We recently confirmed global mining and tunnelling equipment and solutions company Normet as a top sponsor for The Electric Mine 2024, with the Finland-headquartered company having booked Platinum sponsorship for the event. The event, being held May 21-24 at the Crown Perth in Western Australia, will see Normet participate in a keynote panel in the conference line-up as well as showcasing a Normet electric machine via one of the larger ‘Gigawatt’ booths in the exhibition. This lead sponsorship is very apt given the rapid rise of Normet’s SmartDrive® battery electric utility equipment platform in recent years.
SmartDrive is a modular battery electric vehicle (BEV) architecture designed to optimise energy consumption and performance. It includes the latest Li-ion battery technology with a fast-charging capability. High-torque electric motors supply instant torque and efficient operation without any local emissions. The fully reversible 4WD ensures safe and sure movement in difficult underground conditions. Built-in energy recuperation technology maximises the storing of regenerative braking energy during downhill driving and deacceleration.
In addition, efficient hydraulic dual-circuit oil immersed brakes supply additional braking power when it is needed. Normet SmartDrive equipment’s batteries can be charged at any time from typical underground AC-sockets. For demanding operations, optional fast-chargers can charge batteries quickly during operation or a break – there is no need for costly battery swapping. Normet equipment are fully compatible with the universal CCS fast charging standard.
The range of machines today includes BEV Spraymec concrete sprayers; Utilift scissor lifts; Charmec multipurpose chargers; Utimec transmixers; and Multimec multifunctional carriers. These machines have had success worldwide and in a number of cases have been the first BEVs to deploy at major mines such as at Oyu Tolgoi, Sindesar Khurd and Efemçukuru.
Normet has been operating in and supporting the Australian market for many years, with offices and workshops throughout the country. Notable SmartDrive successes include Australia’s first battery-powered vehicle for underground explosive charging, a Charmec, that arrived at OZ Minerals’ Carrapateena in 2020 for work with Enaex Australia; then a trial with contract miner Barminco at IGO’s Nova operation in 2021 and a third Charmec trial with contract miner Byrnecut at Gold Fields’ Invincible operation in 2021/2022.
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