Engineering & Mining Journal

OCT 2017

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

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NARROW VEIN OCTOBER 2017 • E&MJ; 57 www.e-mj.com applications. For several years, the com- pany has designed bolters, jumbo drills and scalers specifically for narrow-vein applications. Now, they are looking at ways to further refine this product line. Fletcher's N3016-AD/E bolter can in- stall bolts and mesh in a 3-m x 3-m head- ing. The Model 3114 bolter can operate safely in headings as narrow as 8 ft and it has a remarkably small turning radius. The J101 jumbo is a face drill that works well for narrow-vein applications. More recently, they have been promoting the 3224-AD, a narrow-heading scaler. Fletcher supplies equipment world- wide, but they have been customizing more equipment recently for North Amer- ican miners, who are asking for various features to be added to their equipment. "Much of the conversation these days revolves around the power system," said Ben Hardman, vice president of sales for Fletcher. "Some miners prefer a straight diesel, while others are interested in a full function diesel-electric or possibly a hy- brid battery arrangement." With the standard diesel-electric pack- age, the operators would tram the ma- chine using diesel power and then they run on electricity in the heading to reduce the concentration of diesel particulate matter. Some contractors may not have power to a certain part of the mine, Hard- man explained, so they would prefer the full diesel option. "The battery option has been discussed quite frequently," Hard- man said. "Narrow-vein applications will likely use the hybrid-type arrangements as the batteries can be quite large." In the hybrid configuration, the operators would tram the machine into the heading using battery power and then recharge the battery while the machine is drilling. Fletcher has placed a lot of narrow-vein machines in copper and gold mining oper- ations in Ontario, Canada, and the western US. They also view Mexico as a developing market. "We have not sold one there yet, but we are taking some machines to the mining conference this month in Guada- lajara," Hardman said. Fletcher's Mexican Scan for more information Fletcher made some modifications to its 3224-AD narrow-heading scaler, such as placing the cab in the center, to allow it to access tighter mining conditions.

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