Abstract
Railveyor is safe, autonomous, and cost-effective material haulage system for the smarter, Net Zero mine of the future. This proven technology offers a pathway to decarbonize material haulage in the mining industry, which is a significant contributor to diesel fuel consumption and resultant emissions. The Railveyor system at Goldex Mine in Val-d’Or, Canada, has been operating since 2018. Recently, NRCan-CanmetMINING performed a study of the Goldex application and measured the Railveyor system’s energy consumption for hauling under the conditions present at the mine site, which included a steep ramp (18%) and heat dissipation when traveling down. The Goldex Mine study results aligned closely with Railveyor’s estimated energy consumption that formed the basis of the original commercial proposal to the customer. In addition to the field study results, the Railveyor model estimate can also include the potential for energy recovery, which can be leveraged to assess energy consumption for other operational conditions and duty cycles. A few examples are presented to illustrate the use of the energy consumption estimate. Current and future Railveyor projects are also described to showcase how the Railveyor technologies is helping the mining industry on the path to Net Zero.