It is no secret that mining is one of the oldest professions in the world. It originates from a moment when a wise man, or "Homosapien", began to make tools for hunting and labor using pieces of the pebble as a cutting tool.

History studies tell us that, as civilization developed, there were three stages in the evolution of human society called the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age.

We already talked about the Stone Age at the beginning of this article, and the Bronze Age is when men learned to get bronze by melting copper and tin and combining them into one alloy, which was hard and resistant to corrosion.

Following the Bronze Age came the Iron Age. We can confidently call that period the heyday of many empires because, following the development of technology for building materials manufacturing , smelting of weapons developed as well, and, as a result, empires grew.

As for the modern period, a new concept of human evolution is being introduced. At the end of the 19th century, humanity began to learn the matter of the atom, the smallest "brick" of the universe. This period can be characterized as the Atomic Age. Nuclear energy, or the peaceful atom, marked scientific progress and is still the greatest invention of the 20th century.

The periods of civilization advancement described above are all closely connected with the process of mining, processing, and enrichment of minerals. Just look around you, wherever you are, everything that is being used today, including telephones, computers, cars, buildings and structures, household appliances, luxury items, etc., is a direct or indirect product of mining.

Based on all that was said before, we can declare with all confidence that all of us at Borusan Cat are contributing to the advancement of the mining industry by providing equipment for our clients' mining purposes, offering solutions to increase mining volumes and reduce ownership costs, maintaining equipment with minimal downtime, so our clients could sell raw materials to world markets, which in turn would help industrial development not only in our region but also around the world.

Hourly equipment downtime that arises due to various breakdowns can range from a thousand to several tens of thousands of US dollars, depending on the mining volumes and the type of minerals mined at the field. By solving several issues to help our customers minimize equipment downtime we influence the final cost of the product; and, since everything is interconnected, Borusan Cat is one of the key players in this chain, ensuring that its customers stay in the profitability zone.

It is public knowledge that the mining industry is undergoing significant changes in terms of automation and digitalization. While the first concept came to light in the 50-the 60s of the last century with the introduction of finished product manufacturing processes automation which replaced manual labor, the second concept came to us relatively recently but has firmly taken its place not only among many customers but also in our company. Digitization helps us and our clients receive all the necessary information in real time. It goes without doubt that Borusan Cat keeps pace with innovations and offers modern solutions. Though we shall expect the introduction of artificial intelligence into some processes to be the next step, I will not get ahead of myself and will shift this issue to the time and specialists who work closely on this matter.

Today, we have already heard about the transition of some mining companies to gasification and electrification of mining equipment. This trend is associated primarily with an increase in the cost of fuels and lubricants, as well as a reduction in emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere, or decarbonization. While there seems to be no rush regarding the issue of equipment gasification, significant progress has been made on the matter of equipment electrification. Many foreign companies are completely switching to the electrification of not only their ground equipment but also the underground one. As far as ground equipment goes, dump trucks with a diesel trolley system are actively used. Simply put, you can compare this to a trolleybus with a body moving along a certain section, which is connected by a pantograph mechanism. With the correct setting of the production technology at the field of this type of equipment and the construction of an electric line with a permanent unchanging haulage road, it is possible to save part of the operating costs not only for diesel fuel, but also for the main components of moving vehicles, and if we also remove environmental fines for harmful emissions from the cost item, significant cost savings can be achieved. As for the underground equipment, since underground mining has quite limited working space, pneumatic wheeled loading and hauling equipment uses removable rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

Customers often think that this technology will be more expensive. This idea is debatable. Without a doubt, it shall be considered that batteries are a new capital expenditure item. But in fact, they quickly pay off due to the savings in diesel fuel. In addition, there is no diesel engine, gearbox, or torque converter in the car, which means that during the operating time there will be no need to overhaul these units. Given these factors, the total cost of ownership is unlikely to exceed that of a diesel forklift. Most likely, with the spread of battery technology and an increase in mining volumes, costs will decrease. In addition, these calculations do not consider the potential for reducing heat generation and mine ventilation costs.

Certainly, in the future, the trend of electrification and gasification of equipment will only increase as environmental laws become stricter, the cost of diesel fuel rises every year, and mining companies seek to reduce the cost of equipment ownership. At the same time, the technology for improving lithium-ion batteries and gas engines is undergoing significant changes. New less metal-intensive materials are used in internal combustion engines, and the specific energy intensity of lithium-ion batteries increases with a decrease in the number of recharges using a fast-charging system.

Due to many countries gradually transitioning to a green economy, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy, electric vehicles, as well as infrastructure that stores renewable energy, will be increasingly used, and implemented. In this regard, we can predict the rise of the demand for basic non-ferrous and ferrous metals, which will be followed by a rise in prices for metals as an expected result of the increase in demand and a decrease in supply as a result of recent political decisions in the world and depletion of reserves in some countries.

The coronavirus pandemic and recent global political changes dictate new business rules for many companies, including us. The laid logistic routes used to transport the goods have changed over the years, affecting the timing of delivery and manufacture of equipment, and the latter, in turn, affect the timing of the launch of enterprises forcing our customers to make adjustments to the work schedule. In a newly changing world, either strong or the well-prepared companies win. But there is also a third, flexible, type of company acting like water does - filling an empty or vacant "vessel", offering new solutions and opening new opportunities, having a positive effect on business growing process. In this regard, it is necessary to study the alternative mining methods in the areas where, due to certain current prohibitions, the use of traditional mining practices is impossible. Conducting a direct dialogue with customers and identifying weak spots will help understand the vulnerabilities and set up the use of alternative technology with a new type of equipment or a similar one. Of course, this will not happen all at once, but thanks to the above-mentioned actions, we will be able to open new horizons for ourselves and, possibly, solve the problems of many customers.

Having worked for a certain period in the Application Department of Borusan Cat and gained some experience, I can declare that this department taught me a lot, including making a feasibility study for the application of a particular technology. The work of this department helps our clients understand the amount of required equipment depending on mining volumes at the initial stages of a start-up. At the next stages, efficiency of the used equipment is considered, the efficiency of not only productivity but also the speed of work with the calculation of each cycle, as well as after-sales support with the provision of reports to customers identifying weak areas where special attention should be paid to increase productivity and reduce downtime, up to a reduction in the cost of operational performance and repairs.

I cannot but note that the Application Department has been providing weighing services for heavy dump trucks to our customers for 8 years; moreover, this year Borusan Cat Kazakhstan purchased a scanner that scans the body of empty and loaded dump trucks. This type of service helps our customers understand the volumes of rock mass they transport, the density of the transported material lying in each body, and the placement of cargoes both on the front and rear axles, on the left and right sides of the body. Of course, providing this kind of information to our customers with recommendations on how to increase the service life of equipment brings us additional value.

Extensive indicators that reveal the potential for further development of the company and conducting modern business in a changing world, in my opinion, are the outsourcing and consulting services that we offer to our clients in those locations where they are currently required. Evidently, consulting services are needed if significant changes occur in clients' companies due to internal or external factors. All this, of course, is food for thought, and I will leave that to you, Dear Reader.

 "Borusan Cat" has always been well-known for its personnel, who received high-quality education not only outside the company but also within its walls. That allows the company to maintain and increase the quality and quantity of its employees, which will create conditions and generate new ideas with an increase in the company's intellectual capital because it is impossible to make intelligent calculations without the participation of a person.

As my essay comes to an end, I would like to finish it with the following metaphor, "Hardened iron has one substantial drawback - its excessive fragility". The addition of carbon will help significantly reduce the fragility, and that is how the steel is alloyed; several impurities of other metals are added as well to increase its hardness, corrosion resistance, and elasticity.

I love everything creative and believe that science is the engine of progress.

Ruslan Yegemberdiyev

Author

I’m Ruslan I’m a Ph.D. Candidate in the field of mining. I have been working at Borusan Cat for the 11th year. I love everything creative and believe that science is the engine of progress. I'm fond of material arts, especially judo. I could have been a great drummer, if only I had spent more time on it.