SURFACE LOADING
A recent Liebherr repower project for Yancoal was the first R 9800 repower in the world
at Liebherr Machines Bulle. Since 2022, the Training Academy has dedicated three weeks each year to training Liebherr- Australia technicians. In 2024, one of those weeks was used to train the technicians involved in this repower project, where they gained a comprehensive understanding of the electronics and circuitry in D9812 and D9816 engines as well as advanced strategies for diagnosing any issues that may arise on site.
“ As Liebherr Machines Bulle personnel imparted their engine wisdom to the Liebherr-Australia team, the Swiss instructors learned a thing or two about improvements we can make in our training program,” says Christophe Petite, Director of the Training Academy at Liebherr Machines Bulle.
He adds:“ This project has seen the basic and advanced training courses for our D9812 and our D9816 engines evolve to include additional video and practical training devices. We have also certified two Liebherr- Australia instructors so they can teach this program in country, rather than needing to travel across continents for this knowledge. Two more are set to be certified in early 2026. In fact, a new D9816 simulator has been developed here at Liebherr Machines Bulle and was delivered to Liebherr- Australia’ s Perth facility in Western Australia in the third quarter of 2025.”
The repowering process for the R 9800s actually began at Liebherr Mining’ s excavator production facility in Colmar( France). The powerpack modules for the repower were pre-assembled and tested in the factory, with the new D9812 engines installed, before they were shipped to Australia. Further preassembly took place once these modules arrived at Liebherr-Australia’ s Mount Thorley branch in New South Wales, which included the installation of site compliance options in order to save time during the repower itself on site.
At MTW, after the original powerpack
28 assemblies were removed from the excavators, Liebherr-Australia’ s technical team undertook the necessary mechanical and electrical upgrades on the excavators so the powerpack exchange with the D9812 engines could be finalised.
“ Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Mount Thorley team, the entire repower process – from preparation to commissioning – was completed on time and the excavator was back to work for the customer on schedule,” says Jase O’ Connor, Customer Support Manager, New South Wales, Liebherr-Australia. With the integration of Liebherr engines into these Liebherr excavators, Yancoal now only has one point of contact for any technical or maintenance support they may need for these R 9800s.
“ Any time a machine is offline – whether it’ s scheduled maintenance or unscheduled repairs – is unproductive time. That’ s why incorporating Liebherr parts and components, such as the D98 range of engines, is so important to us. It streamlines support requirements in these instances and guarantees that the parts being installed meet our stringent quality standards. This way, we can be confident that our customers are getting the very best performance and reliability from their machines,” explains Wayne Maher, National Mining Manager, Engine Solutions, Liebherr-Australia.
“ We’ re hoping to see more and more customers repowering their existing machines with our range of D98 engines so they can see just how much of a difference it can make for their sites,” said O’ Connor.
Liebherr says with their new D9812 engines, these two R 9800s have been performing exceptionally well and the MTW team are incredibly happy with what they’ ve seen from the machines so far.“ Since the repowers of our two R 9800s in late 2024, Mount Thorley Warkworth has seen numerous benefits which include
increased productivity, improved reliability and a common work platform to maintain. There has been a 125 % or 113 h increase in Mean Time Between Failures across our four engines and a material movement and load factor improvement of 5.1 BCM / L of fuel burn. These are exciting numbers as we look to reduce emissions and increase overall productivity,” shares Shadbolt.
The performance achieved by these machines for Yancoal demonstrates how powerful an option like repower is for customers’ existing fleets.“ The results we’ ve seen from the D98 engines at MTW so far show that repowering existing machines can go a long way to optimising productivity on site. We’ ll be sharing more detailed information about just how powerful this combination of D9812 engines and our ultra-class excavators can be in the near future,” says O’ Connor.“ But right now we’ re hoping to see more and more customers repowering their existing machines with our range of D98 engines so they can see just how much of a difference it can make for their sites.”
Fortescue is leading the charge when it comes to electric hydraulic mining excavators worldwide with the 100 Mt moved by electric models from Liebherr. The iron ore miner has just added its 15th electric Liebherr R 9400 excavator to its fleet – with each unit saving about 1 million litres of diesel per year. The 15th unit was put to work at the Christmas Creek Hall Hub – where high grade ore is mined and crushed at a new primary before being transported 14 km by overland conveyor to one of the main processing facilities. Rebecca Roper, Fortescue Manager Mining:“ We have now moved over 100 Mt using our electric fleet. That’ s not just a number. That is a reflection of the people on site, the planning, the commitment, and the way everyone is embracing change- 15 and counting, that is Real Zero in motion.”
MOTION METRICS™ launches nextgen Payload Monitoring for P & H shovels
MOTION METRICS™, a Weir brand, has announced the launch of next-generation Payload Monitoring support for P & H electric mining shovels, expanding the reach as a productivity partner for mines across the globe and enabling real-time, shovel-based payload intelligence across a significantly larger portion of the world’ s digging fleet.“ With P & H and Caterpillar shovels together representing more than 60 % of active mining shovels globally, this expansion marks a major milestone for mine operators seeking greater loading precision, improved productivity, and measurable sustainability gains at the very start of the load-and-haul value chain.”
International Mining | MAY 2026