LONGWALL COAL MINING
Spotlight on seams
Divestments , demand developments and more . Dan Gleeson takes his annual look at the mechanised longwall coal mining sector
Eickhoff ’ s over 155 years old philosophy of continuing to be a reliable long-term partner of the global coal mining business could not be better aligned with the commitments the longwall coal mining sector requires .
As politicians , regulators and high-profile mining companies continue to debate just when to stop mining coal – be that the variety used in steelmaking or energy production – the Germanybased , family-owned company has continued to do what it does best : produce longwall equipment to improve safety , productivity and profitability in the global leading hard coal mines .
Uncertainty around the coal markets has led to some big names in the industry selling off significant parts of their longwall businesses ( see Hauhinco entry for an example ), but it has also provided the company with openings in new markets , according to Eickhoff .
“ One of the benefits of being a family-owned business like Eickhoff is that when markets are hit with impacts like COVID and political instability – events that cause uncertainty and variations in the stock prices of publicly-listed entities – we can continue to do business and to focus on new technical developments ,” Eickhoff said .
“ Our customers appreciate this certainty in uncertain times .”
Eickhoff says the company has managed to capture significant market share , for example , in Australia in the last two years by sticking to its long-term strategy .
The company said : “ That is not down to luck . That is the result of hard work , a highly integrated manufacturing process and
All three of Anglo American Australia ’ s underground longwall mines are now fully remote-capable , according to the company
An Eickhoff SL 900 awaiting delivery to a coal mine in Queensland , Australia
continuous investments into future technologies .
“ Decades from now , we still want to be stateof-the-art shearer manufacturer ; for us , it is clear that whoever buys a shearer today expects spare parts and service availability over the next 12-15 years . We are confident enough to be able to offer that to our customers .”
Eickhoff has also been helped by the fact many of the company ’ s shearers have been behind coal mining production records in the past .
There are companies looking to buy shearers
10 International Mining | AUGUST 2022