MINING TYRES
Tread patterns
Paul Moore spoke once again to the leaders in mining tyre supply and management to find out the latest on technology and trends in this market – one of which is bringing tech from ultraclass tyres into smaller mining sizes
One of the standout developments in mining tyre technology in recent years was when Bridgestone introduced MasterCore for large mining trucks back in 2020, which included some major breakthroughs, including new metal surface coating technology for improved adhesion between tyre rubber and steel cord, delivering better durability; plus a proprietary anti-rust steel cord developed and manufactured by Bridgestone for added moisture resistance; and new patterns and features that reduce tyre operating temperature for better performance. Mine operations also vary by customer, mine site and haul route, which is why Bridgestone designed MasterCore tyres for customised performance – they can be optimised for a number of performance attributes including faster speeds, increased payload and maximised uptime.
At CONEXPO-CONAGG 2026 earlier this year, IM Editorial Director Paul Moore met with Rob Seibert, President, Off-the-Road, US and Canada, Bridgestone Americas to talk about the next move in MasterCore’ s journey – and that is into the smaller mining and quarrying sector. Headlining the Bridgestone booth was the all-new Bridgestone MasterCore VMTD 27.00R49 for 100-ton( 91 t) class haul trucks.
Seibert told IM:“ We started in the ultraclass mining sector with MasterCore with a lot of innovations from new casings, compounds and tread patterns to improve payload and traction, cut and heat resistance, and steel to rubber adhesion. The technology also gave us the ability
Tyres represent one of most mining operations’ largest costs- today better management and performance is often achieved thanks to monitoring technology
to tweak the tyre specifications based on customer site and priority based on payload and TKPH. If they want to run trucks faster to bring payload up, or if you want to put more load on the trucks, MasterCore gives you options. Now we are bringing this into the all important 100 ton class- that covers the workhorse truck in mid sized mines and larger quarries – including trucks like the Cat 777 and Komatsu HD785.”
Seibert added that with the introduction of the MasterCore VMTD tyre and its traction-based tread pattern, Bridgestone now offers two tread patterns in the 27.00R49 tyre segment. The other is the rock tread pattern of the Bridgestone MasterCore V-Steel Rock Deep Ultra( VRDU), launched in summer 2025. The MasterCore VMTD is now available to fleets as of June 2026 and is offered in four compound options: standard, cut resistance, ultra cut resistance, and heat resistance.
“ The benefits in this size and these tread patterns are the same as for larger mining tyres – with the MasterCore VMTD version you get a + 14 % deeper tread designed for performance on difficult terrain over the conventional Bridgestone VMTP tyre. A durable sidewall structure combined with narrow grooves in the tire’ s tread pattern design helps deliver 10 % longer tyre life.” The MasterCore VMTD also provides a 10 % boost in load capacity and 2 % more TKPH compared to its predecessor, driving productivity with every trip.
Seibert:“ For us in the Americas, the hard rock quarrying sector is very significant, so this is a really important tyre and development for this market- the 100 ton truck is the primary production machine for these operators, and with increasing infrastructure and other costs, they were looking for the same wins that MasterCore had already brought to big mining – can we speed up, can we get payload up. Plus autonomous haulage is moving into quarrying as well – with the demands that places on tyres; and MasterCore has already proven itself a very capable tyre in the mining AHS application. Outside of the Americas, this class of truck is also widely used in gold mining and for other metals operations, so these new tyres also have global significance.”
The initial tyres came from Japan for quality testing and customer acceptance – plus the trials have allowed us to get valuable data about total tyre life and other attributes in the Americas market. After setting up the required equipment, production then started at Bridgestone’ s Aiken, South Carolina OTR facility, which produces radials from 49 inch and above.
What has the market response been like?“ It’ s been fantastic. The MasterCore VRDU came out last year and there was a lot of excitement about it. We were due for a product refresh in this tyre size anyway, but I think being able to bring a technology from the giant tyre side down and introduce that enhanced casing to Americas customers at a time when they are looking for new technologies to help them push harder on production and address challenging costs was really significant.”
Seibert added that while the immediate impact is not the same as a mine that runs 50 or 100 ultra class trucks, smaller mines and quarries are entering a new phase of technology use and data analytics- looking for the related benefits and understanding how tyres can actually contribute to the productivity of an operation beyond just being a consumable and operating expense.“ It’ s also pretty amazing how far things have come when you think that some of this market would have been using bias ply tyres in the recent past – it is now completely radialised; so the introduction of better technology within radials was the next step.”
Was there not a concern about increased initial cost?“ Yes of course, but that is partly why we increased the tread depth – to ensure that along with the MasterCore benefits, customers would always get more wear and more productivity. That is where the importance of the customer testing and acceptance comes in, so that they could see the reality of the results and the corresponding TCO improvement they are going to get. When we send these tyres out, we have a whole group of solutions and field engineers who field follow and track the new tyres, and work with the customers and
36 International Mining | JULY 2026