Modern Mining May 2017

EQUIPMENT

Top-of-the-range Volvo machines

Volvo Construction Equipment’s much-anticipated 60-ton A60H articulated dump truck and 90-tonne EC950E crawler excavator, the biggest articulated dump truck in the world and the largest excavator that Volvo has ever produced respectively, were officially launched in South Africa in early May at Babcock’s state-of-the-art Middelburg facility.

M ore than 100 customers – some from as far afield as Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mo- zambique – were on hand to witness the introduction of the machines. The guests were addressed by Roger O’Callaghan, CEO of Babcock In- ternational Group’s African operations, and David Vaughan, Managing Director of Bab- cock’s equipment business. This is the first time that the two machines will be available for purchase in South Africa following their unveiling at the Bauma exhi- bition in Germany last year. The A60H and EC950E are available in Southern Africa through Babcock, the sole regional distributor of Volvo Construction Equipment in the region. Vaughan says that Babcock is fully prepared for the roll-out of the A60H and EC950E. Volvo teams from Sweden and Korea have completed intensive sales and technical training with Babcock staff in South Africa, while Babcock has ensured that there is sufficient availability of Volvo spare parts and other related elements

such as the larger specialised tyres that the A60H utilises. He adds that Babcock has partnered with local vendors to develop solutions for the aftermarket for both machines such as fire suppression, automatic greasing and collision avoidance systems. In preparation for the roll-out, Babcock has been appointed as an accredited Allison trans- mission service dealer to be able to undertake

Centre: The brand new A60H (on the left) pictured with the established A40G hauler. Below: Visitors at the launch view the two new machines (with the third machine on display at the far left being a Volvo A40G hauler).

30  MODERN MINING  May 2017