Ritchie Bros Auctioneers says it sold more than C$57 million of heavy equipment and trucks during an unreserved public auction at its permanent auction site in Edmonton, Alberta on March 7 and 8. The auction featured a large selection of late-model mining and heavy construction equipment, including more than 70 hydraulic excavators, more than 45 wheel loaders, over 30 articulated dump trucks, over 15 rigid haul trucks trucks and 10 crushers. More than 3,500 equipment items and trucks were sold.

“Our first auction of the year here in Edmonton featured a large selection of late model mining, construction and transportation equipment, which we’re seeing a lot of – with the Alberta mining industry on a steady move,” said Jim Rotlisberger, Regional Sales Manager, Ritchie Bros. “Participation from local and international bidders created a healthy, competitive bidding environment during both days of the auction. We saw strong results for late-model, low-hour equipment for the mining, construction, transportation and other industries—a positive sign at the start of 2013 as we get set for our second auction at the end of April.”

Close to 5,700 bidders from more than 35 countries, including 39 US states and all Canadian provinces and two territories, registered to bid in person or online for the auction. The auction featured equipment for more than 490 sellers, including more than 70 mining, heavy construction and transportation equipment items from North American Construction Group (NACG), the largest contract mining group in the Alberta oil sands. “In general, we saw good activity levels from the bidding crowds during last week’s auction,” said Joe Lambert, Vice President, NACG. “A variety of fleets —from larger mining gear to smaller construction equipment— crossed the auction ramp with strong participation by the bidding crowd from both industries. The used equipment market has shown a slight improvement over last fall when there was a significant disposal of thermal coal assets from the US into the market. We look forward to the next Ritchie Bros Edmonton auction where we will look at our options for selling some more equipment to buyers from around the world.”