MINING TRUCKS_proof 28/04/2016 11:52 Page 3
MINING TRUCKS
only commissioning required as part
of the Rio Tinto site acceptance. One
of the main XEMC haul truck trial
objectives as set out in the contract
under CW1978544 was to achieve a
85% or greater availability KPI each
year for each of the three years’
duration. The KPIs achieved during
the trial showed an aggregated fleet
availability in 2013 of 92%, in 2014
94% and 93% in 2015 with over 27.5
Mt moved during the three-year
period. The performance of the
XEMC haul truck fleet at Tom Price
has surpassed the original contract expectations
and is currently operating under a new HME 14
agreement signed in 2015 for ten years. Rio Tinto
celebrated this milestone in November 2015 with
a ceremony at Rio Tinto’s China headquarters in
Beijing along with XEMC personnel. XEMC said
Rio Tinto Chief Executive Sam Walsh
acknowledged that XEMC had come of age in the
international market and that he was looking
forward to watching XEMC grow in the
international market. XEMC told IM that the
recent HME 14 signing is an acknowledgment of
the achievements made in the partnership
between both companies.
The operating conditions at the Tom Price iron
ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western
Australia are some of the harshest in the world
with a 55°C ambient operating requirement on all
of its heavy mobile and auxillary equipment.
XEMC has also been making strides with its
mining truck dump bodies in Australia, having
delivered 75 lightweight dump bodies into the
Australian iron ore market directly into Port
Hedland, Western Australia from China. This new
range of dump bodies consists of standard, semi
curved, and full curved designs, which are
tailored to the mining material and moisture
content. XEMC says that the new designs have
significant benefits with a reduced haul truck
EVW of 15 t (Komatsu 830E example) over the
heavy duty rock bodies previously installed by
the OEM. The lightweight dump bodies are being
fitted in a four year, 2,400 hours replacement
cycle with no maintenance required for the life of
the dump body. XEMC says the dump body
design suits Komatsu haul trucks but that the
factory is releasing a Caterpillar range in 2016.
The new XEHD Australia head office is located
in Perth and opened in June 2015 to service
XEMC’s existing customers with growth plans to
open a new branch in 2017 to serve the NSW coal
region including the Hunter Valley. The market
evaluation for future growth of XEMC haul truck
sales into Australia is centred on new mines and
expansions of existing mines in both Western
Australia and on the East Coast and currently
XEHD Australia says it is in negotiations with
40 International Mining | MAY 2016
Not forgetting India, where domestic producer
BEML in 2015 launched the new AC electric drive
205 t class BH205-E for large scale coal mining
applications (Tier 2 MTU 12V4000C23 or
Cummins QSK60C engine)
interface, with a choice of MTU Series
4000 or Cummins QSK78 engine.
A five year innnovation plan at XEMC
also includes automation trials on XEMC
mining trucks beginning in 2018, however,
the company is applying automation to its
locomotive systems this year. A hybrid
powered haul truck is due for launch in
2017, which will use regeneration
technology using capacitors to store the
electrical current on inclines and redirect
current back to the system during
propulsion.
In China, XEMC says that the 320 t
trucks it has running in Inner Mongolia have been
well received in terms of quality, technology and
ergonomics.
Unified Chinese front
mine owners in both these areas “with promising
signs for the future.”
In China, a new XEMC manufacturing facility
officially opened in January 2015 in Xiangtan. The
floor area is 8,214 m2 under cover and houses a
staged quality assurance process, with preassembly of sub components and painting of
components prior to assembly to improve quality
and ensure the product meets the customers’
expectations. Upgrades to the existing mining
truck facility included a fully sealed clean room
for the hydraulic components and improvements
to the engineering and technical operations with
a new excellence awards system and quality
systems aligned to ISO 9001.
The new haul truck manufacturing facility
incorporates the latest assembly and parts
staging stations with quality control checkpoints.
This incorporates a ROPS and FOPS ISO approved
test facility.
XEMC also has new a fabrication facility with
the latest robotic welding machines, laser cutting
beds, coded welders, NDT and magnetic particle
testing to ensure structural chassis integrity for a
ten year operating life.
Current innovations added this year on XEMC’s
SF33901 230 t and SF35100 320 t trucks include a
multiply wet braking system and independent
front suspension on the 320 t model. Both trucks
have GE electric drives and are equipped with 360
degree auto detection to inform the operator with
an alarm when objects are sensed within the
parameters of the machine. There are also
improved driver ergonomics with better vision and
improved instrument cluster layout. Mine ready
Australian compliant safety features include a
hydraulic boarding ladder, engine bay access,
propulsion system access and LED lighting
throughout as standard. The trucks have an active
XPLM payload monitoring system, and have a Cat
MineStar or Modular Dispatch compatible
Finally, there is a move by Chinese mining
equipment manufacturers to become more
organised when addressing the global market.
NHL recently became Deputy Secretary General
of the National Technical Committee 334 on the
“Earth-Moving Machinery Standardisation
Administration of China” (SAT/TC 334) in
November 2015. The initiative includes a list of
many of the main Chinese mining and
construction machinery manufacturers including
aside from NHL – XCMG, Zoomlion, SANY,
LiuGong, SDLG, Shantui, XGMA, Sinomach,
LOVOL and Sunward. The companies made a
united announcement together in January 2016,
mainly about their vision for the future. The
statement in broad terms said that as some of
China’s leading engineering machinery
manufacturers, they believe the challenges and
hard times in the current market are temporary,
and that they are acting to better “promote the
industry and achieve broad development.” The
companies say they will change the mode and
theory of development, changing the Chinese
industry from one based on a large scale to one
more focussed on quality and cost-benefit ratio.
It includes the development of more innovations,
to enhance the efficiency and value-add of the
products, to make them more competitive in
China and globally. They are to abandon low level
competition, pay more attention to customer
demands, and create a healthier industry
environment with more continuity. Ultimately it is
about upgrading and transforming the whole
Chinese mining machinery industry to allow it to
achieve its full potential.
Cummins performs at Zhungeer
The twin Shenhua mines of Haerwusu and
Heidaigou at Zhungeer, Inner Mongolia, China,
are sometimes ranked as the second and third
largest open-pit coal mines in the world, with
combined resources estimated at over 3 billion