Engineering & Mining Journal

MAR 2016

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USA, a manufacturer of dripline products for the mining industry, called attention to its new monitoring and control solution designed to improve operational productivi- ty. Available as a complete package of soft- ware, hardware and support equipment, Netafim's system uses proven radio and cell-based technology to provide real-time control and monitoring of the leaching process from a single location. The system provides the capability to remotely monitor solution flow onto the pad, and immediate- ly respond to any problems detected. "Automation and data logging tech- nologies have been incorporated into near- ly every facet of modern mining operations, but when it comes to the leaching pro- cess…most mines still employ the very inefficient process of manual monitoring and troubleshooting," said Karen McHale, North American sales and engineering manager for Netafim USA's Mining Division. "We are able to give mines preci- sion control technology that eliminates the need for teams of workers to manually walk miles and miles of leach pads on a daily basis in search of a potential problem." The automated system incorporates moveable equipment that contain radio or cellular controls, control and air valves, meters, gauges and other components designed to collect and store crucial data that mine operators can use to improve operations and maintenance, as well as to identify problems such as line plugging that can wreak havoc on a leaching system. "Infusing automation into the leaching process means mines can work with small- er teams supported by a real-time assess- ment of the leaching process without leav- ing the office. By turning on the leach pad, mines are able to benefit from increased efficiency and reallocate manpower needs to other areas of the mining operation," said McHale. E&MJ; spoke with Mike Stoll, director of sales and marketing for Netafim USA's Industrial division, about the design intent and specifics of the system: E&MJ; : How has Netafim incorporated automation into the leach process? Stoll: Netafim is a solutions provider in the mining industry that includes dripline, air vents, flowmeters, flushing packages and other valves. From the perspective of how Netafim dripline products are utilized in heap leaching, the process has not histori- cally featured very much automation. That means that there is a large manpower requirement to oversee the day-to-day per- formance of the pads. The Netafim system minimizes the manpower required and allows the site to direct personnel to a spe- cific and known problem. It does this by pro- viding real-time data to a central location so that any maintenance that needs to be per- formed is being done because it is required rather than just being done to cover bases. Netafim is taking manual operation out of the equipment in the leach circuit and allowing data to be collected regularly and equipment to be turned on/off from a cen- tral location. Personnel do not have to walk the pad to collect data or flush the drip- lines. It can all be done from a laptop. E&MJ; : What are the primary components of Netafim's automation technology for leach pads? Stoll: The control and automation system consists of Remote Terminal Units (RTUs), antennas, repeaters, base station and the software (server or cloud-based) to operate it. The equipment that can be controlled consists of valves, flow meters, sensors and other equipment or instrumentation. From the standpoint of cost and sup- port, the ability of the Netafim system to be cloud-based is one of its most attractive MARCH 2016 • E&MJ; 41 www.e-mj.com H E A P L E A C H

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