HIGH PROFILE-CATERPILLAR_proof 25/05/2016 07:32 Page 2
HIGH PROFILE
mines and we need to make sure we take care of
them as before. And the US remains a major market
for room and pillar mining machines. There will
likely be mergers, rationalisations and name
changes but the key operations will remain.
Moving to Australia, this is still a very exciting
market for us and we have the largest customer
base in the longwall space there. Only last
December we got an order from Moorlaben for a
brand new longwall. Whitehaven Coal’s Narrabri
North Mine received a second Cat EL3000 longwall
shearer after hitting a new production record last
year. These highly productive mines are replacing
key longwall pieces regularly whether AFCs or
supports. While some mines have been put on care
and maintenance, others remain in a good position
– Kestrel, Peabody, North Goonyella, BMA and
others. And in some ways the downturn has made
them more efficient, we know of an operation that
went from 5 days to 4 and is still producing the
same coal volume.
In the Indian market, we have one longwall
starting up at Sing