SURFACE LOADING step of the construction of the buckets. This provides a level of confidence when taking a novel approach to critical assets.”
The final design features 100 % high strength steel construction including a 25 mm quench and tempered( Q & T) 450 shell and a curved spill guard for optimal visibility and loading. Significantly, weight was saved by minimising the application of wear protection liners in the design due to the low abrasiveness of the material moved.
The design is slightly smaller than a dedicated coal bucket for a Cat 995 at 43.6 cubic metres, but approximately 33 % larger than the previous buckets used on the sites.
The first of the three big buckets to be delivered was dispatched in January 2026 and transported by road across country from the Schlam facilities at Forrestfield, Western Australia, to the Rolleston mine in Queensland. The remaining buckets will be delivered to the Bulga mine in New South Wales.
Schlam manufactures Barracuda loading attachments for 100 to 600 t backhoes, excavators and loaders. The company also manufactures lightweight Hercules mining truck beds for haulage trucks ranging from 100 t to over 400 t capacity.
Almost 3,000 Hercules truck beds are operated at over 100 sites around the world, mining commodities including iron ore, coal, copper, gold, silver, zinc, bauxite, and lithium. Custom-engineered for performance, these large capacity, long-life, weight optimised products boost productivity, reduce downtime, reduce emissions, and streamline maintenance, supported by focused services designed to meet operational needs.
MTG’ s new DIGGING MONITOR
At CONEXPO 2026, IM met with MTG Product Manager for DIGGING INSIGHTS, Carles Nostrort, to hear about the benefits and features of DIGGING MONITOR – its new digging tracking and analysis tool that forms part of its DIGGING INSIGHTS digital ecosystem.
Nostrort commented:“ With DIGGING MONITOR we set out to automatically track and analyse the cycles of the shovel or excavator and then split them in different phases- loading time, swinging time, dumping time – and empty swinging phases. We wanted to recognise what the machine is actually doing, and then with our technical services team to provide a consultancy programme to recommend to the mine site how they can improve their excavator operations.”
Nostrort said this also means it can link the movements and performance of the machine to GET wear. What upside does DIGGING MONITOR bring practically
IM Editorial Director Paul Moore and MTG Product Manager for DIGGING INSIGHTS, Carles Nostrort
speaking?“ It brings identification and understanding of both productive time and inefficiencies; plus clear visibility on machine-truck interaction and bucket performance. It also empowers operators and site managers to understand and optimise digging performance at the machine, operator and site level – driving consistent and importantly, data-based improvements in efficiency and productivity. It can also be used to improve operator performance and reduce learning curves.”