), Peabody En- from higher fuels costs and experienced tons to 314 million tons. While one could ergy mined 123 million tons of PRB coal record rainfall. “To put the wet weather compare losses in other regions of the U.S. in 2017. Arch Coal produced nearly 80 in perspective for the PRB, year-to-date, on a Btu basis, this amounted to 16 fewer million tons of PRB coal in 2017, most of NARM received more than 16 inches (in.) of unit trains per day leaving the PRB. which came from the company’s Black rain through the middle of July,” said Amy Last year, coal demand improved Thunder mine (70 million tons). Cloud Schwetz, executive vice president and CFO. steadily and PRB production recovered Peak Energy produced nearly 58 mil- “This compares to an average of about 13 by more than 20 million tons to 334 mil- lion tons from three mines in 2017, while in. per year and a previous annual record lion tons. This year, demand has flattened Blackjewel produced 33 million tons. of 15.7 in. in 2014. While we expected the or decreased and at the mid-year point it On a mine-by-mine basis, Kiewit’s volumes to be down due to the traditional looks as though 2018 might end up look- Buckskin mine more than doubled its pro- shoulder season demand, the unprecedent- ing a lot more like 2016 than 2017 from a duction in 2017 to 14.5 million tons from ed amount of rainfall impacted volumes by total tonnage standpoint. 7.1 million tons in 2016. That propelled it an additional 1.5 million tons at NARM.” On the surface, not much has changed from the No. 12 position to the No. 7 po- Record rainfall aside, the largest U.S. among the leaders. One-half of the mines sition. Increased production at Peabody’s coal producer said conditions remain (eight of 16) are controlled by four compa- Rawhide mine allowed it to swap positions challenging, as utility coal consumption nies: Peabody Energy, Arch Coal, Cloud Peak with Arch Coal’s Coal Creek mine. The two has declined 5% from a year ago, despite Energy and Blackjewel. A privately held coal Westmoreland mines, Rosebud and Absa- a 4.5% increase in total load. Peabody said company based in Appalachia, Blackjewel loka, fell to No. 12 and No. 16, respectively, PRB demand decreased 5% due to ongo-

16 www.coalage.com September 2018 prb roundup continued

Total PRB production increased by 20.6 million tons in 2017. ing pressure from retirements and low- Thunder’s ability to increase loadings during age price of around $12.30 per ton. Given cost natural gas. The company has tight- periods of heavy rain that appear to have the midpoint of our annual target volume ened its 2018 PRB volume guidance range constrained shipments at several mines in levels of 65 million tons of Black Thunder, to 115 million to 120 million tons. the basin,” said Paul Lang, COO, Arch Coal. we had roughly 4 million tons left to sell With mining costs below $10/ton, Pea- “Additionally, the early arrival of summer for 2018 as of the end of June. body is one of the lowest-cost PRB produc- temperatures boosted demand and worked “Additionally, during the quarter, ers. “With more than 12 open pits across to somewhat offset the normal shoulder we layered in about 5.2 million tons three mines, running those mines can be season shipment lull. Second-quarter 2018 for 2019 delivery,” Lang said. Arch Coal has complex,” said Glenn Kellow, president and cash cost per ton sold decreased slightly around 34 million tons priced at $12.40/ CEO, Peabody Energy. “Being able to move versus the first quarter, driven by strong ton and more than 2 million tons for 2019 people, equipment, and in some instances cost containment efforts that helped offset to move subject to index pricing.” Looking contractors, we can maximize margins. We higher diesel prices and the impact of lower at the operating results, Arch Coal had a can also deliver to customers their exact volume levels when compared with the first solid second quarter with its PRB oper- specifications through our blending tech- quarter.” For the full year, Arch anticipated ations. Cash costs dropped by $0.11/ton nologies. These are all important attributes PRB segment cash costs per ton sold to be when compared to the first quarter. that we would see as part of the Peabody $10.50/ton to $10.90/ton. brand, delivering performance.” “During the quarter, power generators PRB Exports Improve Looking ahead to 2018, Peabody proj- returned to the market to supplement the In addition to being one of the largest U.S. ects plant retirements to reduce U.S. ther- 2018 coal requirements, and shore up the coal producers, Cloud Peak Energy is the mal coal demand by approximately 25 mil- near intermediate term volume needs,” only “pure-play” PRB operator. In its sec- lion tons to 35 million tons. Consequently, Lang said. “As a result, we committed and ond-quarter earnings statement, Colin Peabody is targeting modestly lower PRB priced about 5.5 million tons of Black Marshall, president and CEO, cited adverse volumes based on lower demand. Thunder coal to 2018 delivery at an aver- weather conditions and operational issues

Same Basin, Different Story In its second-quarter earnings statement, Arch Coal said it exceeded sales expecta- tions for its PRB segment, while overcom- ing the operating challenges from earlier in the year. The company said its profit per ton increased marginally when compared to the prior-quarter period, and it cited stronger than anticipated sales volumes and effective cost control. “Sales volumes during the second quar- ter were better than projected due to Black The top three coal companies mine nearly 78% of the production in the PRB.

September 2018 www.coalage.com 17 prb roundup continued

at the Antelope mine as the reason they ter of 2017. Production at the Antelope as one operation reflecting the reduction were behind the plan. “We are working to mine was impacted by several rain inter- in demand for 8,400-Btu/lb coal. “Sharing make up as many of the delayed shipments ruptions, a delay in moving a dragline to support and maintenance employees be- as we can through the second half of the a lower strip-ratio pit due to nesting gold- tween the two mines has been going on year,” Marshall said. “While domestic coal en eagles, a dragline down for a planned for a long time and will increase going for- burn is up, and utility coal stockpiles are tub replacement and below plan truck ward,” Marshall said. “At the same time, the decreasing, buying is currently slow and productivity. Strip ratios have increased Gillette office will be closed and sold and prices remain subdued.” more in 2018 than in recent years resulting the employees will move to Cordero Rojo.” Cloud Peak Energy is also the larg- in higher costs per ton. Cordero Rojo tons The company is also looking to downsize est PRB exporter. “Our export business were also reduced due to continued low its lease at the Broomfield, Colorado, office. remains strong allowing us to export 1.3 demand for 8,400-Btu/lb coal. For 2018, Cloud Peak Energy plans to million tons during the second quarter,” “The strip ratio at Antelope increased ship between 50 million tons and 54 mil- Marshall said. “We continue to expect to significantly this year as we’ve previously lion tons with current commitments to sell export approximately 5.5 million tons in disclosed,” Marshall said. “One of our two 49 million tons, which includes 4.1 million 2018.” The company recently amended draglines, which was not impacted much tons contracted with export customers. “All and extended its existing capacity agree- by rain, was down for nine weeks for a of the 49 million tons are under fixed-price ment with Westshore Terminals in Roberts planned tub replacement. The heavy rain contracts with a weighted-average price of Banks, British Columbia, Canada, which impacted truck-shovel overburden strip- $12.27 per ton,” Marshall said. “Full-year increases annual capacity to 10.5 million ping significantly. This delayed the move results will be impacted by the company’s tons in 2021 and 2022. of the other dragline to a low strip ratio pit. ability to sell the additional tons and their Big Metal Coal Co. LLC, a subsidiary of “The impact of the weather delays was pricing. The approximately 2 million tons Cloud Peak Energy, also delivered notice compounded when nesting golden eagles for 2018 that were priced during the sec- to the Crow Tribe to exercise the Upper along the dragline walk road held up the ond quarter of 2018 averaged $12.04/ton, Youngs Creek coal lease option and ex- move by an additional five weeks,” Marshall in line with prevailing prices at that time tend the coal lease options for the Squir- said. “The dragline is now well past the ea- for the qualities of coal contracted.” rel Creek and Tanner Creek project areas. gles to the low strip ratio area and the other The company is contracted to sell 29 Big Metal paid approximately $1.8 million is operating well after the tub replacement. million tons in 2019. Of this committed to the Crow Tribe in connection with the We are taking measures to catch up with production, 22 million tons are under fixed- option exercise and option extension. The the truck/shovel overburden movement, price contracts with a weighted-average coal lease still requires the completion including moving three surplus haul trucks price of $12.55/ton. For 2019, there were 5 of land access agreements and approval from Cordero Rojo. We are working to make million tons contracted during the second from the U.S. Department of the Interior. up as many of the delayed shipments as we quarter of 2018, averaging $12.28/ton. The coal located at the Big Metal project is can through the second half of the year.” In January, Cloud Peak Energy entered similar quality to that of the Spring Creek During the second quarter, Cloud Peak a coal export sales agreement with JERA mine and offers lower sodium levels. Energy also introduced organizational Trading Pte Ltd., a trading company based Coal shipments for Cloud Peak Energy measures to continue to reduce costs and in Singapore, to supply coal to two new during the second quarter of 2018, howev- run the operations more efficiently. The An- 540-megawatt Integrated Coal Gasification er, were 19% lower than the second quar- telope and Cordero Rojo mines will be run Combined Cycle coal-fired power plants in

At the midpoint of 2018, total production for PRB mines was down 6.5 million tons compared to the same time last year.

18 www.coalage.com September 2018 prb roundup continued

Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Shipments Loading nine vessels at Westshore Ter- tons to 54 million tons, of which approxi- are expected to begin as early as the end of minals, the company exported 1.3 million mately 5.5 million tons would be exported. 2019 and continue for a period of between tons during the second quarter of 2018. Marshall still sees excess capacity in 30 and 40 months, reaching up to 1 million “We have contracted 4.1 million tons for the PRB. “We’ve got 2 million tons domes- metric tons (mt) in the final contract year. the year and expect to ship 5.5 million tons tically to sell and we’re looking for a home Since the company announced the as long as there are no interruptions to the for that,” Marshall said. “So, I think that’s JERA Trading contract, Cloud Peak Energy rail or port system,” Marshall said. the reason why pricing isn’t more support- has been discussing test burns with five Jap- With strong Asian utility demand ive in the PRB. There are still unsold tons anese utilities. “Two test burns have been and favorable pricing, the company ex- in the PRB, and obviously we’re incentiv- successfully completed and discussions for pects higher export volumes and pricing ized to sell the coal to run our mines be- four more test cargos are under way,” Mar- in 2018, which would offset some of the ing such high fixed cost businesses.” When shall said. “There is no assurance that these other issues. For 2018, the coal shipments that comes into balance, Marshall said PRB test burns will lead to future sales.” for the three mines should total 50 million operators may get more favorable pricing.

The Powder River Basin (PRB) of Wyoming and Montanta is the largest low-sulfur coal source in the nation. Eight of the 10 largest mines in the United States are located in the PRB. (Source: BNSF Railway)

September 2018 www.coalage.com 19 blasting Technology vs. Sales — The Ongoing Battle in the Blasting Business How to avoid getting caught up in technology hype that does not present any real advantage

by anthony konya and dr. calvin j. konya

A good technological approach to blast- worse than systems that were in place plicability in the rock blasting industry. ing has been distorted for decades to more than 50 years ago. Research performed in Sweden by Per help increase the sale of expensive prod- To better understand the situation, Anders Pearson stated that for shock ucts — often without a need and paid for let’s rewind to the 1970s when the ex- breakage, spalling, to occur to a mini- by the consumer. This article discusses plosive industry was in a heated debate mal degree, approximately 8.5 pounds the modern sales techniques and how between sales and technical principles. of explosive per cubic yard was needed to avoid getting caught up in hype that — which was not done in commercial doesn’t present any real advantage. It Started 50 Years Ago blasting. Sure, they work for military Every industry faces a time when It all started with Dr. Hino from Japan applications where very large explosives some people begin putting profit over — a physicist who had probably never loads are used in surface charge appli- technical principles in an effort to sell fired a real rock blast in his life — and cations, but they did not contribute to more, faster. After the initial adoption of the invention of high-speed cameras. any practical breakage in rock blasting. these practices, the competition in the Dr. Hino took high-speed photographs Why did these theories then stick around industry quickly puts similar programs of unconfined explosives breaking rock for decades in rock blasting? One simple together to keep up — training their em- columns in the 1950s showing what he reason — they dramatically increased ployees to believe in these systems, even believed to be the effect of shock-wave the sales of expensive explosives when when they are not technically correct spallation. Only one problem exist- the industry was fighting against the and better alternatives exist. This is hap- ed with his work, when analyzing the sale of ANFO, and in some parts of the pening in the blasting business today. powder factor of his charge, it was ap- world, these old sales tools are regaining The purpose of this article is to in- proximately eight times that of actual new light. form both the reader and the “expert” on rock-blasting applications. How did this increase sales of expen- where the industry has gone wrong with Shock breakage was quickly accepted sive explosives? these systems and the proper methods as the must-be situation because models With the advent of the shock-wave for using them. This is not a technical where already in place to mathematical- theory, the basic principal of impedance guide, but a red-flag warning to those ly calculate these shock waves. It was a matching began to take flight. What this who work with rock blasting. This infor- new era of government funding to uni- principal said was that, if a shock wave mation could save a mining operation versity professors looking to study this is moving through an object and comes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. phenomena that ensured large grants into contact with a different object, only For the blasting professionals servicing and tenured tracked positions. After a a portion of the strength of the shock the mines, this information will allow few years, this spread into the hearts of wave is transmitted and the remaining them to retain a loyal customer and be- powder industry companies across the portion is reflected. Imagine a shock gin to actually improve processes. It is world. There was one problem, however, wave moving from steel into copper, time for the rock blasting industry to be the theory and effects of shock breakage only a percentage of that shock wave more transparent and focus on technical did not ever show up in the field. The would go into the copper and the rest data and a scientific approach to prob- explosive and powder companies spent would travel in the opposite direction lems — not sales. millions to attempt to show it work- through the steel. The closer the speed The concepts for this article were de- ing, including DuPont who did years of of sound through those materials was veloped at the recent International Soci- studies, and could never find evidence to the density of those materials, the ety of Explosive Engineers conference as to prove it. In fact, after decades of full- more energy from the shock wave was the authors sat through paper after pa- scale research, they discovered that it transferred. This became known as the per discussing these sales methods pre- had to be something else contributing to acoustical impedance mismatch theory sented as technical information. The au- the breakage of rock. and the goal was then to have the imped- thors of those papers, after presenting, In addition to this, experts in rock ance (density times the sonic velocity) of were quickly shut down with questions blasting at the time, such as Dr. Cook the rock match the impedance (densi- from experts, who are actively working (inventor of water gels) and Ulf Lang- ty times the detonation velocity) of the in the rock blasting business. The results fors, were consistently saying that shock explosive to maximize the energy of the of these “studies” did not work and were breakage theories had no practical ap- shock wave going into the rock. How-

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ever, this theory had a major problem — free face, which would put it well under (iron ore) Range. Taconite is one of the rock and explosives have similar veloci- the tensile strength of the rock. What densest and highest velocity rocks on ty components, but the density of rock does this mean? If the shockwave theo- Earth. According to the velocity match- is normally two to five times that of the ry was correct a decoupled charge could ing theory, ANFO would not be able explosive. The impedance could never never be used in a borehole. to break it and an expensive slurry or be equal and would rarely be above 40%- Let’s look at another example, in the dynamite would have to be used. This 50% with minimal difference between past, it was stated that when presplitting was one example given by explo- ANFO and water gels. the collision of shock waves between sive companies — except the taconite When this issue was raised, a very boreholes is what would cause the pre- miners were laughing at the explosive smart salesman coined the term “veloc- split. This was put into the DuPont Blast- industry as they shot millions of pounds ity matching” and stated that the den- ing Handbook, which was then bought of ANFO each day and it broke their sity was causing all the problems in the by the International Society of Explosive taconites perfectly. impedance mismatch and that looking Engineers, and even in the 17th edi- So why did these theories persist? at the velocity alone was a better ap- tion of the handbook, still exists today. Well it was one of the best sales tools that proach. From a technical basis, this has DuPont knew this was wrong in the had been discovered in the explosive in- no value, even if shock breakage was 1970s and readily admitted to it, seek- dustry. However, in the long run, tech- truly the mechanism for rock breakage. ing to find authors to rewrite the section nical information beat down the sales But, this now gave the powder salesman on presplitting. — after costing mines millions of dollars. a tool to easily sell higher velocity, more How do we know this to be false? Today, almost no one discusses velocity expensive water gels, emulsions, and A good starting point is cap scatter. matching and those who do are the last dynamites instead of ANFO. This led to Throughout history (with the excep- die-hard proponents that made their ca- greater profits, but was terrible for the tion of very modern electronic caps), reers using it as a sales tool. Today, the industry as it dramatically increased caps typically fired within 10% of their selling of more expensive products is left costs for no reason. rated firing time, meaning a cap rated for other methods. Instead, a new sales to fire at 100 milliseconds (ms) would tool has emerged that distorts technical Shock Breakage fire between 90 ms and 110 ms. Now data as a way to sell much more expen- Let’s look at a few concrete examples when these caps where used with pre- sive electronic caps. to show how this has no bearing. First, splitting, the scatter time would cause let’s discuss shock breakage and some each borehole to fire at a different mo- Electronic Caps very simple principles associated with ment in time. What if these boreholes Now to preface this, both authors recom- it. To begin, let’s look at a decoupled fired just one millisecond apart — in mend and believe electronic caps have charge (such as packaged emulsion) in this time, the shockwave from the first many benefits from the reduced cap a borehole. Now the theory of imped- borehole would have moved about 150 scatter. In certain vibration situations, ance mismatch states that mediums feet, leading to no interaction of shock they are extremely good tools that can with different impedances will have waves between boreholes. According to give a site a lot of options with blasting different coefficients of transmission the theory, this would cause no presplit programs. However, the following points for the shock wave. When the explosive to form, yet presplitting has been done are not true about electronic caps: fires, it is in direct contact with air, for decades and continues to be done • By reducing cap scatter, fragmenta- therefore the shock wave of the explo- with nonelectric caps. In addition to tion will improve. This is only par- sive would have to move into the air. this, the authors have tested numer- tially true because while accuracy The problem is air has a dramatically ous methods of presplitting, including is important, selecting the proper lower acoustical impedance than the Precision Presplitting (should not work time delays for hole firing is the ma- explosive, so more than 99% of the under this theory do to decoupling) and jor import factor. shockwave is lost already going from presplitting with propellants (no shock • By reducing cap scatter, ground the explosive into the air. Let’s assume wave created) and all have worked per- vibration will improve. This again that the less than 1% remainder could fectly, in many cases better than with has no technical backing as none of break rock, if it reached the free face. high explosives. these phenomena are correlated to After it goes into the air, it then has to Finally, let’s look at a very real exam- cap scatter. In fact, in many cases, go into the rock, again having a reduc- ple of how the impedance theory and just substituting electronic caps for tion in total shock wave pressure by velocity matching miserably failed in nonelectric caps causes an increase about 99%. This leaves almost no shock- full-scale. Back in the 1960s, ANFO was in ground vibration. wave pressure starting in the rock. Ad- becoming a big deal as it was extremely • By reducing cap scatter, the 8-ms ditionally, the shock-wave pressure cheap and, by using coal fines and fertil- rule no longer applies and blasters also reduces exponentially as it trav- izer grade prill, mines could make their can now use a 4-ms or 1-ms rule els through the rock. In the end of this own blasting agents. ANFO was invent- for delaying of charge weights. This example, less than 0.01% of the total ed by Bob Akre in Indiana and quickly has been attempted and has been shock-wave pressure would reach the made its way to the Minnesota Taconite challenged in numerous court cases

22 www.coalage.com September 2018 MAKING SURE THE GROUND ABOVE STAYS UNDER CONTROL

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and has lost every time. Advanced sure (pressure) can be compared to the ever, using a 42-ms nonelectric delay methods exist to prove this, but total confinement of the shot (burden). may give you a ground vibration of require a special study and unique The ratio of this gives the confinement 1.05 in. per second. It is the mine op- conditions. of the blast. Why does this matter? Be- erator’s call as to whether the 0.05-in.- • These caps are safer. They provide cause, an over-confined blast can lead per-second reduction in ground vibra- no real safety benefit except the up to five times the ground vibration of tion is worth spending five to 10 times ability to check them to reduce risk a normally confined blast. A blast that is as much on initiators. of misfires. In many cases, prema- under-confined has much less ground ture initiations have occurred with vibration than a normally confined blast. Signature Hole Analysis these that would not have occurred This means that the seismic wave- In addition to most companies not re- with other caps and for this reason form changes as the confinement chang- leasing this information, some com- they are not allowed on many U.S. es. Let’s look at a very minor aspect panies worldwide are performing the government projects. (compared to burden) of a blast then — signature hole analysis complete- • Electronic caps are required to the stemming. If a blast has the proper ly wrong. This is in an effort to make perform signature hole analysis. amount of stemming, which does not additional money on the testing pro- The authors began using signature blow out, it has its maximum pressure cedures and to persuade miners into hole analysis in the 1980s predict- for breaking and moving burden. What using electronic caps. These studies ing ground vibration waveforms to if the stemming blows out and releases typically cost mines tens of thousands within 95% accuracy using electric half the explosive pressure of the blast? of dollars, disrupt production, and pro- and nonelectric caps. This leads to a state of over-confinement duce no valuable data or information. What electronic caps give the mine and the blast can produce up to five How are these incorrect studies done? is the ability to precisely time blasts by times greater ground vibration. First a company will come out and selecting the exact time for a borehole Now let’s begin to look at a signa- set up 10-plus seismographs all around to detonate, which will minimize the ture hole analysis. The goal of a signature an area or protected structure. These cap scatter. Unfortunately, most com- hole analysis is to obtain the vibration- will often be different distances away panies do not have the systems to de- al waveform from one borehole to be from a planned location. The compa- termine the actual best time for either simulated into the full vibration wave- ny will then have the mine drill two to ground vibration or fragmentation and form. Using nonelectric detonators, an four holes in this planned location well blindly switch. accuracy of 90-95% of the entire vibra- behind the face of the blast (completely One method that has been devel- tion waveform can be predicted. This confined) and vary the load (typically .5, oped that perhaps most benefits and is means not only can one predict the 1, 1.5 and 2 times the normal borehole most widely available to immediately peak particle velocity almost exactly, load). They will then fire these individ- see an impact from electronic caps is but could also predict at what millisec- ually and measure the ground vibration that of Signature Hole Analysis. It is a ond after the blast it will occur, as well on a large array of seismographs. This process in which one waveform from as the rest of the vibration waveform. is in an attempt to “vary the scaled dis- a single borehole is collected, then a This is then achieved by using a seis- tance,” which has zero benefit technical- superposition of the waves and a sim- mograph near the structure that is to be ly because scaled distance is not used in ulation is done to determine the best protected and putting delays of 1,000 signature hole analysis. rhythmic timing sequence for a blast. to 2,000 ms between the first borehole In addition to this, not only is the Unfortunately, from leading experts ex- in the shot and the second borehole in vibration’s peak particle velocity (PPV) perience, the way this is conducted by the shot. These same delay schemes can completely wrong from what it would most companies is completely wrong. be done inter-row (or a hole in the mid- be in a normally confined borehole, but dle of the shot) and on the last hole in a the frequency and wave trace from these Understanding Confinement shot. This allows for all the variables with boreholes is also completely wrong. To begin to understand this, one first the blast to be identical to what will be They will give some attempt at modeling must understand the most basic princi- done in the future and a realistic simula- and say that the maximum PPV from this ple of blasting — confinement. Confine- tion to be completed. blast should be under, for example, 8.91 ment of a blast is the first step to under- Again, this can be completed using in. per second. The blast is fired, and standing blast fragmentation, muck pile any type of cap, however, an electron- the actual result is 3.2 in. per second. heave, poor toes, air overpressure, and ic cap can minimize ground vibration. This is not a signature hole analysis and most importantly for this case, ground For example, let’s say that by putting a does not provide any data to the mine, vibration. As previously discussed, shock 47-ms delay between boreholes would this will not stand up in court, and this waves have no impact on these explosive cut ground vibration from 2 inches (in.) provides no guarantees on any ground results and the gas pressure generated per second (with a 17/42-timed zig- vibration, let alone gives any real timing by explosives is what is now known to be zag pattern) to 1 in. per second (with a or loading advice to the mine. the major factor in rock blasting. As such 47-ms rhythmic timing pattern). This Additionally, we have seen this pro- a certain amount of explosive gas pres- would be the best and ideal case, how- cess perverted even further with compa-

24 www.coalage.com September 2018 blasting continued nies using this as a method to run a linear blasting will have a higher ground vi- occur give no technical background in regression or 95% confidence equation. bration than a production blast, for this court — oftentimes losing the case. These equations have been run since the reason they will not be modelled togeth- In today’s world, the mining envi- USBM developed their original ground er but the data will be separated, and ronment is very tough to navigate com- vibration prediction equations, yet they a separate linear-regression is devel- bining social, cultural and political as- have never been run with this lack of un- oped, one for production and one for pects. In many cases, ground vibration derstanding of basic blasting principles. presplit blasting. Otherwise, the pro- from blasting can make or break a mine The goal of a linear regression is to de- duction blasting would be severally and exceedances of ground vibration termine, based on scaled distance, what limited. A similar process is performed limits can not only be costly, but cause the maximum PPV will be for a blast. with different cardinal directions around mine shutdowns and mine manag- These are always run with real blasting a site (North versus South, for example). ers and owners to face jail time. Mines data from seismograph reports that are This is to help refine the linear-regres- should be able to trust the “subject-mat- correlated to each blast that a mine runs. sion to not severely limit the amount of ter experts” that they bring in to help. These models are then updated for each explosive a mine can put into a borehole. It has been seen time and time again, blast to form a new equation. This is crit- In recent years the authors and other however, that many of these “experts” ical because each blast is functioning in industry experts have been developing are more interested in selling more ex- the exact manner that the subsequent methods to refine and increase the accu- pensive products than giving a real solu- blasts (that will be predicted with the racy of these models. Current practices tion. The days of sales as technical work model) will function. of firing completely confined holes in in the blasting industry need to be put to The biggest important parameter in situations that are completely different an end and replaced with good technical a linear-regression model is the under- from how the blast actually functions research and consulting. standing of confinement and at what (such as dozens of feet behind the free point different data sets need to be de- face) and causes the science of linear Calvin Konya is the founder of Precision veloped. One easy to understand exam- regression to go backward, this extreme- Blasting Services (PBS) and Anthony ple is production blasting and presplit ly limits the mines loading procedures Konya serves as project engineer for PBS. blasting. In closer distances, presplit and should an exceedance of the limits www.idc-pbs.com.

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September 2018 www.coalage.com 25 screening machines Designed to Stay Off Your Mind

The latest in screening solution offerings are promoted as producing results while reducing labor costs

by jesse morton, technical writer

Thinking about a screening solution Company literature labels the rub- The range includes compounds for generally only happens when either ber compounds available for the 305PS as coarser duties, compounds that withstand something goes wrong with one or when “unique” and “the result of decades of dedi- high pressure, and softer compounds for designing a plant. The rest of the time, cated research” that led to the development applications otherwise prone to blinding screening is that endless background of “highly flexible materials that are un- and paving, he said. sound and should stay that way. That is beatable in fighting blinding and pegging.” “We specify our own recipe,” Larsson exactly why suppliers seek to fully prove Larsson said that translates to in- said. “While most others buy from rubber their screening solutions prior to release. creased availability and uptime. “We have batchers in certain compounds, we have Upon release, the typical elevator pitch actually done our homework,” he said. developed our own unique recipe.” focuses on the reliability of the solution. A “We have come up with solutions to differ- Beyond the rubber compounding, glance at the recent news from suppliers entiate ourselves and we have done some the series features a “hammerless design” reveals the emphasis they place on suc- good trials, some good installations where and injection molding, the company re- cessful field testing, the deep knowledge we feel our product is performing better ported. “The unique item about this sys- in the brains behind the solution, and how than what we are replacing, and that has tem is the hammerless design in which it is something miners can easily order, in- led to a growing confidence.” you screw the holding device with the stall, maintain and forget. The trials consisted of replacing “poly- holding wrench to hold the panel down, urethane decks with rubber decks that which means you don’t have to use a ham- Rubber Gains Ground we have developed in the same format,” mer,” Tom Dougherty, mining sales, Min- Rubber is in, and Metso’s 1-ft by 1-ft Trellex Larsson said. “We have proven that we can nesota, North and South Dakota, Metso, 305PS proves it, according to Claes Lars- reach the cycle time or the goal the cus- said. “There are no pry bars to pry it out or son, director, screening media, consum- tomer has for how long they can operate hammers to pound it in.” ables, Metso Mining. The line of screening the equipment before the need to take it Company literature reports the system media, released in 2016, beats the com- out for maintenance.” is centered on “specially developed pins” petition in wear-resistance, and has, in The rubber compounds are the de- that “can be screwed into place as well as turn, seen an uptick in demand. “We have liverables from internal research and de- removed using an impact driver.” gained traction due to increased wear- velopment spanning more than “40 or 50 The system saves time normally spent life,” Larsson said. “The trend in my opin- years in the mining consumables indus- on removing traditional pins and sleeves, ion in the mining industry, not only in the try,” Larsson said. “We have a range of dif- Larsson said. U.S., is rubber gains ground over urethane ferent rubber compounds to meet differ- “Basically, you have a polyurethane from a performance perspective.” ent applications.” pin with a thread and can knock it in, and then you can screw it out with a normal impact torque wrench with a specially de- veloped socket that we have,” he said. “You can also screw it in and screw it out.” The benefits include “ease of installa- tion, less downtime, and better ability to adapt to the changing mineral or rock out- put,” Dougherty said. One of the main selling points, howev- er, is safety, and the design was prompted in part by customer demand, Larsson said. “Many of the bigger mining groups want to limit the use of sledge hammers and tools used in knocking wedges to do service and maintenance because that is a health and The 305PS screens are made of Metso’s patented rubber compounds, which range in hardness, safety hazard,” he said. “Removing pins allowing the customer to select based on the abrasiveness of the feed material. (Photo: Metso) and things like that from a deck, you often

26 www.coalage.com September 2018 screening machines continued

screens has proven to meet expectations, but is still in its early stages,” he said. “The encouraging feedback is what drives us to achieve new goals.” MAX Vibrating Screens are designed for maximum durability and optimal effi- ciency, McLanahan reported. For maximum durability, the screens are fabricated with A572 grade-50 steel Above, orange pins secure the screens and are screwed in with an impact driver. (Photo: Metso) plate, which offers a 45% higher-yield strength than A36 plating, the company use crowbars or screwdrivers and so there the original seed idea for the solution, reported. “Side plates are a fully bolted are possibilities of injuring yourself.” Mangrich said. “As a major manufactur- construction, which reduces and elim- With the 305PS “you don’t really need er of processing equipment over a broad inates cracking due to stress caused by any sledgehammer at all and you can work spectrum of industries, we find a common welding,” McLanahan reported. “The in quite confined spaces,” Larsson said. need, a common link, critical to each in- bolted construction also makes it easier And “there is no added labor that increases dustrial market,” he said. “That common to change out worn components with- risk when you take it out.” link is an expanding line of inclined and out cutting.” Metso offers a monitoring service horizontal screens.” Screen design is intended to improve “where Metso will monitor the wear and The goal was to “introduce a new user safety and facilitate maintenance, the give recommendations,” Dougherty said. family of both inclined and horizon- company reported. “That entails going out to the site and tak- tal screens,” Mangrich said. “The MAX The line provides maximum head- ing readings on panel thickness, from the screens represent a departure from old room between decks to speed and simplify feeding end of the screening unit down to concepts, and introduce new features and media changeouts, McLanahan reported. the discharge end of the unit, laying it out designs based on the latest technologies.” The shaft integrates bronze sleeves at on a graph, adding time and or tons, what- While the screens are now offered in both ends for protection when the outer ever the customer wants, and giving it to sizes and configurations ranging from race of the bearing could potentially turn them back in the form of a wear monitor 5-ft by 16-ft to 8-ft by 24-ft in triple, dou- on the shaft, the company reported. “This — how long did it last over what time at ble- and single-deck models, the proto- reduces unnecessary downtime and only what throughput.” type was an 8-by-20-ft triple deck with a requires the sleeve to be replaced,” Mc- All this combines to make the 305PS dual mechanism, Mangrich said. It is field Lanahan reported. “All components slide an “easy proposal” for a customer to ac- proven, opening the door to further devel- onto the shaft, allowing for easy removal cept, Larsson said. “It is a low-threshold opment of the solution. “The MAX line of and installation.” entry product in that sense,” he said. “It is easy to replace, easy to put on trial, and you don’t have to discuss making modifi- cations to support frames or rails.”

A Departure From Old Concepts McLanahan Corp. reported that with posi- tive field results received on a MAX Vibrating Screen prototype from an open-pit nickel miner in Sudbury, the company could ex- pand the line by offering the design in more sizes. “Our MAX Inclined Screen has been (there) for an entire season and it continues to meet every expectation,” Gerry Mang- rich, global production manager, crushing and screening, McLanahan, said. “With suf- ficient field-proven experience, we are con- fident in the design and our ability to broad- en the scope over numerous model sizes.” The line was announced in late 2016 and was pitched as capable of separating coarse feed materials from finer material. Market research and the deep expe- MAX Series Vibrating Screens are a solution that can be adopted with no modification of existing rience of company engineers provided structures, the company says. (Photo: McLanahan)

September 2018 www.coalage.com 27 screening machines continued

The straight shaft features jacking CustomPlant initiates the customer into a Stigmer said. “These are not just mechan- bolts in the mechanism tube that supports “long-term plant partnership that delivers ical modules. They are also electrical and the shaft during changeouts, eliminating a new level of integration between the cus- automation modules,” he said. “What we the need for a crane “and thus improving tomer and Sandvik,” the company reported. try to do is we try to bring out smart mod- safety while minimizing downtime,” the The launch formalizes offerings large- ules that are preconfi gured for a plant.” company reported. “The screens are also ly previously offered by the company, Those modules are interchangeable, equipped with a quick-change spring kit said Pär Stigmer, director, plant solutions, allowing the miner to upgrade when need- that allows for the removal of the spring crushing and screening, Sandvik Mining ed, Stigmer said. pack with only minimal vertical clearance and Rock Technology. The selection process for a SmartPlant and no need for an overhead crane.” FastPlant offers 13 designs and is is similar in many ways to that of a Fast- The line provides operators looking geared toward quarries, Stigmer said. The Plant. For the former, Sandvik expects the to upgrade their screening operations solution is ideal for “a small-style-type of customer to already have a predefi ned de- with a solution that fi ts directly into their industrial process, with maybe one shift a sign. “They have full freedom of designing system with no rework to existing struc- day, fi ve shifts per week,” he said. any type of fl ow sheet they want,” Stigmer tures, the company reported. “MAX Se- The FastPlant offerings “cater” to op- said. “We’re saying we have the modules, ries Vibrating Screens make it easy to get erations mining “less-abrasive” material, the smart stations, let’s confi gure them to more from your screen without needing to Stigmer said. And how Sandvik operates, your needs,” he said. “What we try to en- change your entire operation,” McLanah- he said, will buffer the risks inherent in able is the fastest time to market by being an reported. “Customers can be sure they selling to potential wildcat startups. “For preemptive of the modularity.” are getting a solution that will give them me it is not a transactional deal or busi- CustomPlant is for the junior miner more uptime, easier maintenance and a ness we’re in,” he said. “Even though we open to an Early Contractor Involvement safer working environment.” talk about partnerships, especifi cally for agreement. The solution has Sandvik The line is also well-suited for a min- the CustomPlant segment, you could say managing “product risks” and leveraging er designing a new plant, Mangrich said. that we are in a service partnership and a “skills not only from Sandvik but from cus- “What customers often desire is the ability supplier partnership regardless of the of- tomers,” Stigmer said. to package the screen with a crusher,” he fering that we carry.” The solution arose from the basic need said. “We now have the ability to provide The selection process is designed to be of the contractor to establish a robust re- single-source responsibility when making completed in a single meeting that begins lationship early enough with the miner major modifi cations to a system or open- with an information exchange. “We try to to prevent critical misunderstandings. “If ing up a new greenfi eld location.” fi nd out what the customer needs, what you send us specifi cations, it will be very And this is where the market research are they trying to produce and why are diffi cult for you to blindly pencil down ev- paid off, with a solution that compliments they trying to produce this, and how can erything that one needs to know for us to other offerings, Mangrich said. “As a fam- we optimize our proposal for the solution take that and basically as a black box deliv- ily-owned company, McLanahan is small based on their needs,” Stigmer said. er something back to you that 100% meets enough to be dynamic in its management, Sandvik gathers the desired plant ca- those needs,” Stigmer said. “It is very hard and large enough to offer complex equip- pacity, the mined material characteristics, to detail out very complicated models.” ment systems,” he said. “McLanahan can the end-product specs, and then suggests And the bigger the contract, the great- now truly offer a complete system from the some logical process fl ow options. er the risk of misinterpretation of its de- face to the fi lter press, and include the key The discussion moves to Sandvik’s tails by either party. “Either the customer component, the McLanahan MAX Screen.” recommendations for proper machine use carries the risk, or we carry the risk, and in and how that fi ts into the design. both cases, nobody really wanted the risk,” One-stop Plant Shopping Next comes pricing and the quote. Stigmer said. Sandvik launched three plant acquisition And the fi rst shipment leaves the port With CustomPlant, Sandvik is looped solutions in June. Two enable customers to within three months, Stigmer said. “Fast- in on the basic engineering and design of speedily order entire plants from a menu. Plant is about time to market.” the plant. To facilitate the dialogue, the The third aims to produce a contract and a SmartPlant customers could range in company developed a system that gener- relationship that meets the exact needs of size from large quarries to small mines, ates a 3D conceptual model to illustrate the customer. Stigmer said. “That spans most of our cus- design specifi cations and details. FastPlant offers more than a dozen tomer base.” The goal, he said, “is to en- The effect, among other things, is to predefi ned plants, each of which can be able our customers to use different mod- draw out a clearer picture of the custom- “quoted and ordered in just one meeting” ularized smart stations.” er’s expectations and the ways they can be and will be shipped out within 12 weeks, The resulting plants are “automation met. That, Stigmer said, is good for the re- Sandvik reported. The SmartPlant offering ready and can be upgraded to accom- lationship, and can help it be an enduring is similar but empowers the customer to modate the customer’s evolving require- one. “The reason why they can be sure is “select the SmartStations that meet their ments,” Sandvik reported. that we want to be part of the operations crushing and screening needs and place The idea is to ensure the plant “will be — if it is one year or 20 years, we will be them together to create their plant.” And future-proofed by the confi guration itself,” there to back them up.”

28 www.coalage.com September 2018 drive systems The Benef its of Modern Drives Several new drive configurations offer improvement for different aspects of mine operations

by jesse morton, technical writer

At the dawn of the 20th century, a poten- certain load is on, and also provide a me- to dynamic accuracy and overall efficiency tially game-changing underground mate- chanical cutout for the momentum of the than the existing traditional solution,” ABB rials conveyance system was being trialed armature in case of a certain jam.” reported in a separate press release. in north Britain. At a Derwent Colliery Today, suppliers in the drive solution Leadership at Lausitz Energie Berg- mine, near Newcastle, a prototype steel space strive for innovations that enable bau AG (LEAG), owner of the Jänschwalde and cast-iron centipede snaked along a the same level of step change that was mine, which staged the project, lauded the longwall face. The conveyor, comprised initiated in 1905. Reviews of some recent solution. “The interest of LEAG in this pi- of a series of linked 6-ft-long, 6-in.-deep innovations illustrate that point. lot project mainly lies in the expectations sheet-iron troughs, and was nothing short related to higher efficiency, lower wear, of revolutionary in its application. Prior to Besting the Conventional and hence less expenses for repairs and it, “the idea of carrying the coal along the An ABB gearless conveyor drive (GCD) maintenance,” said Peter Scholze, head face of longwall workings by means of a matched with a low-voltage perma- of services, open-pit mines, LEAG. “Since conveyor never seems to have been con- nent-magnet motor logged a better per- commissioning has taken place, the drive sidered seriously.”1 formance than a conventional drive-and- has been running smoothly.” Bringing joy to the head office, mon- motor combo during a trial at an open-pit Further, Jänschwalde’s “operations ey could be saved, if only a drive-related lignite mine in Cottbus, Germany, accord- and maintenance team found the new sys- problem could be solved. ing to a white paper by ABB. tem to be easy to learn, understand, and The conveyor was powered by a 7-hp The pilot project established the feasi- use, without any major difference in op- electric motor, “wound for 180 volts.” It bility of installing GCDs on mobile mining eration or handling when compared with was initially driven by flat leather belt. machines and shows the suitability of per- the existing systems,” ABB reported. “This arrangement had the advantage that manent-magnet torque motors to drive The proof, according to Ulf Richter, when the conveyor was overloaded, the conveyors, ABB reported. The results reveal product manager, GCD, mining, ABB Process belt would slip and save any damage being that on both productivity and energy effi- Industries, is in the numbers. “So far, during done to the motor.” ciency metrics, GCDs are viable alternatives one year of operation, we measured 6% en- The slippage, however, proved excessive. to conventional geared drives, it said. “The ergy saving and 100% availability of the drive The solution was a modified chain potential for energy savings, reduction of with just two hours inspection,” he said. drive. “As there is no slip on a chain drive, failure rate and maintenance have also been The development amounts to histor- a copper shearing-pin device is used, so demonstrated,” ABB reported. “The gear- ic precedent, Richter said. “This had not that the pin will shear when more than a less solution has performed better in regard been possible to-date from technical and commercial points of view with the exist- ing solution based on synchronous motor technology,” he said. “The key point for success was the decision to use perma- nent magnet motors.” Tracing back to research and develop- ment initiated in 2013, the GCD package adopted by LEAG in June 2017 also in- cluded a frequency converter and a trans- former. “The new gearless solution was installed on a high-capacity (15,000 met- ric tons per hour) discharge conveyor of a bucket-chain excavator,” ABB reported. The low-speed synchronous electric motor “is controlled by a variable-speed drive to produce a shaft rotational speed of typically 50 to 150 rpm,” ABB reported.

1 Palmer, H. (1905, May 4). Coal Conveyors in Longwall Setting precedents: ABB’s gearless conveyor drive, center, offers up to 500 kN-m torque. (Photo: ABB) Working. The Engineering and Mining Journal, 853-854.

30 www.coalage.com September 2018 drive systems continued

Enabling “exact benchmarking,” the The primary benefit, however, is sav- 2017 for beta testing at one of the world’s GCD system “runs in parallel to the existing ings, ABB reported. largest open-pit gold mines. Before the geared drive” on the 2.5-meter-wide belt The aforementioned energy savings of second quarter, the results were in and “located at the end of the discharge boom,” between 6% and 8% contribute to overall included data and testimonials that merit ABB reported. “Both drives connect to the cost savings, the company reported. “While banging “on the big drums this time,” said same pulley shaft.” The belt “moves sand” the upfront investment is typically higher Håkan Westberg, product management and “large rocks (ice-age foundlings) that (by as much as 30%) when compared to a head, torque limiting and connecting give rise to mechanical shock and vibra- conventional drive, the savings in main- couplings, Voith. tion,” the company reported. tenance, energy cost and downtime lead The CMS 310 consists of sensors Ambient temperatures reportedly range quickly to a return on investment of typical- mounted on the torque-limiting coupling from -25° to 40°C (-15°F to 104°F). And that ly less than one or two years,” ABB reported. (TLC) and a computer-based monitoring is what the technology was built to han- Then there are the intangibles that pres- system, Voith reported. Hardware includes dle, Richter said. “The drives are out in the ent as hidden savings. For example, Richter small sensors, connecting wires and a 20- field without any additional protection” said, the GCD has lower operational noise cm by 20-cm PLC box. The interface is ei- from temperature swings, he said. Mobile levels. That pays off for mines located close ther an HMI panel or a web portal. or semimobile conveyors generate higher to metropolitan areas with “strict noise lim- The system is promoted as an add-on or shock and vibration stress than stationary its to be met,” he said. “The GCD reduces upgrade to any of the company’s line of hy- equipment, he said. And contaminant “in- the noise emission of the drive drastically draulically pressurized, friction-based TLCs, gress must be avoided,” Richter said. “This so that common noise-canceling housings the SafeSet, SmartSet, SlipSet and AutoSet. has all been incorporated in the design of around the drive are not needed,” Richter The need for the CMS arose from the the drive assembly.” said. “That may even lead to lower CAPEX.” common phenomenon of “nuisance” The results from Jänschwalde reveal the CAPEX can be further reduced by trips causing machine downtime, West- solution’s wide applicability, he said. “The higher pulley speeds, which leads to lower berg said. “That is momentary machine solution is designed to work in all mines.” motor torques, Richter said. “Considering overloads without full blockage,” he said. The individual GCD is designed for up the full scope of savings in OPEX and high- Such overloads might do nothing or they to three megawatts (MW) per motor, offer- er production, ROI will be achieved after might damage the drivetrain. Either way, ing up to 500 kilo-Newton-meters (kN-m) few years, and low production cost is guar- the resulting automatic machine shut- torque. A series of the drives can deliver anteed,” he said. down might cause machine downtime. between 5 MW to 20 MW, ABB reported. With adoption, no additional infra- “Hence, we started developing SmartSet The permanent-magnet motors can structure is needed for installation, com- and SlipSet slip-enabled TLC,” Westberg be foot-mounted or shaft-mounted, the pared to a conventional drive-motor com- said. “And we wanted to have a system to company reported. “The latter is quicker bo, Richter said. For example, test facilities provide feedback to the operator.” to install, easier to align and requires no for managing the gearboxes are unneces- For example, “the SafeSet TLC imme- concrete foundation work.” sary, he said. “The cooler module has to diately releases when the set torque has The combo offers several benefits, the be included into the annual inspection of been exceeded,” which, the company re- company reported. HVAC equipment,” he said. “Inspection ported, “allows your driveline to operate ABB described the GCDs as comprised takes two hours per drive and year.” at the maximum level” without exceeding of “fewer parts and new motor technolo- When the savings are tallied, the solu- the machine’s design capacity. gy” increasing “the reliability and efficien- tion quickly pays for itself, Richter said. Westberg described the SmartSet and cy of the overall conveyor system.” A GCD “With our confidence about that, we can SlipSet TLCs as containing two specially system, for example, “eliminates the gear- offer financing options,” he said. coated friction sleeves that are engaged box from the drive.” Other lessons taken from the pilot with applied hydraulic pressure. The TLC With fewer wear parts, less mainte- study will show up in future iterations of is “like a mechanical fuse,” Voith report- nance is required, and the lifespan is in- the solution, Richter said. “Based on lessons ed. “In an overload situation, when the set creased. “The expected lifespan for the learned, we will improve dimensions of the torque is exceeded, the SafeSet releases” drive train increases by more than 10 years, cooler module and the motor by optimizing the hydraulic pressure instantly and freely when compared to traditional geared sys- the design of the active part of the motor,” he rotates on internal bearings transmitting tems, to a projected in-service life of 25 said. Those modifications “are planned and no torque through the driveline, saving it years,” ABB reported. will be implemented with the next project.” “from catastrophic failure.” The combo has a relatively compact That design keeps the machine hum- footprint, which Richter described as Increasing Intelligence ming along after nuisance, short duration, “much” smaller than a conventional gear- Voith announced the impending launch torque peaks that otherwise might have less system with a synchronous motor. That of the Condition Monitoring System caused a shutdown. And in a truly anoma- allows a GCD system, with “less weight, (CMS) 310, a torque-limiting coupling lous torque spike, it effectively shields the and a reduction in the instrumentation monitoring system. drivetrain. required to operate the system,” to “be in- First showcased at MINExpo 2016, Add on the CMS 310 and a user can stalled in smaller spaces,” ABB reported. the solution was adopted in December monitor the TLC remotely. “Slip angle is

September 2018 www.coalage.com 31 drive systems continued

If the coupling slips, the pulse dif- ference will be sensed, and the control system will inform the operator, Voith re- ported. “As soon as the TLC starts slipping, it gives feedback to an operator that it is slipping, how much it is slipping, and in which direction,” Westberg said. “After an alert is given by the CMS 310, the operator can choose to do countermeasures or just leave it be for a while,” Westberg said. The system can speak to a parent PLC system. It “uses Profinet communication standard for easy integration in existing industrial process monitoring systems,” Voith reported. It can be set to provide alerts for main- tenance. When a defined number of slips Increasing intelligence: the CMS 310. During a slip, the pulse difference of the fine-toothed occur, “the CMS 310 will indicate that a trigger wheels is measured and the data sent. (Photo: Voith) service is needed by showing a service in- dicator light on the screen,” Voith reported. continuously measured and calculated to each side (input and output) of the TLC, The system produces history logs that determine if and how much the TLC has Voith reported. “Fine-tooth trigger wheels help the user set the maintenance alerts, slipped,” the company reported. “The sta- mounted to the coupling allow the CMS Westberg said. “This is good for the custom- tus information can then be used to quick- 310 system to sense the relative move- er, to only do service when necessary, not ly identify any need for action.” ment between the two sides,” Westberg on a time basis but on a performance basis.” Measurements are made by inductive said. “This provides remote visibility of a After the unveiling of the CMS 310 in sensors mounted in close proximity on machine overload.” Vegas, prototypes were developed and de-

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32 www.coalage.com September 2018 drive systems continued ployed for testing. A gold major promptly a record of events that affect the crusher cording to Manish Virmani, vice president, inquired about the system as a potential drive,” he said. With it, “they can see de- global market development. “I think we solution for two parallel primary crushers tails of torque overloads in the crusher.” are on the cusp of that,” Virmani said. “We that historically had issues with shutdowns. With the previous setup, the user expect it to become the standard solution The adoption of Voith’s SlipSet and the would have known only that a release oc- in the industry in the years to come.” CMS 310 proved to be the remedy. “The new curred. “They don’t know what led up to The latest addition to a burgeoning fam- system, which allows more slips, is more in- that: Were there high-torque events over ily of drives, the RCV series was conceived in telligent,” Westberg said. “The short-torque a long period of time or was it instanta- 2013, announced in the fourth quarter of spike can be dampened, and it can limit the neous?” Kluttz said. “And now they have 2016 and launched in early 2017. Received torque during the torque spikes without the data behind their crusher drive per- well, it has been in validation testing by a disconnecting the whole machine.” formance, as we’ve seen with the data log major global mining equipment manufac- With the CMS 310, the miner “can choose from the field test,” he said. “It gives them turer for much of the first half of 2018. whenever they want to see how much it more intelligence on how their system is Such an outcome might have ap- slips,” Westberg said, “and they can choose to performing and allows the user to adapt peared inevitable as the solution, promot- reset it during a normal maintenance stop.” their operations to mitigate downtime.” ed by the company as a simple retrofit that In January, the system was operational. The miner was “very pleased with afterward pays for itself rapidly and re- “In February, we received the first history log the reduced number of resets and the in- quires little maintenance, saw widespread to see that they had two slippages without creased uptime,” Westberg said. adoption upon release. “There have been release, which with the old system would The CMS 310 is set for launch at in many installations around the world: have caused two shutdowns,” Westberg bauma 2019. Australia, Mexico, Canada, U.S., Belarus,” said. That means the system “saved them Virmani said. “A lot of mines have been two or three hours uptime,” he said. “We’re Being the Step Change running it, testing it.” talking about $50,000 to $100,000 per hour.” One of the hallmarks of success with any The drive is described as a fan-speed That illustrates the value of the sys- innovation is its adoption by one of the ti- control device. Installed between the engine tem, Kyle Kluttz, vice president, new busi- tans in the sector. and the fan, the stand-alone closed-loop ness sales, Americas, Voith, said. “One of That is what is set to happen to Hor- system leverages sensors and a controller the benefits to the customer is they have ton’s RCV2000 Fully Variable Fan Drive, ac- to detect and measure subtle fluctuations

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September 2018 www.coalage.com 33 drive systems continued

in temperature. It reacts by adjusting fan frankly, neglect. “Reliability and durability speed to the optimal level, nixing parasitic standards have to be really exceptional,” loss to cut unneeded fuel burn and preserve Virmani said. “Serviceability would have hp. In short, it optimizes engine cooling to to be such that you wouldn’t have to ser- improve engine performance. vice it at all.” Along with the published list of of- Thus, the bar was set. The result was a fered benefi ts backed by fi eld test results, system that “theoretically runs forever,” Vir- its striking simplicity remains a primary mani said. “This technology is very interest- selling point. “It does not require compli- ing in that it doesn’t have any friction liners cated integration,” Virmani said. “All you or anything like that,” he said. “It doesn’t do is bolt it onto your fan,” he said. Horton have any wearable components to it.” provides the required bracket and pulley, Which is not to say it is unsophisticat- and a preprogrammed controller, he said. ed. The optimized magnetic design speeds “You bolt the drive on, plug the controller Sustainability made simple: the RCV2000. reaction time, improving modulation and to the ECM, and you are good to go.” The variable speed drive is a closed system cooling performance, Horton reported. Another is the fact that it is a proven with a long history and a growing fanbase. The fan bearing is up front, reducing the technology, ubiquitous in other sectors (Photo: Horton) temperature of the pulley bearing. And the for decades. It is based on predecessor fan housing and cover are designed to maxi- drives developed and furthered by Germa- “The remarkable thing about this mize heat dissipation. When needed, the ny’s ZF Sachs and sold for use in metropol- product is that we took a technology that drive can lower a fan’s idling speed to a itan Europe. Think over-the-road trucks, is proven, that is well-understood, and we paltry 100 rotations per minute or lower. vocational trucks and busses. From there scaled it up, and had to deal with a lot of The tangible benefi ts of this are lower fuel it migrated to off-highway equipment other challenges,” Virmani said. “But we’ve burn, additional runs and a quieter mine such as agricultural tractors, excavators been very conservative in scaling up in site, Virmani said. “A fan, at full speed and forklifts. Aware of the potential for the that we made it extra durable so that we would typically use up 10% of the total tech in an era of growing environmental don’t have any issues.” power that a mining truck engine would consciousness, Horton bought Sachs’ vis- That means designing the drive to generate,” he said. “The payback period is cous drive division in 2003. survive mining-scale dust, vibration and, usually a matter of months not years.”

November 6-8, 2018 Pittsburgh, PA

MetCoke World Summit 2018: From Pit-To-Port And Beyond

The MetCoke World Summit focuses on the coke, coal and steel It’s (Met Coke World industries, with expert speakers covering topics such as import/export Summit) the one time each tariffs, recent trends within the industry, market overviews, global year that all the experts in expectations, transportation and logistical evolutions, and more. coke come together SunCoke Energy New for 2018! The keynote address from Stelco Holdings, Inc., will Met Coke World Summit is an present a Market Overview and Factors for Global Economic Growth. excellent opportunity to meet Delivered by Alan Kestenbaum, Executive Chariman and CEO for key people in the business both Stelco Holdings, Inc., and Bedrock Industries - a privately funded and get updates on the latest metals, mining and natrual resources company who owns and trends. Very informative and operates integrated steel manufacturing facilities in North America. well-arranged. ArcelorMittal www.metcokemarkets.com

34 www.coalage.com September 2018 drive systems continued

The typical fan blade sizes are 68 in. to company is busy with retrofits. For tomor- bigger Horton story, Virmani said. It would 96 in. Horton’s HTEC thermoset compos- row, it means the drives could come stan- speak to one of the company’s core philos- ite fans, which can be custom-designed dard on entire lines of mining equipment. ophies. “Considering the environmental and are described by the company as more “There are two top-five mining equipment consciousness that has grown in the world,” efficient and quieter than metal equiva- OEMs” currently collaborating with Hor- people could one day see the drive and its lents, “couple really well with these fan ton toward that end, Virmani said. Details proliferation “as a step change in the sector drives,” Virmani said. are proprietary, he said, but “one of them is because it could reduce fuel consumption The drive offers up to 22,000 in.-lbs very close; one of them is a year or so out.” on mine sites quite a bit,” Virmani said. And torque. A qualifying engine is in the 1,700- Marrying the solution off to a major by that, “we feel we’re making a contribu- hp to 4,000-hp range. OEM could be fitting inflection point in the tion to the sustainability of the planet.” For installation, Horton provides both the parts and service. “We can work on any equipment brand,” Virmani said. “If it is a first-time installation, we send out our application engineers on-site to get the LESS DOWNTIME retrofit done so the dealers can see how it is done, they can learn, they can ask ques- tions, and if they need help they know who ISIS MORE UPTIMEUPTIME to talk to to find the answers.” with ClCleeaanScrapenScrape® Belt Cleaner After installation, the maintenance schedule synchs with that of the engine. “It is optimized for the mines so they are not taking a truck down just to do some maintenance on this,” said Kevin Albers, associate marketing manager, Horton. And maintenance is limited to re-greasing bearings. “We have a special Zerk-fitting for it, and the interval that we recommend is 2,500 hours,” Virmani said. “Quite possibly in the near future, we might increase it to 5,000 hours.” Since the release, it has been tested on or deployed to “a wide range of appli- cations,” Albers said. “We’ve had them on generator sets, wheel loaders and mine haul trucks.” The feedback so far has taken two forms. The first is data from the mine sites, who report the solution has met or bested expectations. For example, a diamond miner in arc- LESS IS MORE WITH tic Canada needed the drive to remedy CLEANSCRAPE® BELT CLEANER. “over-cooling issues that resulted in en- Less Blade Replacements / More Blade Life gine reliability and durability” concerns – lasts up to 4x as long as traditional cleaners on wheel loaders, Virmani said. “We in- stalled our fan drives in there and they Less Maintenance / More Performance shared data that showed that fuel dilution – only one tensioner adjustment ever problems completely went away.” Less Concern / More Confi dence Two hemispheres away, a Western – safe for vulcanized and mechanical splices Australian miner adopted the drive to improve fuel efficiency on a hauler. Later, Horton offered to replace it with the latest visit martin-eng.com model, only to be rejected. “They said, ‘no, 800.544.2947 / 309.852.2384 it is working just great, and we don’t want [email protected] to change it,’” Virmani said. A GLOBAL FAMILY ® Registered trademark of Martin Engineering Company in the US and other select locations. © 2018 Martin Engineering Company. Additional information can be obtained at www.martin-eng.com/trademarks and www.martin-eng.com/patents. The second form of feedback is in- creased demand. For now, that means the

September 2018 www.coalage.com 35 operating ideas LED Light Reduces Roof Bolter Lighting Glare

by john j. sammarco

lighting fixture is often very close to min- ers working on and around roof bolters (Figure 1), and because many of the cur- rent lighting fixtures distribute light in all directions, resulting in some of the light shining into the mineworker’s eyes. To address these challenges, NIOSH researchers developed the Saturn light, with the main objective of improving the ability of miners to see tripping hazards associated with the walk-thru roof bolter while not creating a glare hazard. A sec- ondary objective was to reduce the size of the light fixture to enable more flexibility for mounting on roof bolters — thus, new mounting locations could potentially pro- vide better illumination of hazards.

The Saturn Light The Saturn light (Figure 2) uses an ar- ray of 12 cool white, downward-facing, Figure 1—The walk-thru roof bolter design enables workers to operate the roof bolter within the light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a sec- machine’s interior, thus reducing exposure to pinning hazards between the machine and rib. ondary optic to provide a highly direc- Photo by J.H. Fletcher & Co. tional, uniform light distribution similar to roadway illumination from streetlights. Fortunately, there is an overall trend of in- lighting roof bolters has been challenging The downward-facing orientation, in creasing mineworker safety in the United given the machine’s size, limited space for conjunction with the secondary optics, States. One example is the rate per 200,000 mounting lighting, and the possibility of ex- enables direct illumination of the surface hours worked of coal mining nonfatal lost- cessive glare due to the worker’s close prox- where tripping hazards are located and re- time injuries was 2.57 during 2009 and it imity to the machine lighting. duces the glare that “stray light” can cause. reduced to 1.99 during 2015 (MSHA, 2015). Newer roof bolting machines employ a The Saturn light takes up only one-third Nevertheless, the need to improve mine- walk-thru design that enables the operator of the volume compared to existing roof worker safety continues. to walk back and forth through the center With this goal in mind, National Insti- of the roof bolter to retrieve materials need- tute for Occupational Safety and Health ed for roof bolting, and the design enables (NIOSH) researchers are specifically focus- them to operate the machine from within ing on lighting to improve the safety of roof the interior space (Figure 1). This newer de- bolter operators. Roof bolting is critical to se- sign improves worker safety by reducing ex- cure the overlying roof strata. Unfortunately, posure to hazards that result in miners being there are also inherent hazards associated struck by the machine or pinned between with roof bolting. During 2004 to 2013, there the rib and the roof bolting machine; how- were 16 fatalities and 3,411 nonfatal lost- ever, tripping hazards are still present. The time injuries, accounting for 64.7% of inju- lighting of the interior work areas is critical. ries at underground coal mines (Sammarco Anecdotal reports suggest that glare et al., 2016). Put simply, roof bolter operators is a frequent complaint among roof bolter need to readily see the surrounding hazards operators, and glare decreases the ability so they can avoid them and work safely. Pro- of the worker to see hazards. There are two viding effective lighting for these operators types of glare: discomfort glare (annoying Figure 2—The small size of the Saturn is a major challenge given that underground or painful sensation) and disability glare light enables greater flexibility in mines are one of the most difficult environ- (impaired or reduced visibility). The issues machine-mounting locations. Photo by ments to illuminate (Rea 2000). Historically, with glare are not surprising given that the NIOSH.

36 www.coalage.com September 2018 operating ideas continued

Researchers also evaluated glare at the Phase 1 and 2 locations. Disability glare was evaluated using the Mars Letter Con- trast Sensitivity Test (Perceptrix, 2018). This standard test uses a chart of letters of decreasing contrast to assess contrast sensitivity. As disability glare increases, the ability to see low contrast letters decreases. The well-established De Boer 9-level rating scale was used as a qualitative method for determining discomfort glare. The rating scale ranges from one (unbearable glare) to nine (just noticeable glare). The value of five is assigned to “just acceptable glare.” Figure 3—The existing illumination provided by traditional lighting for a roof bolter (left). The improved illumination provided by the NIOSH-developed Saturn light (right). Photos by J.H. Fletcher & Co. Results The study results indicated major im- bolter lights that use compact fluorescent detection of trip hazards and glare using provements in detecting trip hazards (Ta- lamp (CFL) technology. The Saturn light the traditional roof bolter lighting and the ble 1) and significant reductions of dis- operates on 120 VAC and consumes about Saturn light mounted on a walk-thru roof comfort glare when using the Saturn light 12 watts of power compared to about 25 bolter. Thirty people participated in the at its full intensity (Sammarco et al., 2018). watts for a traditional roof bolter light. The study, with 10 people in each of the three There were also drastic differences in the Saturn has a useful lifespan of about 30,000 age groups: young 18-25 years old; middle ability of people to see the trip hazards for hours in contrast to about 8,000 hours from 40-50 years old; oldest > 50 years old. Age the Phase 1 location, as quantified by trip traditional CFL roof bolter lighting. The is an important factor because visual abil- object miss rates that were 41.7% when longevity of the Saturn also reduces the ities generally decrease as age increases, using the traditional light, compared to likelihood of maintenance-related injuries and because the median age of a U.S. min- only 0.3% with the Saturn light. These miss and reduces maintenance costs. er is about 45 years. (NMA, 2016). rates are of critical importance because To demonstrate the dramatic difference Testing involved two phases, with workers cannot avoid a trip hazard if they that the Saturn light provides, Figure 3 de- Phase 1 and 2 testing locations depicted do not see it. picts a comparison between the existing in Figure 4. Researchers selected the Phase Table 1 also lists the average detection roof bolter lighting and a single Saturn light 1 location because a lighting survey indi- time for the Saturn and traditional light- mounted on the rear and front of a walk-thru cated that the end of the roof bolter walk- ing. There was a 48.1% and 10.2% reduc- roof bolter. The existing roof bolter lighting way had the lowest levels of illumination. tion in the average trip object detection uses CFLs with amber globes resulting in the Mineworkers travel through the walkway time, respectively, for Phase 1 and 2 loca- yellowish-orange light seen on the left-side to carry materials to the front of the ma- tions with the Saturn light as compared to photos of Figure 3. The intent of the amber chine. Researchers selected the Phase 2 the traditional light. globes is to reduce glare. The Saturn emits a location because it is where the miners Note that the Phase 1 results are more more natural white light and therefore does conduct the drilling and bolting tasks. dramatic than the Phase 2 results because not rely on amber globes to reduce glare. Trip hazard detection was tested using the trip object illuminations were very an electromechanical apparatus, designed different between the two phases. The Scientific Study by NIOSH researchers, that randomly pre- Saturn light provided much greater illu- To test the effectiveness of the Saturn, sented one of six dark-gray, tubular trip ob- mination of the trip objects by a factor of NIOSH conducted a scientific study on the jects 25.4 mm long with an outer diameter 17.5 for Phase 1, thus enabling a dramatic of 3.3 cm and an inner diameter of 2.2 cm. reduction in average miss rate and detec- Trip hazard detection was quantified by the tion time, while the Saturn increased the reaction time for the participant to see a trip illumination by a factor of 2.3 for Phase 2, object and by the number of times a partic- resulting in a more modest reduction in ipant did not see (missed) a trip object. average miss rate and detection time.

Figure 4—Plan view of a walk-thru roof bolter and Phase 1 and Phase 2 testing locations. The circles indicate the locations of the participants, and the ovals indicate the field of view of the participants. Table 1—The average miss rate and detection time for trip-object detection.

September 2018 www.coalage.com 37 operating ideas continued

The discomfort and disability glare re- light to level eight with the Saturn light) on John Sammarco, Ph.D., is a principal re- sults for Phase 1 indicated no statistically the De Boer nine-level glare rating scale. search engineer for the Human Factors significant difference between the Saturn Branch of NIOSH’s Pittsburgh Mining Re- and the traditional lighting. The De Boer Saturn Light Availability search Division. He can be reached at jsam- rating for both lights was eight, indicating The Saturn light is available for commer- [email protected]. For further information on that discomfort glare was not an issue for cialization, and the design documentation NIOSH’s lighting research, go to www.cdc. the Phase 1 location. This is noteworthy be- is available at www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/ gov/niosh/mining/topics/Illumination.html. cause it exemplifies the merits of the Saturn content/saturnarealight.html. The down- light design to provide better illumination loadable ZIP file includes a PDF describing a Acknowledgment to see trip hazards without increasing glare. functional overview of the Saturn light, a RE- The NIOSH research team thanked J.H. The discomfort and disability glare re- ADME file, and numerous individual soft- Fletcher & Co. for access to the roof bolter sults for Phase 2 indicated statistically dif- ware and schematic files created by NIOSH used for this study. ferent results between the Saturn and tradi- and NIOSH partners in this research. The tional lighting. Discomfort glare improved CDC’s Technology Transfer Office has ap- Disclaimer three levels (level five with the traditional proved the public release of these files. The findings and conclusions in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the National Institute for Occupation- al Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mention of any company or product does not constitute endorsement by NIOSH.

References • Mine Safety and Health Administra- tion (MSHA) [2015]. MSHA Fact Sheet: Mine Non-Fatal Lost-Time Injury Rate Both Coal and Metal/Non Metal Mines CY 2009–CY 2015. www.msha.gov/ sites/default/files/Mine%20Non-Fa- tal%20Lost-Time%20Injury%20Rate. pdf. Accessed July 20, 2018. • National Mining Association (NMA) [2016]. Profile of the U.S. Coal Miner, 2016. https://nma.org/wp-content/ uploads/2016/09/coal_miner_pro- file_2016.pdf. Accessed July 11, 2018. • Perceptix [2018). Mars Contrast Sen- sitivity Tests. https://marsperceptrix. com/mars-contrast-sensitivity-tests. Accessed July 17, 2018. • Rea MS (ed.) [2000]. IESNA lighting handbook: reference and application, Ninth ed. New York, NY: Illuminating Engineering Society of North America. • Sammarco JJ, Podlesny A, Rubinstein E, Demich B [2016]. An analysis of roof bolter fatalities and injuries in U.S. mining. Transactions of the Soci- ety for Mining, Metallurgy, & Explora- tion. 340(1): 11–20. • Sammarco JJ, Macdonald B, Dem- ich B, Rubinstein E, Martell M [2018]. LED lighting for improving trip object detection for a walk-thru roof bolter. Lighting Research and Technology. The Society of Light and Lighting. 0; 1-17.

38 www.coalage.com September 2018 suppliers news Liebherr Hosts First Open House in Gillette

bile app is available for free download on Google Play or in the iTunes App Store and searching for “Double Coin Tires.”

Hexagon Acquires Guardvant Hexagon’s Mining division announced the acquisition of Guardvant, a provider of integrated safety solutions for the min- ing industry. Based in Tucson, Arizona, Guardvant currently equips almost 5,000 mining vehicles with fatigue detection technology. The acquisition significantly strengthens the safety portfolio offered by Hexagon’s Mining division, the company reported. Worldwide, more than 30,000 Miners check out the PR 776 dozer at the Liebherr open house. mining vehicles are equipped with Hexa- gon’s collision avoidance system. Liebherr USA, Colorado, hosted its first guests a glimpse of what Liebherr has open house at its Gillette, Wyoming, to offer for the American market. Partnership for Stockpile facility, showcasing products from the Assessment System mining, crane and construction indus- Double Coin Launches New Mobile App BinMaster partnered with Stockpile Reports tries. The focus of the open house was to Double Coin and CMA, a leading tire on a stockpile volume and value assess- showcase the company’s overall service manufacturer and marketer, launched ment and reporting system, available by capabilities at this location and provide a new Double Coin mobile application subscription. The solution will leverage lev- clients with product knowledge across available for both Apple iPhone and el sensors within silos and image process- various machine applications. Android smartphones. ing software to capture and push inventory Current and potential customers The free Double Coin mobile app data to multiple users via a single platform. discussed with Liebherr product spe- uses GPS (Global Positioning System) Dashboards populated with photographs, cialists the benefits of the machines to provide users the ability to search for site statistics, and materials report to dis- on display including the LRT 1090 2.1 Double Coin dealer locations within their parate users the volume, tonnage and con- rough terrain crane, the PR 776 dozer, geographic location as well as a specified dition risks for each pile, BinMaster report- the L 586 wheel loader, and the R 956 radius search or map route. Users can ed. The goal is to provide a single source excavator. To ensure a well-versed expe- also call, share, email, or get directions to of timely and actionable information, col- rience, guests were given guided tours a dealership at the click of a button. lected and processed largely automatical- of the facility to see first-hand how min- “We have more than 1,000 author- ly, on stockpiles for use enterprise-wide, a ing equipment parts are serviced and ized Double Coin dealer locations to capability now in high demand, Stockpile tested for quality. service our customers,” said Tim Phil- Reports reported. The subscription allows “We were excited to educate custom- lips, vice president of marketing and users to track pile inventory on a monthly, ers on the various types of equipment operations for CMA. “This app provides weekly or daily basis. and services that Liebherr USA, Colora- an intelligent and time-saving way for a do, offers, and the opportunity to show- customer to find service and support case our commitment to remanufactur- wherever they are.” ing and warehousing mining equipment The app also provides a tire inflation in the U.S.,” said Shane Kuhlmey, divi- guide. “Proper tire inflation is critical for sional director for Liebherr USA’s Mining the maintenance of your tires. It not only Equipment Division. maximizes tire life, but improves tire Altogether, it provides sales and performance and safety,” added Phillips. service on behalf of nine different di- “Users are able to access recommended visions: construction, mining, mobile tire inflation pressures for all Double and crawler cranes, tower cranes, con- Coin tires 24/7.” The app allows users crete technology, foundation equip- to calculate tire load limits for dual- and The solution, offered by subscription, ment, maritime cranes, components and single-axle applications based on tire puts inventory data on a digital platform. appliances, and the open house gave size and pressure. The Double Coin mo- (Photo: BinMaster)

40 www.coalage.com September 2018 product news Surface Miners Offer Savings in Several Areas

Mine operators for some time now have likewise had a similar, positive impact on working conditions for the machine opera- been increasingly turning to an alterna- dust emissions. In contrast to the dozers tor. The vibrations generated in the 4200 SM tive to conventional rip-and-stack or drill- and wheel loader — all of which generate were rated as “low” according to Australia’s and-blast coal mining: the use of surface considerable quantities of dust — the dust AS 2670-2001 standard, while the ratings for miners. Diverse studies and tests now produced by a surface miner is contained the conventional systems were higher. show that surface miners offer consider- in the cutting-drum housing. A dust sup- The mining technique also offers lower able advantages in terms of both econom- pression system with an integrated water processing costs thanks to reduced fines. ic efficiency and the final product. spray system also helps to additionally re- Coal seams to vary in thickness and can be Wirtgen said the main advantages of duce and bind the dust. separated by interburden layers. Precisely surface mining technology include selec- An analysis of the two mining methods separating the various materials is of tre- tive mining; avoidance of blasting; cutting, further demonstrated that fuel consump- mendous importance if coal is to be mined crushing and loading in a single operation; tion is about 79% lower with surface miners as cost-efficiently as possible, because it maximum exploitation of deposits; and than when using the conventional method. significantly reduces processing costs. An- reduced transport costs. The lower number machines in use addi- other major cost driver in this regard is the Working in collaboration with RWTH tionally has a positive effect on risk man- percentage of fines, because they are much Aachen University, Wirtgen conducted a agement, because fewer machines mean a more costly to process than coarse material. study at a coal mine in Queensland, Austra- reduced risk of accident at the mine. For the study, a total of 100 samples (30- lia. A 4200 SM surface miner was integrated The surface miner’s anti-vibration cab- mt each) were analyzed during operation of into an ongoing operation for the selective in offers better ergonomics and optimized mining of coal and interburden. Previous- ly defined targets were checked regularly to determine if they were being met. The project score card illustrates the advantages of using a surface miner in this mine. The production rates of the surface miner were compared with that of the previously used rip-and-stack method over a period of four months based on various performance in- dicators. The conventional mining system comprises two supersize dozers for ripping and stacking the material and a super-large wheel loader for loading it to dump trucks with 130- to 190-metric-ton (mt) payloads. Compared to the three mining ma- chines the mine previously used, the use of a surface miner significantly reduced noise emissions. Mining with the 4200 SM

September 2018 www.coalage.com 41 product news continued

the surface miner to determine the parti- cle size distribution. Those samples were compared with similar ones taken from the conventional mining equipment and iden- tical mining fields. Significant advantages emerged when working with the surface miner, which produced 14% fewer fines at grain sizes of less than 2 mm compared to the conventional mining system. The por- tion of fines to be processed dropped by 22% at grain sizes of less than 1 mm and even by 36% at grain sizes of less than 0.5 mm. Further savings were achieved by sig- nificantly reducing the quantity of over- size. For example, only 17% of the materi- al mined by the surface miners had to be surface miners produces level surfaces Economical On-site Refueling crushed compared to 26% for the dozers. that serve as stable roadways, supporting Western Global recently introduced the En- Wirtgen surface miners can cut, crush the rapid transport of material. This in- viroCube for convenient, secure and eco- and directly load material onto trucks or creases the transport capacity of the entire nomical on-site refueling and fuel storage. dumpers in a single operation. This saves truck fleet. Even wear on tires, frame and The units lockable cabinet keeps fuel secure time and the additional cost of purchas- suspension is reduced thanks to the quali- and controls access to hoses, ports and fit- ing machinery and fuel. Working with the ty of the roadways, making it possible also tings, protecting them from the elements 4200 SM in the Australian mine resulted in to employ standard on-highway trucks. and theft. Unlike traditional round tanks, the a 79% reduction in fuel consumption per www.wirtgen.de/en EnviroCube stays within height, length and cubic meter of mined material. Labor costs width standards for over-the-road trans- were reduced by 60% and mining unit Tires for Underground Mining port. The EnviroCube also occupies less costs per ton were reduced by 60% com- Bridgestone Americas expanded its off- space on site compared to round tanks of pared to the conventional mining method. the-road (OTR) product portfolio to in- similar capacities. Once on site, contractors The score card clearly demonstrated clude a Bridgestone VSMS2 tire. The tire can move the tank via crane lifting hooks or that — when the entire process chain is is now available in size 29.5R25 in the U.S. four-way forklift pockets. Western Global of- taken into consideration — mine opera- and Canada. Designed for underground fers the tank in four models with capacities tors benefit from tremendous cost reduc- mining, it delivers a 30% decrease in the ranging from 4,966 gallons (18,800 liters) to tions when using a surface miner. frequency of sidewall cuts, improving the 12,329 gallons (46,672 liters). With surface miners, drilling and tire’s overall lifecycle performance by 5%, www.western-global.com blasting can be eliminated. In most cases, according to Bridgestone. planning and execution of blasting work “The Bridge- Premium Heavy-duty Grease is associated with considerable effort, stone VSMS2 is Klüberplex EM 91-151 & 91-152 have been high costs and regulatory restrictions. In the ideal tire for formulated to adhere to metal surfaces and fact, eliminating drilling and blasting re- underground are resistant to water, supporting high-ma- lieves the people responsible of a number mining opera- chine availability, reduced downtime and of challenges. Mine operators no longer tions, and the new low maintenance costs. These heavy-duty need to spend time obtaining the required 29.5R25 size com- greases also offer excellent wear protection, permits, hiring certified blast personnel or pletes our offer- especially under boundary and mixed fric- compiling the associated documentation. ing to give more tion conditions, to meet the specifications Furthermore, moving away from drilling customers access of well-known machine manufacturers. The and blasting has a very positive impact on to trusted, heavy- greases also have a strong resistance to con- public opinion, meaning that open-cast duty, off-the-road tamination and corrosion and can be used mining operations can proceed without performance,” said Rob Seibert, director, for the lubrication of bolts, pins, guide bush- causing friction in a community. marketing, off-the-road tires, commercial es, chassis, components, joints, fasteners, The use of a surface miner also has a group, Bridgestone Americas. leaf springs and sliding, and rolling bearings positive effect on water management at an The VSMS2 has a deeper tread pattern in mining machines. open-cast mine. The cut surfaces are lev- to provide longer wear and protection in se- www.klueber.com eled and can be cut at an angle. Drainage vere operating environments. A heavy-du- is further improved as a result and water ty, durable radial-casing design extends tire Rotary Drill Bit seepage into the ground is reduced. life. A tread wear indicator allows for easy Sandvik recently introduced the RR441 ro- The major cost factor in open-cast visual recognition of the depth of wear. tary bit with an advanced cutting structure mining is haulage. Mining with Wirtgen www.bridgestoneamericas.com design. The RR441 is an improved version

42 www.coalage.com September 2018 product news continued

of the RR440, de- cranes can be retrofitted thanks to the stan- signed to last up to dardized interface of the JDN RC. 140% longer than www.jdngroup.com comparable rotary bits. With an ex- Medium-voltage Switchgear tended bit life and Schneider Electric announced CBGS-0, a fewer bit changes, gas-insulated switchgear with solid dielec- the RR441 max- tric busbar for applications up to 38 kilo- imizes drilling volts, 2,000 A and 31.5kA. uptime, providing The CBGS-0 includes a grounded and lower cost per me- is tough enough for everyday mine use, shielded solid insulated bus system, in- ter and setting a and water resistance to more than 40 ft. stalled in the top rear part of the switch- new industry standard. RR441 sizes range www.go-mpsinc.com gear, outside the SF6 compartment — this from 171 mm to 406 mm (6 ¾ in. to 16 in.). means no gas handling is required during www.sandvik.com Radio Remote-control Hoists installation, expansions or section re- JD Neuhaus (JDN), a leader in air hoists, placement. Shielded solid insulation and Cap Lamp cranes, trolleys and monorail hoists, has sealed-for-life gas tank protect the medi- Mine & Process Service now offers the further enhanced their remote control ca- um-voltage components from aggressive upgraded Lite 2 miner’s light from Wis- pabilities. Three remote-control models are atmospheres, dirt, dust and vermin. The dom. The compact, self-contained min- now available, RC-X, RC S and RC-SP, each materials used also inhibit oxidation in the er’s light weighs only 6 ounces (oz), of- comprising a transmitter and receiver and busbar and circuit breaker compartments fers one of the brightest beams available all can either be integrated in existing JDN and provide for a stable gas system. for an MSHA-approved cap lamp, and is solutions or directly combined with a new CBGS-0 is also designed to reduce also one of the lowest costs to purchase JDN hoist. The receiver is rigid and has an maintenance and downtime, and maxi- and maintain. The internal batteries re- extremely compact design. All components mize floor space. The compact and modular place heavy, belt-mounted battery packs, are housed in a space-saving, shock-resis- switchgear offers both flexibility and a long, and have been enhanced to offer up to tant GRP (glass-reinforced plastic) casing low-maintenance service life, making it an 18 hours of continuous use after only a featuring protection class IP65 (dust and ideal choice for those with limited space. The 4-hour charge. The polycarbonate casing water protected). Existing JDN hoists and design of the modern switchgear equipment is significantly smaller than legacy models — reducing floor space by up to 60%. Wounded Warrior Project Schneider Electric said this equip- gives families hope. ment is maintenance-free for 10 years, or 10,000 cycles. www.schneider-electric.com

Effective Road Dust Control Momar Inc., a manufacturer of specialty chemicals, recently introduced the Resinator, a dynamic road and soil enhancer designed specifically for use on unpaved roads in and around sensitive habitats. The product has WOWOUNDEDUNDED WARRIOR been approved by the Penn State Center for JASON EHRHART AND HIS PARENTSPARENTS Dirt and Gravel Road Studies, making it one of only six products that meet their stringent environmental requirements for high perfor- mance under heavy-traffic conditions. Even after 30 days and more than 10,000 vehicle passes, Resinator reduces airborne dust by more than 90%. Momar provides project oversight from the initial survey through the post-application monitoring. The compa- SUPPORT WOUNDED VETERANS AT iamlivingproofwwp.org ny delivers Resinator on site, and supplies or recommends certified, trained drivers

©2018 Wounded Warrior Project, Inc. All Rights Reserved. to complete the application. http://momar.com/resinator

44 www.coalage.com September 2018 MINING MARKETPLACE Resource Center FREE TOOLS FOR YOUR CAREER SUCCESS. Free case studies, white papers, presentations, business forecasts, and more. All designed to help you do business better.

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46 www.coalage.com September 2018 ADVERTISING INDEX

...... PAGE ...... PAGE Cincinnati Mine Machinery Co...... IBC Martin Engineering Co...... 35 Coal Age Website ...... 43 MetCoke 2018 (Smithers Apex)...... 34 Double Coin Tires/CMA ...... BC Mining Media Int’l - Social Media...... 38 Elgin Separation Solutions ...... 3 Polydeck Screen Corp ...... 32 ERIKS North America...... False Cover Precision Pulley & Idler (PPI)...... 13 Haulage & Loading 2019...... 39 Richwood ...... 25 Hilliard Corp ...... 29 Sandvik Mining ...... 33 Hitachi Mining ...... 9 SEMCO Publishing - Resource Center...... 45 J.H. Fletcher & Co...... IFC Somerset Coal Int’l...... 21 Jennmar Corp...... 23 World Mining Equipment (WME) ...... 47 Longwall USA 2019 ...... 14-15 Wounded Warrior Project Inc...... 44

This index is provided as an additional service. The publisher does not assume liability for errors or omissions.

September 2018 www.coalage.com 47 legally speaking Mining is Critical Infrastructure

by erik dullea

There are two types Who is the Threat? Develop a plan that contains action- of companies in The FBI categorizes cyber threats into able items — This can mirror your acci- America — those three groups: organized crime rings; dent/emergency response plan. It will who have been foreign governments stealing intellec- have detailed steps that include the names hacked and those tual property and research and devel- or titles of individuals who perform specif- who don’t know opment data from manufacturers; and ic tasks and when those tasks need to be they’ve been hacked. terrorist groups intent on causing harm. performed. The gravity of this In recent years, criminal and terror- Invest in employee training to protect statement is even more troubling for ist cyberattacks have shifted from fed- the company’s networks, and obtain the the mining industry and your role in the eral agencies and financial institutions, required authorizations to monitor the nation’s critical infrastructure. The con- instead targeting city governments and networks. Employees must understand nection between coal and critical infra- hospitals. The impetus for the shift is that they play a vital role in protecting the structure should be obvious — imagine that the former have invested in cyber company from cyberattacks. the chaos and panic that would arise if protection while the latter have not, Invest in network protection equipment large American cities were deprived of even though cities and hospitals are to detect and limit the harm caused by a electrical power for weeks on end. Run- vulnerable due to their reliance on cyberattack, including intrusion detection ning water and transportation systems computers to function. Another form of systems and devices for email traffic filtering would fail, businesses would close, and cyberattack is business email compro- and scrubbing, off-site data backup loca- food shortages would begin. mise — scamming employees to send tions and data loss prevention techniques. Federal law defines critical infra- payments and fund transfers to crimi- Ensure your general counsel is familiar structure as the “systems and assets, nals’ bank accounts. with your cyber incident response plan. whether physical or virtual, so vital to Most companies view preparing for Consider giving the company’s infor- the United States that the incapacity or cyberattacks as a drain on the balance mation security expert a direct-line report destruction of such systems and assets sheet. However, corporate leaders have not only to the chief information officer would have a debilitating impact on se- legal and fiduciary responsibilities to but also to the general counsel. This en- curity, national economic security, na- protect customer and employee data, ables risk mitigation discussions and early tional public health or safety.” Coal-fired payment card industry (PCI) data and response activities to be covered by attor- electrical plants, the coal that supplies shareholder value. Early planning can ney-client privilege. them, and the railroads that deliver the have a positive effect on the company’s Align other company policies with the coal are part of our critical infrastruc- financial performance when the com- cyber incident response plan objectives, ture. Homeland Security is responsible pany experiences its first cyberattack, to include the notification requirements if for identifying those systems where a and that attack will happen. a cyberattack is suspected. cybersecurity incident could reasonably Verify your law enforcement points of have “catastrophic regional or national How do we Prepare? contact well in advance of a real incident effects on public health or safety, eco- By adopting a mindset that your company — these would likely be the closest FBI nomic security or national security.” will experience a cyber incident, develop- field office. Although mining companies spend ing a response plan and rehearsing that Brief the plan to owners/board of significant time and resources on plan gives your company the best chance directors who are responsible for risk physical safety and security, we need to limit the damage, resume production, management. to address virtual safety and security. and aid law enforcement in identifying the Review the plan annually at a minimum. Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and people involved. Consider applying the Rehearse the plan with simulated cy- Supervisory Control and Data Acquisi- following checklist to design your plan or ber incidents and data breaches. tion (SCADA) systems enable modern to review an existing plan. Companies think they can seamless- industries to operate in a safe, reliable Identify the company’s crown jewels ly transition to their backup systems, but manner, but ICS and SCADA systems — essentially the software, systems, and in most cases, they discover the recovery are increasingly targeted by cyberat- data that the company must have to con- process is much harder than imagined. tacks because they are vital to critical tinue operations and survive. infrastructure. ICS and SCADA attacks Separate your administrative (e.g., Husch Blackwell partner Erik Dullea is a are worrisome because hacking those payroll) and operational (e.g., ICS/SCA- retired military intelligence officer. He will systems can cause physical damage to DA) networks from each other so a breach complete his master’s degree in cybersecu- equipment and harm to personnel. of one does not contaminate the other. rity law this year.

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