Can you introduce TORSA and explain the company’s involvement in the mining industry?

TORSA specializes in developing solutions to improve safety, reduce occupational risks, and optimize productivity rates in mining operations. As one of our main solutions for the mining industry, we offer a Collision Avoidance System (CAS). We are proud to be a part of the International Council on Mining and Metals’ (ICMM) Integrated Collision Avoidance and Safety of Machinery at Work Program (ICSV) and we also belong to the vehicle interaction working group of Earth Moving Equipment Safety Round Table (EMESRT) to ensure that our solution meets every milestone set by the industry.

Which of TORSA’s mining solutions have been in high demand in the last two years?

The most sought-after solutions in our portfolio for the last two years are those related to reducing occupational risks such as vibration exposure, and improving safety through collision avoidance in mining operations. One of our most in-demand solutions is the Human Vibration Exposure Monitoring System. It allows real-time analysis of the vibration exposure of the operators of haul trucks and other equipment, immediately alerting when safety levels based on ISO 8041 are exceeded. The system also provides heat maps of the status of the lanes and areas of the mine operation for different departments of the mine to study the need to send the graders and have optimal lanes maintenance to reduce vibration exposure of the operators and increase the lifetime of the tyres.

We also have the High Precision Collision Avoidance System (HPCAS), which is being demanded by mining companies to improve vehicle interaction to protect shovels, haul trucks, auxiliary, light vehicles, and personnel. Our solution is the only one on the market with centimetre-level precision using LIDAR 3D, in addition to TOF, GPS and RFID technologies. Our HPCAS ensures the highest level of accuracy to detect not only any type of vehicle but any type of object (mine front, berms, etc) with centimetre precision. This system is also able to act on the equipment manoeuvre based on its predictive algorithm to avoid collisions (Level 9).

What benefits can mining clients expect if they use TORSA’s equipment, and can you provide examples of Peruvian mine sites that have benefitted from your technologies?

Safety always goes hand in hand with return on investment (ROI) because nothing is more profitable than keeping personnel safe. We have excellent data to support this, particularly with our HPCAS. We designed this system in the field alongside the operators of the equipment to ensure that the system meets all their needs and makes them feel more confident in their operations.

For instance, our HPCAS for shovels has allowed clients such as Antamina to increase the loading rates of the shovels of the operation. When the mining company analyzed how our system increased the safety during the loading operations, they identified a significant reduction of collisions with the shovels and an increase in the number of haul trucks loaded per hour compared to before the system was implemented.

Moreover, our Human Exposure Monitoring System has reduced the number of cervical injury reports at Antamina by 80%. This means that the occupational health and ergonomics during operation of the equipment has improved, and there is more personnel availability due to a lower rate of sick leaves.