Modern Mining May 2018

COVER STORY

Babcock’s mining offering

From the operator seat of the R100E, the operator can observe the job site and surrounding areas through the large glass area and a low rake windscreen.

coalfield for over a year as part of a 3 000-hour ‘hot weather’ test programme. The unit is being operated by Trollope Mining Services, a long- standing client of Babcock, which has been impressed by its performance, with one of its managers at Manungu noting that it is capable of carrying an extra bucket pass compared to other 100-ton haulers in use at the site. The R100E is the flagship of a four-model line-up of Volvo rigid haulers. The other three machines are the 45-ton R45D, the 60-ton R60D and the 72-ton R70D, which constitute the D-Series. The four machines replace the TR-Series rigid haulers of Terex Trucks, which have now been discontinued (although they will continue to be fully supported by Terex Trucks and Volvo CE and their global network of dealers). Says Vaughan: “Going forward, the rigid haulers will all be available through Volvo CE and its dealers while the existing Terex Trucks articulated dump trucks will continue under the Terex Trucks branding and will remain the responsibility of Terex Trucks, which was fully acquired by the Volvo CE Group in 2014 and now operates as a division of Volvo CE. All the trucks – whether rigid or articulated – are manufactured at the Motherwell facil- ity. In Southern Africa, Babcock is the official dealer for both Volvo CE and Terex Trucks, so

owners of TR-Series rigid trucks need have no concerns about continuing support. They will be dealing with exactly the same people they always have.” Elaborating on the R100E, Vaughan says it is an entirely different truck from the TR100 which it replaces. “It is a brand-new machine from the ground up with a striking design, a deeper body, an extremely fuel-efficient engine and one of the best cabs in the business,” he states. “Moreover, it is not over-complicated in terms of its electronics even though it has a full range of intelligent monitoring systems. This was part of the design brief based on feed- back from customers. It is, of course, a premium product carrying the Volvo name but we will nevertheless be very price competitive against our main competitors.” Powered by a 785 kW Cummins engine and

All service points on the R100E are strategi- cally grouped and easily accessed.

May 2018  MODERN MINING  21