Located in the city of Mejillones in Chile, Terminal Graneles del Norte (TGN) has ordered three Konecranes Rail-Mounted Gantry (RMG) cranes with a high level of automation, to handle copper concentrate in intermodal operation.
The RMGs will handle special containers that carry copper concentrate, offloading full containers from trains and trucks, and loading them with empty containers, according to Alfredo Ramirez, regional sales manager Americas, Konecranes port solutions.
“These RMG cranes will work in a special intermodal operation serving trucks and trains arriving from one of the largest copper mines in the world,” stated Ramirez.
The cranes, which will be the first of this kind to be delivered to South America, are projected to arrive in TGN by May 2023 and will be equipped with the features such as gantry collision prevention, auto-truck guiding and truck lift prevention.
They will also support the intermodal operation that will be automated as an integrated system, while container stacking, including discharging into the hoppers, will be fully automated.
With a lifting height of 15,000mm and a rail span of 47,000mm, the RMGs will also dispose of special revolving spreaders, which will be used to discharge the copper concentrate to hoppers.
As for the lifting and landing onto trucks and train wagons, it will be done remotely by a human operator in a remote operating station, according to the port equipment manufacturer.
Eduardo Simian, Project Manager at TGN commented, “We selected Konecranes because we were convinced by the high quality and number of their automation references, the clarity of the technical solution they proposed, and the strong local support they provide in Chile.”
