T
hursday 4 May 2017 saw the South African
launch of Volvo Construction Equipment’s
much-anticipated 60t A60H ADT and 90t
EC950E crawler excavator at Babcock’s state-
of-the-art Middelburg facility. First unveiled at
bauma 2016 in Germany, the May 2017 launch
marks the first time that the two mining machines
David Vaughan,
managing director
of Babcock’s
equipment
business.
The first order for the A60H was placed
through Babcock last year at the bauma
exhibition, by South African company Burgh
Plant Hire, which ordered three of the
mammoth machines. Vaughan confirms that
prior to this launch, Babcock had already
received a second order, also for three of
the 60-tonners, from another South African
customer. “The interest in the A60 has been
phenomenal, and we can see that from the
number of customers who have travelled
incredibly far to be here tonight.”
“The A60H and EC950E are eminently
suitable for local mining operations, as their
robust drivelines are designed specifically for
challenging applications such as those found in
the southern African mining environment,” says
Vaughan. “The A60H in particular is perfectly
suited for opencast coal mining, where short,
yet extremely steep ramps have to be climbed
to access box cuts made through overburden to
expose high-grade coal.”
Improved production, lower CPT
According to Vaughan, the decision to build
a 60t ADT came down to volumes and cost
per tonne (CPT). “The initial tests done by
Volvo overseas show that the A60H is highly
cost-effective. While there are several rigid 60t
trucks on the market, they require haul roads
Roger O’Callaghan,
CEO of Babcock’s
African operations.
are available for purchase in southern Africa
exclusively through Babcock, the sole regional
distributor of Volvo Construction Equipment.
The A60H is the largest 6 × 6 configuration
ADT in the world and the EC950E is the
largest excavator that Volvo has ever produced.
Babcock customers from all over southern
Africa, including South Africa, Zambia,
Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, attended the
launch event to see the machines first hand.
Speaking at the launch, the managing
director of Babcock’s equipment business,
David Vaughan, said, “What’s special about
tonight is that these vehicles are not extensions
of a known concept or a machine with a few
technical or superficial improvements. The
A60H and the EC950E are brand new machines
that are being seen by many regional customers
for the very first time.”
According to Roger O’Callaghan, CEO
of Babcock’s African operations, “While the
A60H was displayed at bauma, the Middelburg
event was the first launch of an operation-ready
machine that customers can actually use. I’d
like to say that when the A60H was launched
at bauma, it was a worldwide visual launch,
but tonight is actually Volvo’s first operational
launch. Because of our opencast operations,
South Africa has also been chosen as the site for
the filming of the worldwide marketing video.”
The southern African launch of Volvo CE’s new A60H ADT and EC950E excavator was held
at Babcock’s Middelburg facility in May.
JULY 2017
17