On May 13, underground in NFCA’s Chambishi copper mine in Zambia’s Copperbelt, a mining TBM officially began operations with the slow start of cutterhead rotation. The TBM was developed by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation Ltd (CRCHI), based in Changsha, Hunan.
This represents CRCHI says not only the debut of China’s first mining TBM exported to Africa, but also a historic milestone for underground mining construction in Africa – moving away from traditional drill-and-blast methods and entering a new era of mechanised and intelligent tunnelling.
The tunnel of the Southeast Orebody Project at Chambishi extends up to 9.7 km and faces multiple challenges, including continuous hard rock conditions, fault zones and high ground temperatures. To overcome these complex geological challenges, CRCHI specially designed and manufactured this TBM with an excavation diameter of 5.63 m, an overall length of approximately 130 m, and a total weight of about 800 t.
The CRCHI R&D team adopted a series of innovative technologies, including a modular design, a targeted design for small radius turning, and a trackless backup system. The machine is designed with a minimum horizontal turning radius of 50 m and can adapt to a maximum gradient of ±15°, enabling flexible operation in confined underground spaces.
At the same time, the machine is equipped with an auxiliary gripper system, an immediate support system, and a geological prediction system, allowing it to effectively respond to complex geological conditions. In addition, the customised high-efficiency cooling system and the cutter monitoring system CRCHI says significantly enhance operator comfort and operational safety.
The deployment of the TBM will enable one-pass tunnel excavation and lining, CRCHI says fundamentally solving the long-standing problems of excessive overbreak and underbreak, as well as irregular tunnel profiles associated with traditional construction methods.
Mechanised operation will significantly reduce the number of personnel required at the excavation face, freeing workers from higher risk blasting and support operations. The project it adds also provides “a model for transformative change in African mining construction.”
As an important part of Africa’s first digital mining project, the deployment of this equipment will provide strong tunnel access support for the construction targets of Chambishi copper mine. NFCA plans to achieve an annual mining and ore processing capacity of 3.3 Mt and an annual copper concentrate output of 60,000 t of contained copper.
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