These continue to be busy times for Suspended Dump Body specialist, Duratray. The SDB in its various forms combines impact-resistant, shock absorption features and the abrasion-resistant properties of a rubber wear mat and a combination of specialised steels. Variants of the SDB have also been proposed in other mining applications, such as to act as liners in the hopper beds of mobile in-pit truck-loaded sizer stations.
In terms of recent deliveries, in Russia at Severstal’s Kostomuksha iron ore mine in Karelia, the first ten 161 m3 CAT 793D bodies have been delivered – the attached photo shows one of the trucks being loaded with an IZ-Kartex EKG-20 shovel. Elsewhere, Newcrest-Lihir and FQML have recently purchased additional CAT 785 SDBs at their operations in PNG and Zambia respectively; while in Canada, De Beers Canada at Gahcho Kué has commissioned four Komatsu 830E SDBs to bring their fleet to 12 units as that mine continues its ramp-up; delivery was via the Ice Road. Finally, Duratray has recently delivered two SDBs and five steel bodies to Downer Mining for the Bowen Basin coalfields; the trucks are near new Komatsu 930E-4SE units which were relocated from the now closed CNR Bloom Lake mine in Canada.