Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology recently completed the world’s first upgrade of a MB670 bolter miner to the latest MB670-1 design specifications. The customer was the Urgalugol company, which is part of one of the largest coal mining enterprises in Russia, SUEK JSC.

Since 2013, the Sandvik MB670 has been in operation at the Severnaya mine in the Khabarovsk Territory. The management of the enterprise decided to modernise the equipment, which the personnel of the Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology service centre in Kemerovo carried out in parallel with an overhaul.

The modernisation of the bolter miner was carried out in the shortest possible time: in four months it was possible to completely replace the entire hydraulic and electrical system with the corresponding MB670-1 set-up, as well as replace all high-pressure hoses with new ones made locally at the service centre, as well as fittings, wear-resistant sheets and cylinders. All gearboxes were redesigned, and the geometry of the supporting structures was restored to factory dimensions.

The upgrade of the MB670 miner for Urgalugol is notable for the fact that this is the first and so far the only Sandvik example of such a bolter miner refurbishment with simultaneous upgrade in the world. At the moment, the parties are negotiating the timing of the modernisation of a second miner.

Vitaly Pogudin, head of the Kemerovo service centre of Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology in Kemerovo, comments: “A reconditioned and modernised combine is almost indistinguishable from a new one. The project was completed in the shortest possible time due to the high professionalism of the team of the service centre in Kemerovo. Having saved the customer’s time and resources, we not only gave the machine a second life, but also improved its performance, which now corresponds to the level of the latest equipment in our line.”