Centamin’s Sukari gold mine in Egypt is in the process of upgrading its fleet of Caterpillar 785C haul trucks with “lightweight truck trays” designed by VR Steel and fabricated by Egypt-based Aresco.

In 2020, the miner trialled the use of these high production trays, which demonstrated a 10% gain in truck productivity through larger payload and faster cycle time. This led to a decision for a broader roll-out in 2021 across the haul fleet, Centamin said in its 2020 sustainability report.

The introduction of these trays, designed so the floor can be replaced for extended overall service life, are part of the company’s plans to improve cycle loading times and truck/loader matching at the gold operation. They also bring sustainability benefits to the operation given they reduce the truck body weight, increase the payload and improve fuel and tyre efficiency.

Centamin, in the 2020 sustainability report, confirmed it had placed an order for the local fabrication of 44 high production trays to fit the haul fleet in accordance with OEM specifications.