Komatsu Mining recently partnered with UltraTech Cement to introduce a low seam and a mid seam Joy continuous miner package in India’s first privately owned coal block for captive mining at Bicharpur mines in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh. Komatsu stated: “With the delivery of our direct services with full maintenance contract, we are excited to work as partners with UltraTech to create lasting value for their business.”

The low coal seam package, consisting of one Joy 14CM continuous miner, two Joy 10SC32 shuttle cars, 1 Joy UFB14 Feeder Breaker, 1 Fletcher HDDR roof bolter and 1 power center was put into service on February 10 and the CM recently carried out its first cut. The Joy 14CM continuous miner fitted Bicharpur’s requirement for low-seam applications between 1.5 m and 3 m. The low height 14CM is designed for low-seam applications and delivers a combination of cutting power, reliability and productivity.

UltraTech Cement uses the coal for its own cement manufacture, with the company being part of conglomerate Aditya Birla. The 500 ha block is located in Sohagpur Coalfield with the planned extractable reserves standing at 29.12 Mt, geological reserves 56.2 Mt and mineable reserves of 52.6 Mt with a planned annual production capacity of 0.75 Mt.