Germany-based machine manufacturer GHH says it has significantly expanded its market share in Bulgaria with a double-digit number of LHDs and trucks set to head to Breznik Minerals Ltd.

The Bulgarian company is part of the group of companies of Assarel-Medet JSC, which is the leading mining company in the country, carrying out both open-pit mining and copper ore processing.

The acquired machines will be operated in the Breznik gold project, which is the first underground greenfield mine set to be built in Bulgaria for more than 50 years, according to the company. The site has an area of 500,000 sq.m and is some 35 km west of Sofia. The deposit has JORC indicated resources of approximately 1 Mt grading 2 g/t Au and inferred resources of approximately 700,000 t grading 1.8 g/t, along with significant silver resources.

Breznik will take delivery of the first batch of equipment in the September quarter of 2024, with the remainder scheduled for the end of the June quarter of 2025.

“We are looking forward to the delivery of their first GHH machines,” Krum Hristov, one of the founders of Strotech Engineering JSC, a construction, industrial and mining equipment specialist based in Sofia, Bulgaria, which runs several fully-equipped service centres throughout the country, maintaining 2,000 units per year.

The recent order consists of LF-7 LHDs, and MK-20 and MK-30 diesel-powered dump trucks.

The LHDs are designed for a payload of 7 t in bucket sizes up to 4 cu.m. They have the best loading performance in their class at only 2.2 m total height, fully laden, GHH says. The LF-7 is powered by a 164 kW Tier 3/4/Stage 5 engine, comes with a robust design and offers extra safety and comfort for the driver.

The dumpers are designed with 20 t and 30 t of payload, up to 18 cu.m dump box capacities and engines with up to 320 kW power rating. GHH claims that the low operating costs offered by the machines are made possible by the unique frame and system design.

All vehicles can also be monitored remotely to manage maintenance with the GHH inSiTE software, providing a big plus when it comes to machine availability and cost savings.