It was 18 months ago that the Wildcat JAE42 continuous miner, J.A. Engineering’s first in-house designed miner that is specifically designed for high productivity coal mining operations in South Africa, was launched at Electra Mining.

At the time, Danie van Wyk, J.A. Engineering’s Chief Executive Officer said, “The Wildcat JAE42 continuous miner is J.A. Engineering’s response on what the market has called for in addressing high productivity cutting solutions for the South African coal mining industry. The Wildcat continuous miner is 90% locally manufactured and procured, creating sustainable investment in South Africa, with the aim to create a safer more productive mining environment.”

The remote-controlled miner delivers 600 kW of cutting power for room-and-pillar operations, where a high cutting force is required. It features a variable voltage frequency AC traction system, a fully integrated collision avoidance system, a traction brake to hold the miner at the face during cutting and wider tracks for lower ground-bearing pressure. J.A. Engineering also reports that the track pad design improves slewing and the miner features a higher power-traction gear case, cutter head gear case and motor designs, improved cutter drive torque protection, cutter head feedback control in the sump and shear modes, high inertia cutter drums for reduced stalling and cutter drum lacing that is custom designed to suit specific mining conditions.