Central Asia Metals Plc (CAML), as part of a production fleet upgrade at its Sasa zinc-lead mine in North Macedonia, has acquired a new 32-t payload Epiroc MT436B truck.
The company is in the process of replacing or retiring older 20-t payload Epiroc MT2000/MT2200 trucks at the underground mine, with another Epiroc MT436B due for delivery in August. This will mean the production fleet will have three MT436Bs in total by the end of the September quarter.
Sasa produces 800,000-820,000 t/y of ore from the Svinja Reka orebody.
Ore is drilled using single boom jumbos, blasted and then excavated with underground loaders. The main haulage levels are at 80-m intervals, with sub-levels every seven to 10 m depending on the mining methods.
From 2023, the Sasa team has been transitioning from the historical top-down sub-level caving (SLC) mining method to the new bottom-up methods of cut and fill (C&F) stoping and long-hole stoping (LHS) with paste backfill. Both historical voids and new excavations will be backfilled with paste material containing cemented tailings to provide support, rather than leaving a void, as is the case with the SLC method.
Historically, once blasted, 60% to 70% of the ore was sent via ore passes to the 830-metre level to be transported by rail wagons to the Golema Reka shaft for hoisting and the remaining 30-40% was hauled to surface using trucks via the decline infrastructure. This ratio has been changing following extension of the new Central Decline to the bottom of the mine, providing a more efficient transport system.
Once at surface, ore is crushed in three stages. The milling circuit involves two parallel sets of rod mills, spiral classifiers and ball mills to ensure the extracted material is the appropriate size for liberation by flotation at approximately 74 microns.
Over the past three years, CAML has been working on three significant transition Capital Projects at its Sasa operation:
1. Construction of a paste backfill plant and associated underground reticulation system;
2. Construction of a dry stack tailings plant and associated landform; and
3. Development of a new, larger cross section and direct-access decline (the Central Decline).
It is the latter investment that has led to the company acquiring this larger equipment, with the new articulated Epiroc trucks suited to the 4×4 m access levels and 4.8×4.8m Central Decline, Jamie Karamatic, General Director, Sasa, told IM.
The operation received a new Epiroc Simba S7 production drill in December 2025, with Paus MinCas and other light vehicles expected in the next 12-18 months.
The mining fleet is predominantly made up of Epiroc equipment, consisting of development drills, production drills, articulated underground loaders and articulated underground trucks.
“We have some ancillary equipment which is not Epiroc branded such as integrated tool carriers, people transport vehicles, explosive transport vehicles and surface loaders for ore and concentrate loading,” Karamatic added.
Sasa currently has three AutoNav LOS line-of-sight remote units that it uses for loaders entering stopes or other areas with poor ground conditions where operators could be at risk, but it also plans to investigate the opportunity to include teleremote loaders through Epiroc’s AutoNav Tele platform for use in production stopes, including “semi-automation” (AutoNav Lite).