A newly Caterpillar-branded hydraulic mining excavator was recently delivered from the former Bucyrus factory in Dortmund to Hartikainnen, Finland’s biggest contractor, which is using the machine at the Siilinjärvi phosphate mine in the country where it has the mining contract. The excavator is a Caterpillar 6030 (formerly knnown as the RH120 under Terex O&K then Bucyrus) and has been delivered together with five 785D trucks. The excavator has been commissioned with the formal handover of the whole fleet scheduled for October. “It is exciting to reach this milestone in our integration journey,” stated Caterpillar’s Neil Roth, who led the product branding team. “We formed a team earlier this year to work across multiple areas of the business to plan and implement the product brand changes. This is an important element of going to the mining industry as one team to help our customers be more successful.”

It is also significant for the Dortmund factory as it is the first mining excavator they have ever sold to Finland. The Siilinjärvi site consists of a mine and several plants. The mine is the only producer of phosphate ore in Western Europe, and it produces apatite, biotite and calcite, while the plants refining phosphate into phosphoric acid for fertiliser production. Production at the mine, which is part of fertiliser giant Yara International ASA, started in 1980. Hartikainnen already operates a large fleet of Caterpillar 777 trucks and Hitachi excavators (EX1200 and EX1900) at the mine.