DRILLING AND LOADING
of kimberlite. To ensure the mine’ s continuous production, mining equipment is working on a 24 / 7 basis. This requires very efficient loading tools that are capable of handling no less than 20,000 t of material per day. Extremely reliable and highly efficient excavator requirements means that the company imposes very strict specifications for each new piece of equipment. Therefore, in order to meet ALROSA’ s requirements, a Liebherr R9150 mining excavator was chosen to fulfil this challenge. Once the Liebherr R9150 mining excavator was delivered to the ALROSA mining site in 2014, the machine was commissioned and successfully passed tests in these severe conditions. As well as the freezing climate, the mined material is an additional challenge for the equipment, as kimberlite is one of the hardest and most abrasive types of rock in the world.
This leads to intensive wear on the excavator parts such as sticks, booms, buckets and tracks. This R9150 is equipped with an 8.3 m 3 heavyduty backhoe bucket specially designed for handling hard, abrasive and frozen rock. This bucket is exceptionally durable and resistant to wear: it penetrates the material with ease and is characterised by a very high fill factor. In addition, larger track pads have been mounted on the undercarriage of this R9150 to reduce the applied ground pressure and also provide better machine stability during operation. To minimise
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downtime and damage, the machine is also equipped with a piston rod guard for the bucket cylinder. This robust steel cover protects the cylinder from being damaged by falling rocks.
Throughout operation, the R9150 proved to be a highly reliable and productive machine capable of withstanding extreme environmental conditions and continuously working on a 24 / 7 basis. Although this R9150 mining excavator is digging hard material, it loads a 136 t dump truck within just seven passes, while the average duration of one cycle time is 24 seconds, resulting in a very high monthly production of 250,000 m 3, which represents over 90 % of machine availability.
For Russian operators it is also crucial to be able to start the engine at temperatures as low as-50 ° C, sometimes even lower. To meet the customer’ s requirements, Liebherr provides specific climate solutions for its equipment, in the form of an Arctic Package. This kit comprises a broad array of devices that ensure easy start up and consistent and uninterrupted work at extremely low temperatures.
The operator comfort is optimised thanks to the various additional options installed inside the cabin. To maintain warm air, the driver has access to additional heating, better cab insulation, double glazing and front and side window defrosting. To avoid the cooling of the engine compartment during machine downtime, a complete source for
special connection with a duct below the engine and the splitter box allows warm air to be brought from an external heater. The Liebherr Arctic Package also offers a pre-heating system for hydraulic oil, fuel and engine coolants, specific cold temperature fluids, and also includes insulation of heating hoses in order to reduce the dissipation of heat.
The pre-heating of the machine is possible thanks to the use of a genset located on the ground. This avoids the genset being subject to machine vibrations and also allows the customer to use it easily elsewhere in the mine site.
Cat Operator Assist and Latch Free Dipper
For mine operators, keeping an electric rope shovel in the bank is essential for optimum productivity and profitability. Recognising this vital requirement, Caterpillar has developed the Operator Assist – Enhanced Motion Control system, standard on new 7495 Series shovels and available for certain Cat ® 7495 and Bucyrus 495 shovels already in service. The new software is designed to simplify machine operation, allowing the shovel to be operated in a manner that both promotes high production and protects the machine from inadvertent misuse. The new system can enhance production by reducing the occurrence of operating faults, such as crowd over-speeds and boom jacks.
DRILLING rocki
SURFACE DRILLING TOOLS UNDERGROUND
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APRIL 2017 | International Mining 65