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Resource World - April-May 2018 - Vol 16 Issue 3

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62 www.resourceworld.com A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 1 8 MININGWORLD The LR3 Boom Lift, a high reach/heavy load utility vehicle. photo credits: James Hodgins, Mining Industrial Photographer, used with permission. Battery electric BT3 Boom Truck. Photo credit, James Hodgins, used with permission. H eadquartered in Collingwood, Ontario, and serving some 23 countries, MacLean Engineering has been developing underground mining equipment for over 45 years. Family-owned MacLean Engineering has a large manufac- turing footprint. Besides the main offices, the company has a 65,000 square foot facility in Collingwood, a 60,000 square foot facility in Owen Sound and an 85,000 square foot facility in Barrie, all in Ontario. Across Canada, MacLean Engineering has offices in Sudbury, Ontario; Thompson, Manitoba; Creighton, Saskatchewan and Val-d'Or, Québec. They also have branches in Mexico, Peru, South Africa and Australia. The company has a presence in just about every mining camp globally and employs ~600 individuals. After returning from successfully presenting at a busy PDAC Conference, Anthony Griffiths, Product Manager Fleet Electrification, Mining Division at MacLean Engineering, spoke to Resource World about the changing mining equip- ment industry. Griffiths said, "Three years ago we started out battery electrifying one of our mining vehicles, a MacLean bolter. That started us out on this path that we are on now – full fleet electrification." He said that interest in battery operated mining vehicles has grown since. "This year, many compa- nies want to come and see a demo or have a demo done on their site. We have just sold a unit to Vale in the Sudbury basin. We are starting to see interest translate into pur- chase orders. After PDAC this year, we have been extremely busy responding to interest and providing quotes." Maclean Engineering provides ground support, utility vehicles and a suite of equipment they call ore flow facilitation which is used primarily in block caving mining methods. They also solve high hang-up problems and reduce oversize after blasting. Griffiths said, "We don't do big haul trucks or scoops but we do every- thing else in the mining business." Griffiths said interest is coming from mining jurisdictions worldwide, "Just yesterday we had an inquiry from Mexico about acquiring battery powered equip- ment." The company recently did a presentation to an international group as a direct result of PDAC. "They wanted to see our battery system. We are anticipating a very busy year and it looks like next year will be even busier based on the amount of requested quotes," said Griffiths. "We now have six units operating with another three to be delivered at the end of the month and we have another fourteen MacLean Engineering Interest in electric mining vehicles turning into purchase orders by Kathrine Moore

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