LKAB buys autonomous loaders from Sandvik

"This is an important investment for better flexibility and safe and efficient production," says Joel Kangas, mine manager at LKAB in Kiruna.

The 12 loaders are equipped to run autonomously, through remote control. Seven of them are electric and five are diesel vehicles. The electric loader is Sandvik's largest and most powerful electric loader, developed specifically for LKAB's needs. The machines are manufactured in Sandvik's factory in Turku (Åbo), Finland.

The daily haulage capacity of the machines is 25 tons with a bucket size of nine cubic meters. The loader operators can control the machines far away from the production areas. One operator can control several machines simultaneously.

LKAB operates five loaders remotely now and plans to gradually increase the number.

“This investment will ensure greater stability in production, round the clock. This means, for example, that more machines can be used for remote loading at night and after blasting, which is not possible with manually operated machines, due to the blasting gases that are generated,” says Joel Kangas. 

LKAB has a total of 28 loading machines in the Kiruna mine. The number will remain unchanged as more and more older machines are replaced by remote-controlled ones. In the long term, all machines will also be electrically powered.

Lennart Håkansson

editor@northswedenbusiness.com