CSIRO and Joy team up for longwall automation

Dr Mike Williams chief of CSIRO exploration and mining

Dr Mike McWilliams, Chief of CSIRO Exploration & Mining has signed an agreement to commercialise mining automation technology with Mark Finlay, the Managing Director of Joy Australasia, an OEM of longwall mining equipment. The agreement, signed at the Queensland Centre for Advanced Technologies, will provide Joy with a worldwide non-exclusive licence for the commercialisation of CSIRO’s underground longwall automation system, LASC technology.

Mark Finlay says “This contract will enhance our existing longwall mining solutions and contribute towards optimising longwall equipment performance in changing seam conditions.”

Longwall coal mining accounts for nearly 90 per cent of underground coal production in Australia, totalling more than 70 million tonnes a year. With funding from the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP), CSIRO has developed new technologies to locate and guide coal cutting equipment in longwall mines.

“The goal was to provide automated systems that would improve productivity and move people away from a hazardous working environment,” says Dr David Hainsworth, Senior Principal Research Engineer with CSIRO Exploration & Mining.

The main components of the LASC automation system include face alignment, horizon control, communications and operator interface, and information systems. Pre-commercial prototypes of the technology have been operating at three Australian mines, including Xstrata’s Beltana longwall mine for a number of months. Non-exclusive licence agreements with other Australian and overseas longwall equipment manufacturers are expected to follow shortly.

ACARP Executive Director Mr Mark Bennetts commented “It is an exciting moment to see technologies developed with the assistance of ACARP funding being made available to the coal industry by a major global manufacturer. For ACARP, it is an ideal outcome, resulting from extensive and close cooperation between CSIRO, industry and the manufacturers.”

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