MINING TRUCKS_proof 27/04/2016 10:11 Page 2
MINING TRUCKS
truck OEMs in terms of new sales when the
industry recovery gathers pace, as idled
machines will just be put back into service.
Chinese OEM overview
MCC, the company behind the HMTK 600A truck,
the development of which also saw initial
involvement of Detroit Heavy Truck Engineering
(DHTE) when the truck was referred to as the
ELITE 6000, is now promoting its mining truck
business as MCC Forterra. Calvin Fu, from the
company’s Australian office in West Perth told
IM: “We at Forterra are working very hard on
developing a range of low cost focused
performance competitive solutions for the
mining industry. It's our background and
passion and we hope to be able to succeed.”
The company is also understood to have had
interest from copper operations in Zambia with
regard to trialling the trucks, though to date
they have only been operating in China(but now
have the new Blackwater customer in Australia).
This includes the 240 t MCC Forterra 400A
operating at Jiangxi copper mine, and the
mentioned MCC Forterra HMTK 600A 363 t truck
at the Shenhua Haerwusu coal mine in Inner
Mongolia. The company cites a “decade of
research and development” as well as
“advancements in capabilities and features”
with the trucks “built using world class
standards and technologies.”
The larger truck is offered with options of a
360 degree Viewcam, fatigue monitoring and a
TPMS system. It is also being offered with either
Cummins or MTU engine and GE or Siemens
drive. The company quotes proven 93%
availability for the HMTK 600A. The smaller 240
t truck has a double wishbone front suspension
system for improved comfort and better tyre
wear. It also has a four post rear suspension
system to deliver “lower and evenly distributed
forces.” A single trapezoid steering system
offers “optimised operational force” and lower
maintenance.
LiuGong is a relative newcomer to the mining
trucks market, and currently only has the SGR
50C 45 t class truck with Tier 3 Cummins QSK15
available in the export market, and has sold
machines to Indonesia as well as two of them
into Bulgarian copper most recently, with good
performance results and interest in more,
however, it is also working on larger trucks in
China. Prototypes of a 100 t truck are running in
China in coal, and two prototypes of a 150 t
electric drive truck have been built and are
being trialled; and a 240 t electric drive truck
project is currently being developed. The truck
business is a joint venture with Beijing Capital
Steel Heavy Duty Truck, whose parent company
has its own mining operations where trucks can
be tested.
38 International Mining | MAY 2016
LiuGong says it is focusing very
much on product support as it
develops further in mining. Dave
Beatenbough, Vice President told IM:
“We understand the commitment,
cost and resources it requires to do
mining well and seek to differentiate
ourselves from some other Chinese
companies in this regard. Mining is
definitely a long term focus for us
and now is a good time to make
progress.”
SANY has sold mining trucks to the overseas
market in recent years, to Mexico and Tunisia
amongst other countries, as well as continued
sales of their 91 t trucks to Chinese customers.
Its range cover models up to the 360 t SRT360,
including the SRT45, SRT55D, SRT95 and
SRT230 models, though the two largest models
have only operated to date in trials within China.
The Columbus mine in Mexico operates the
SRT55D, a fleet of which was sold by dealer
MAQTEC. In Tunisia, Compagnie des Phosphates
de Gafsa (CPG) is one of the biggest stateowned enterprises of Tunisia, and the fifth
phosphate producer in the world. In 2014, Sany
won a $22.2 million order and delivered 17 units
of the SRT95 in August 2015. SANY says “the
customer speaks highly of Sany SRT95C mining
trucks’ performance and quality.” The company
is also using a number of dealerships and
agencies in other countries to promote its truck
range. In Australia, Australia-China Resource
Agency Services is an authorised sales agent of
SANY Australia Pty Ltd and is based in Kenmore,
Queensland. The agency is led by Director Li
Zhen. Dougall Equipment is the authorised
South African dealer in SANY mining dump
trucks, based in Boksburg.
The multi-axle all wheel drive model 220 t
payload WTW220E (now being called the
HT5220) from China Sanjiang Space Group is
still not thought to have had any commercial
sales. It is being offered through Sanjiang
subcompany Aerospace Heavy Industry Co Ltd
which tested one unit of the truck at a Shenhua
Group mine, with mixed results. This model
draws very heavily to say the least on the
European Truck Factory (ETF) design. The
company is also offering two further models
with a standard rigid truck design, the 110 t
payload HT3110 and the 363 t HT3363.
A number of other companies are still active
in the market. A key company is XCMG which
still offers the XDE400 363 t mining truck which
has been running at a Chinese coal mine since
2014 successfully. It also has a range of smaller
models available including the XDE170 (172 t)
and XDE220 (220 t), also running in China. The
company told IM it now promotes a concept of a
complete mining solution: “XCMG at present if
The China Sanjiang Space Group’s 363 t
HT3363 truck in 2014
advocating the concept of complete solutions, in
that we can provide our customers a complete
range of products which can meet almost all
their needs concerning mining engineering from
the very first step o f investigating of a mine to
the road building leading to the mine, to the
excavation work and to the transportation. We
provide equipment solutions for our customers.”
On export sales, XCMG adds: “We are now
gaining more recognition from international
mining companies outside China. MMG has
purchased our mining trucks for its operations
in Australia and was very satisfied with the
quality and price. As the prices of raw minerals
are falling, these large mining groups are
looking for good quality equipment with lower
prices. We are receiving larger orders from these
companies. This is a big step also for Chinese
mining trucks.”
On products, XCMG is now promoting a new
kind of smaller 6x4 mining truck which is much
cheaper than an ADT yet still has good capacity.
It calls these the NXG Series. This kind of wide
body mining truck is a third the cost of
articulated models. Offered models are the
NXG5650DT with 65 t capacity, the 75 t
NXG5750DT, and the 85 t capacity NXG5850DT.
MMG is understood to have bought eight NXG
mining dump trucks, while other models are
being used in mines in Thailand, Mongolia and
elsewhere.
XEMC building on Australia success
The three-year trial in Australia at Rio Tinto Tom
Price iron ore mine of the fleet of four SF33901
XEMC 230 t haul trucks, supplied by in-country
and fully owned subsidiary XEHD Australia, was
completed in December 2015, with the average
hours per haul truck currently standing at
21,500 (this figure is from March 2016) . The
SF33901 haul trucks arrived at the Tom Price
mine site in September 2012 via Port Hedland
and were transported complete with all tyres
and the dump bodies shipped loose. This
transport method was one of the advantages
with no in country modifications required and