A DBT longwall shearer EL3000 designed to suit a very specific mining technique and geology resulted in a huge increase in productivity and a DBT longwall system is setting a string of new records. DBT says the “productivity is remarkable: Over a period of 80 days from end of 2005 to early 2006, the EL3000 shearer produced nearly 800,000 t. With the exception of eight days when no production was scheduled, the average output was 10,700 t/d. On April 1, 2006 the EL3000 produced 25,000 t in a single day (three shifts of 9,000 t, 7,000 t and 9,000 t respectively) and this record was repeated both on April 2 and April 3. The best month was 305,000 t, with overall production up to March 22, 2006 totaling 2.14 Mt. The mine recently broke another record, producing 88,500 t in a single week.”

DBT sold the complete longwall installation to Kyrgaiskaja mine (Russia) in 2004. Located in the central Kuzbass coal region, the Kyrgaiskaya mine produces some 2.5 Mt/y from the DBT longwall and another longwall with local equipment. The DBT package comprised an EL3000 shearer with a cutting power of 2 x 400 kW and a haulage power of 2 x 43 kW. This installed power is modest compared to other EL3000 shearers DBT has in operation in China, Australia and the USA, but is adequate for this operation. The shearer’s cutting range is 2.5 to 5.5 m and it operates on 1140 V.

The mining method – a full cut from head to tail gate, running it back to the head gate without cutting – and the face inclination presented a challenge. DBT’s longwall equipment in general and especially the shearer were easily able to deal with these circumstances.