In July 2014 Caterpillar will deliver the first of two complete Cat longwall mining systems to the Soma Eynez East mine of the Demir Export-Fernas Insaat joint venture. Both longwall systems are designed for longwall top coal caving (LTCC) in a coal seam with an average thickness of 25 m. Caterpillar states that it is the leading supplier for the coal producing industry in Turkey with four out of five longwall underground mining systems in operation.

The greenfield underground coal mining project is in the Turkish Soma-Manisa area and is planned for a 15-year mine life. The project includes 36.5 Mt of coal production with the LTCC mining method. The first longwall mining system will start production at the Eynez East mine in the third quarter of 2014 and will have a production capacity of 2.7 Mt/y. The coal face has a length of 180 m. The second longwall will be in operation six months later.

“Caterpillar strengthens its position as the premier partner of the Turkish coal mining industry with the installation of the new longwall systems at Soma Eynez East,” said Martin Wetter, Caterpillar Product Line Manager, Longwall Mining. “We are pleased that our longwall equipment will be the workhorse recovering this very thick seam.”

Each of the two identical sets of longwall mining equipment includes a Cat EL1000 shearer, two Cat AFC PF4 face conveyors, and a Cat BSLPF4 beam stage loader including an SK111 crusher. Caterpillar will also supply the complete electrical and hydraulic power supply systems as well as the cooling and spraying water supply system and the complete automation system for the longwall face.

The roof supports for the longwall systems will be provided by Caterpillar (Zhengzhou) Ltd, a Chinese company acquired by Caterpillar in 2012. Each longwall system includes 95 Zhengzhou roof supports with a shield center of 1.75 m and an extended height of 3.2 m, transition and gate end shields, as well as roadway shields for tail and maingate. The roof supports will be equipped with state-of-the-art Cat PMC-R roof support controls.

The longwall systems supply agreement also includes extended service provided by Caterpillar. Two six-month contracts for supervision and support for installation, commissioning and operation are part of the package. Borusan Makina Kazakhstan, the Caterpillar dealership for Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, will provide customer support.