Modern Mining May 2019

COVER STORY

Fuel efficiency the hallmark of

The Volvo range of earthmoving and mining machines distributed and supported in Southern Africa by Babcock are class-leading in many respects, offering high productivity, reliability, durability and excellent resale value. But perhaps the key factor distinguishing them from competitor products is their fuel efficiency. This is the view of David Vaughan, Managing Director of Babcock’s Equipment business, and his colleague Grant Sheppard, Regional Manager – Export/ Equipment, Babcock International Group, who recently provided Modern Mining’s Arthur Tassell with hard facts to back up their claim.

A ccording to Vaughan, the ever- increasing price of diesel is making fuel efficiency a bigger and bigger selling point. “Cus- tomers prize this quality above almost everything else as it can literally make the difference between running a fleet profit- ably or at a loss,” he states. “Fortunately, our machines can deliver the savings needed. A sample taken from over 130 of our A40G artic- ulated haulers working across Southern Africa revealed that the average fuel consumption was just 15,53 litres per hour, which is an ex- cellent performance. These figures, incidental- ly, were extracted directly from the machines via Volvo’s on-board telematics system, Care Track, and are highly accurate.”

Sheppard points out that productivity is a major factor to consider when calculating fuel burn. “Take the Volvo A60H, for example, which is our newest articulated hauler and – with a payload of 55 tonnes – the biggest true articulated dump truck in the world,” he says. “We have a customer working in one of our export territories who is using six of these units in an extremely tough application where the underfoot conditions are typically soft beach sand. The figures generated directly from the machines, including the on-board weighing systems, show that the A60Hs are each averag- ing 29,8 litres per hour fuel consumption and moving 198,22 tons of material per hour. This equates to an average of 8,85 tonnes moved per litre of fuel consumed, which is truly exceptional.” Vaughan adds that fuel efficiency extends across the Volvo range and is not confined to the articulated haulers. “The average fuel consumption of our best-selling, 25-ton class L150H front-end loaders throughout Southern Africa, for example, is 16,75 litres per hour while the EC750 excavator, a 75-ton machine which is highly favoured by mining companies and mining contractors, averages out at 45 litres per hour.” The fuel efficiency of the Volvo range is just one of a number of factors that have contributed to Volvo’s articulated haulers – which form the backbone of the Volvo range marketed by Babcock – emerging as the market leaders in

Grant Sheppard (left), Regional Manager – Export/ Equipment, Babcock International Group, with David Vaughan, Managing

Director of Babcock’s Equipment business.

18  MODERN MINING  May 2019