Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/517266
32 www.resourceworld.com j u n e / j u l y 2 0 1 5 LTA Aerostructures (LTA), which designs, develops and produces airships that deliver heavy and oversized loads, recently announced it plans to invest $90 million over three years at a manufacturing facility at Mirabel, Québec, 45 km northwest of Montreal. One of its partners is the Québec government. LTA is making two sizes of air ships. A small, 10-tonne, 80 metre long vehicle will be able to carry a 22,000 lb payload, the equivalent of four pick-up trucks or one small dozer. The larger version weighs 70 tonnes, is 145 metres long and has a pay- load of 60,000 lb, the equivalent of about one rail car full of iron ore. "We plan to build 12 ships per year," said LTA President and CEO, Michael Dyment. "We're in discussion with several Canadian mining companies to be the com- pany's first customers." The LTA air ships have a lenticular design. "They're very low profile, with a flattened, oval shape," Dyment said. "They look a little like a flying lima bean." The air ships are made of tough, lattice-based carbon fibre composites, which make them unaffected by cold and they perform well in high winds. The airships achieve lift with helium, which is a safe, inert gas, and are powered by four powerful turboprop engines of 1,000 horsepower each. Dyment, who is an aeronautical engi- neer, says airships are a cost-effective alternative where the delivery of materi- als presents major logistical challenges. "Remote areas like the far north in Canada and landlocked parts of Africa have no roads, and many remote mines can't justify the cost of building a road into a distant area," he said. Dyment says an air ship is like a road or rail line in the sky. "And air ships have greater lifting capacity than a helicopter," he said. "They can lift as much as a C-130 cargo plane. They can pick up an empty rig in Edmonton and fly it to the middle of nowhere." Take-off and landing is similar to heli- copters – straight up and down, with no need for long runways – which means air ships are also environmentally-friendly. "This form of transportation reduces the need to build often intrusive and eco- logically harmful infrastructures," he said. "The technology can be used in remote and inaccessible areas without altering the natural ecosystem." Dyment says Canada in general, and Québec in particular, are major markets for transportation by airships in remote north- ern areas where there is an abundance of natural resources. In addition to manufacturing the air ships, LTA will operate them. "We have the capacity when you need it," Dyment said. "Most of our customers will be min- ing, mineral exploration, oil and gas and hydro companies, as well as First Nations." Further west of LTA, in Brantford, Ontario, Solar Ship Inc. builds hybrid aircraft to service remote areas. "They gain lift from buoyant gas and aerodynamics," said Solar Ship CEO Jay Godsall. Godsall says his company is in the tradition of Canadian bush planes. "Canada has a good east-west rail and truck system," he said. "What we need now is a north-south air network. Without one, we risk losing control of our coun- try." Godsall says Solar Ship is a new type of transportation that does not depend on fossil fuels, roads or runways. "Our hybrid cargo aircraft occupies an unfilled capability gap in transport solutions for hard-to-get-to places, faster than a truck and more flexible than an aircraft," he said. Godsall says the Solar Ship features advanced aerodynamics, synthetic textile laminates, smart electronics, lightweight batteries and high-efficiency photovol- airships to serve the mining sector by Peter Caulfield miNiNg