Komatsu Australia has released its “next generation” in hydraulic mining excavators, the PC7000, a 700 t class machine available in face shovel and backhoe configurations. It is matched to 200+ t trucks such as Komatsu’s 830E, 860E and 930E haul units. According to Michael Hall, Komatsu Australia’s National Product Manager, the new PC7000 – which had its worldwide release in April 2016 Bauma, Germany– extends the company’s portfolio of loading tools in the plus 200 t truck classes, joining the global market leading PC8000.

“This shovel meets the mining industry’s requirements for high productivity through its proven Komatsu performance pedigree – and offers the lowest cost per tonne in its class,” he said. “Testing in Australia has confirmed the production benefits delivered by the PC7000’s large bucket capacity, fast cycle times, high breakout force and excellent stability.” Hall said customer input into the new shovel was a key factor in its development. “The PC7000 is an example of Komatsu’s innovative design philosophy and technology-driven engineering. It represents the latest in mining technology, and was developed as a result of close collaboration with our mining industry partners from around the world; with mining becoming ever more challenging, we opted for a truly customer-oriented approach,” he said.

“As part of this process, our long-term mining partners were asked to define their requirements for the next generation of shovels. They identified safety, productivity, maintainability and performance as key drivers – and all were taken into consideration by our design and development engineers.” The PC7000’s design was also strongly influenced by industry groups such as the Earth Moving Equipment Safety Round Table (EMESRT). Hall said the PC7000 had the highest engine power and breakout force in its class, providing fast cycle times. “This, combined with an easy-fill bucket design, meant in less time at the face to fill the bucket, along with reduced fuel consumption per BCM,” he said. “At the same time, our Komatsu Hydropilot system prioritises hydraulic flow, ensuring smooth hydraulic response, with simple system layout and a reduced number of components. Maintenance-related downtime has also been significantly reduced, with the machine design providing easy access to major components, centralised service points and improved maintenance access through the location and increased width of walkways.”

Customers can constantly check the machine’s operating status of their machine through KOMTRAX Plus, Komatsu’s industry-leading machine monitoring system, which is standard on the PC7000, said Hall. “And for Australian, New Zealand and New Caledonia customers, all machine operational data is constantly monitored and checked in our INSITE Fleet Management Centre at our Fairfield headquarters. Our INSITE centre constantly monitors data covering key machine, fleet, production and industry parameters across all Komatsu mining, construction and utility machines operating throughout our region, ensuring we harness the latest ICT (information communications technology) to derive maximum benefits for our customers,” he said.

Additional production enhancing technology on the PC7000 is available through Modular Mining’s ProVision system, delivering advantages such as:

• Bi-directional data transfer from mine planning to the machine and from the machine to mine planning
• Improved bench level adherence to plan
• Delineation of blocks and polygons to enable selective mining and ore grade consistency, minimising material waste and improving production efficiency
• Enhanced safety via hazard alerts, restricted area identification and proximity warnings.

“With backhoe, front shovel, diesel and electric drive configurations already sold around the world, our new PC7000 is rapidly obtaining market acceptance among major mining companies,” said Hall. Brief specs of the PC7000 (diesel drive variant) are: engine make and model, two Tier 2-rated Komatsu SSDA16V159E-2 engines, rated at 2,500 kW, crawler assembly overall length, 10,500 mm; track pad width, 1,500/1,900 mm; maximum travel speed, 2.5 km/h; bucket capacity (backhoe and front shovel) 36 m3 at 1.8 t/m3 material density; backhoe bucket breakout force, 1,671 kN; front shovel bucket breakout force, 1,994 kN; operating weight, 682 t (backhoe), 674 t (front shovel).