Despite the significant slowdown in construction activity in the Kingdom, especially at high profile megaprojects, Saudi Arabia still represents a significant potential market for China-developed and manufactured mining trucks – and in particular wide body designs. Taking one OEM as an example, both the SANY SKT130S 90 t class diesel-electric hybrid mining truck and a fleet of four SKT105S 70 t wide body mining trucks are now operating in the country.
The SKT130S was exhibited at the Heavy Equipment Connect (HEC) Forum & Expo in Dammam in February, and has a Weichai 925 kW (1,240 hp) engine with electric wheel motors, hydro-pneumatic front and rear suspension, and cutting-edge engineering, according to SANY, and “built to deliver exceptional performance in the toughest mining environments.” This truck is not only manufactured in Shenyang, China but also in SANY’s factory in Pune, India. It delivers fuel savings of 20% to 25% compared to conventional diesel-only models. It has a regenerative braking system, which charges the vehicle’s high-voltage 128 kWh battery during downhill operations, enhancing energy efficiency.
The SKT105S has a 390 kW (530 hp) Weichai engine and also has hydro-pneumatic suspension technology – for both trucks this replaces the traditional leaf spring structure to significantly improve the life of the truck and increase operator comfort. A newly designed low-stress and high-strength frame effectively prevents the fatigue breakage of the frame and reduces the overall stress level by 51% compared with competing products.
Other Chinese mining trucks operating in the Kingdom include a fleet of 20 Zoomlion 75 t class ZT115A trucks with Adka General Contracting Company which have been used for backfilling projects with Aramco; plus Tonly’s 60 t payload TLD90, which has been used at the NEOM project. XCMG has also been promoting its 70 t payload XG105 model and LGMG the 70 t class MT106.
To date, these trucks have mainly been used in earthmoving and construction projects – with key mines like Mansourah-Massarah, Al-Jalamid and Al Khabra primarily using rigid mining trucks from Caterpillar, Komatsu and Volvo operated by key contractors like Saudi Comedat, EPSA and Jac Rijk Al-Rashaid.