Modern Mining October 2018

COVER STORY

Volvo’s new ‘heavyweights’ Babcock, the Southern African dealer for Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE), has always been strong in mining – but mainly in the smaller and mid-tier segments of the market. New product introductions, however, from Volvo CE over the past two years have given it the capability to meet the demands of much bigger mining opera- tions. Modern Mining recently spoke to David Vaughan, Managing Director of Babcock’s Equipment business, about the newmachines.

S pearheading the drive into heavier mining are the Volvo A60H articulated hauler, the biggest machine of its type in the world, the EC950E crawler exca- vator, the new ‘flagship’ of Volvo’s extensive crawler excavator range, the L350H, Volvo’s biggest wheel loader, and the brand new Vol- vo R100E rigid hauler, which has a 100-ton (95-tonne) capacity. As this article was being written, the R100E was about to be officially launched at Babcock’s state-of-the-art branch in Middelburg, which serves its extensive cus- tomer base in the Mpumalanga coalfields. “The R100E is a truly significant develop- ment for us,” says Vaughan. “The 100-ton rigid hauler market is substantial as trucks in this class are the workhorses of large open- pit mines, not only in Africa but all over the

world. We will now be able to compete in this very competitive market with a Volvo-branded machine which represents a new design from the ground up. There is huge interest in the R100E from the mining industry and we’ve already notched up our first sale, with long- standing customer Steyn Diamante having ordered three of the new trucks.” Steyn Diamante, founded and run by Schalk Steyn, is one of South Africa’s leading allu- vial diamond miners. As Modern Mining reported in its August issue this year, the com- pany is currently focused on its Schutsekama mine located south-west of Kimberley in the Northern Cape on the Riet River, a tributary of the Vaal. Although Steyn Diamante runs a mixed fleet of equipment from several OEMs, Volvo machines are prominent in the line-up, including three A60Hs – the first to have been ordered in South Africa – and an L350H loader,

David Vaughan.

A Volvo L350H – the first to be deployed in South Africa – in action at Steyn Diamante’s Schutsekama mine.

18  MODERN MINING  October 2018