Caqital Equipment News October 2018

RIGID HAULERS

Following the completion of field operation trials in Austria, the first Liebherr T236 rigid hauler has arrived in South Africa.

Into new terrain With apparent growth of the 100 t rigid hauler market – mainly driven by demand from the contract mining fraternity – Liebherr Africa is excited to enter this market segment for the first time, following the arrival of its first T236 rigid hauler, the first diesel-electric truck in this size class, writes Munesu Shoko .

most,” says Munch. Munch adds that Liebherr also urgently needed a truck to complement its excavator range. Designed to carry up to 100 metric tonnes of payload, the T236 can be ideally paired with Liebherr’s R 9100, R 9150, R 9200 or R 9250 mining excavators. Munch reasons that the T236 is ideally suited for the contract mining market because it speaks directly to lower cost per ton, increased productivity and safety, three key parameters of sheer significance to mining contractors, especially in light of the current tight operating conditions. Mining companies have spent many years ruthlessly seeking ways to reduce their operating costs. One of the measures they have implemented is supply chain optimisation. In a bid to control their costs, many miners have tightened their contractor service level agreements. For example, many mines have put a fuel cap on each and every contractor’s machine. If a machine exceeds its fuel cap, the extra fuel consumption will be deducted off the mining contractor’s certificate. Donald Hewitt, national service manager – Mining at Liebherr Africa, says probably 60-70% of mining

F ollowing the completion of field operation trials at Austria’s largest iron ore mine, Erzberg, the first Liebherr T236 rigid hauler has arrived in South Africa. This is part of the pre-series units being rolled out to selected operations across the world to further validate the truck’s capabilities before its commercial launch. Liebherr Africa intends to deploy the truck to work at a leading Northern Cape mine. Tom Munch, Director Mining, says the new 100 t offering arrives at an opportune time for Liebherr Africa. “We are working in a contract mining market. If you look at the type of equipment this group of customers requires currently, it’s mainly 100 t excavators and 100 t dump trucks. This is due to the mobility they require, given that their contracts are limited to 3-5 years at

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