Mantrac Egypt says it has completed the assembly, commissioning and handover of a Caterpillar 6040 BH hydraulic shovel to Centamin’s Sukari gold mine in the country.

This is the first of two new excavators heading to the operation.

The Cat dealer said: “With gross power over 2,000 hp (1,491 kW) and approximately 40 t bucket payload, more volume of material will be moved and at lower cost per tonne.”

Back in December, Centamin said it would soon be adding new Cat 6040 hydraulic face shovels to its existing fleet at Sukari. This is part of a plan to position Sukari to reliably produce 450,000-500,000 oz/y of gold at all-in sustaining costs below $900/oz sold from 2024. This has also seen Centamin take on Capital Ltd as open-pit waste mining contractor.

These new shovels are included in the company’s financial year 2021-2023 capital expenditure plans. Also included is a 36 MW solar plant, an explosives contract and the addition of lightweight truck trays.