Modern Mining May 2018

COVER STORY

Volvo rigid haulers strengthen

With the launch of a complete range of Volvo-branded rigid haulers, Babcock, the highly successful Southern African dealer for Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE), believes it is now well-placed to broaden its customer base even further. “We’ve always been strong in mining but the new rigid haulers will definitely give us additional traction at the heavier end of the mining market,” says David Vaughan, MD of Babcock’s Equipment business.

V aughan adds that the introduc- tion of the new haulers comes just a year after Babcock launched two other ground-breaking Volvo machines – the 60-ton (55-tonne) capacity A60H articulated dump truck, the big- gest in the world, and the 90-tonne EC950E crawler excavator, the biggest excavator that Volvo CE has ever produced. Both machines have done extremely well in the market, partic- ularly the A60H. “We’ve now delivered nearly 30 of the A60Hs which is an amazing achieve- ment given the size of the articulated dump truck market in our region,” he points out. As Modern Mining explained in an article in last month’s issue, the Volvo rigid hauler range was launched at Volvo CE’s Motherwell

Right: The R100E, flagship of the Volvo rigid hauler range. Below: David Vaughan (left), MD of Babcock’s Equipment business, with Erik Lundberg of Terex Trucks at the launch of the Volvo rigid hauler range.

facility in Scotland in April, with the event being attended by about 160 dealers from around the world. Most of the focus was on the Volvo R100E, a 100-ton (95-tonne) capacity machine that gives Volvo a presence in one of the most popular – but, at the same time, most competitive – segments of the rigid hauler mar- ket. Rigid trucks of this capacity serve as the workhorses of open-pit mines in every mining region of the world. “We’re delighted to be able to compete in this market under the Volvo brand name,” states Vaughan. “The name is synonymous with high-quality, performance, durability and aftermarket care and will undoubtedly give us an immediate advantage with many potential customers. But, of course, the name alone is not enough. The R100E has to offer market-leading capabilities if it is to be competitive against the current trucks dominating the market – and we’re confident that this is exactly what it does. It’s a machine which has been designed around customers’ needs and which has been thoroughly tested over the roughly three-year period it has been in development.” Interestingly, South Africa is one of two countries – the other is Sweden – selected for intensive on-site trialling of the R100E, with an advanced prototype having now been in service at Manungu coal mine in the Witbank

20  MODERN MINING  May 2018