Tag Archives: T 284

Liebherr reflects on Zambia’s evolving role in global mining tech advances

Automation, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , ,

Liebherr Zambia has celebrated its 10th anniversary, with employees travelling to the Kitwe branch to begin the proceedings with a tour of Kitwe’s office, warehouse and remanufacturing facilities before attending a company-wide address from Liebherr Zambia’s managing directors.

Henri Wassink, Managing Director of Administration, Liebherr Zambia, said: “We appreciate everyone who has supported Liebherr Zambia during our journey. We thank our employees for their dedication, creativity and loyalty over the past 10 years and look forward to what we will achieve together in the years to come.”

Liebherr Zambia was originally founded to support mining operations in the Zambian Copperbelt. During its first five years, Liebherr Zambia was solely a Liebherr Mining sales and service company, providing machinery, technical support and spare parts to the open-pit copper mines in the country. However, in 2019, the company began offering equipment from Liebherr’s earthmoving product segment to expand its support capabilities and work alongside the gemstone industry as well as contractors providing mining and construction services.

“When we first opened, we had a handful of employees: one accountant, one parts representative and a single technician,” Wassink says. “Today, Liebherr Zambia is more than 100 employees strong, and we are present on different customer sites.”

Despite being home to 20% of the world’s emeralds and being the seventh largest copper producer in the world, the Zambian mining industry is a small one and therefore extremely competitive. To meet customers’ high expectations, Liebherr Zambia has developed a variety of tailored support solutions that range from ad hoc and on-call support to full service contracts with more than 70 people involved.

Jeffery Johnson, Service Manager, Liebherr Zambia, said: “Customers’ needs are rarely static. As such, it’s important that we regularly engage with our customers to be sure that the supports and resources we provide, such as spare parts, are always exactly what they need.”

In recent years, Liebherr Zambia has played a significant role in the development of product innovations such as Liebherr’s Trolley Assist System for haul trucks and the D98 series of combustion engines, designed specifically for the mining industry. In 2016, Liebherr Zambia welcomed the first two T 284 haul trucks in Africa. These were the first trucks to operate using Liebherr’s trolley and pantograph technology – a crucial step forward in the design and development of the Liebherr Trolley Assist System available today.

Sebastien Tomasina, Managing Director of Operations, Liebherr Zambia, said: “The success of the trolley trial in Zambia paved the way for a substantial international sale of a T 284 fleet using trolley technology.”

During the validation of the D98 series of combustion engines, Liebherr Zambia commissioned the first D9812 12-cylinder engine in 2018. Three years later, Liebherr Zambia repowered a T 284 haul truck so that it was the first to run on a D9816 16-cylinder engine. These were crucial steps in the creation of Liebherr’s D98 range of engines, which has now been adopted by customers in major mining markets all over the world.

Kaluba Chaikatisha, General Manager, Finance and Administration, Liebherr Zambia, said: “A key driver in our ability to cope with the rapid expansion and evolution in the industry in which we operate has been the core values of the Liebherr Group that have shaped our organisational culture. These have driven, and continue to drive, the quality in our output, the innovation required to optimise solutions, and the trust we build with our stakeholders.”

When Liebherr Zambia first opened its doors 10 years ago, the company had just the one location and employees you could count on one hand. Today, Liebherr Zambia operates locations in Kitwe, Lusaka, and Kalumbila; represents multiple Liebherr product segments; and supports customers from a range of different industries.

Muonga Kaunda, Head of Human Resources, Liebherr Zambia, said: “I am so proud to be part of the Liebherr Zambia team. Our diverse and talented workforce thrives on teamwork and supporting the business in reaching its business objectives. I’m excited to see what the next 10 years brings for us!”

2024 also marks the 75th anniversary of the Liebherr Group, with celebrations taking place in locations all over the world throughout the year.

First Quantum to add to Liebherr T 284 fleet at Sentinel copper mine

Base metals, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , , ,

First Quantum Minerals is in the process of bolstering its fleet of Liebherr T 284 trucks at the Sentinel operation in Zambia, in line with a redistribution of loading equipment to better suit working areas at the copper mine.

In the company’s March quarter, Sentinel reported copper production of 36,232 t, 37,177 t lower than the previous quarter due to the intense rainy season, resulting in the accumulation of water in the Stage 1 pit.

Saturated ground conditions significantly impacted mining rates due to poor road conditions and water in the pit prevented access to working faces, particularly in the lower benches of Stage 1, First Quantum said in its March quarter results.

Despite the challenges encountered during this quarter, copper production for 2023 remains unchanged at 260,000-280,000 t as higher feed grades are expected in the second half of the year, with grades showing improvement already in April.

“The current focus on deploying additional dewatering capacity in Stage 1 to regain access to the high-grade ore is already yielding results early in the second (June) quarter,” it said.

The mine plan has been rescheduled, even if total volumes remain substantively the same and higher grade zones will be dispatched across the remaining three quarters of the year, the company noted. This is to be complemented by a change in location of the in-pit ramps to liberate high-grade ore by mining the saddle zones between Stage 1 and Stage 2.

There will also be a redistribution of loading equipment to better suit working areas and truck fleet capacity is planned to increase in the June quarter with the commissioning of an additional Liebherr T 284, followed by two more in the second half of the year.

Sentinel is a leader in electric mining as a long-term user of trolley assist technology with its Komatsu 960E and Liebherr T 284 trucks, which run under trolley using pantographs.

At MINExpo 2021, Liebherr confirmed it would supply a further 11 T 284 trucks to operate on trolley lines at First Quantum Minerals’ Sentinel and Cobre Panama mines with the miner claiming, in the process, the title of the world’s largest ultra-class truck fleet on trolley. Three of these 363-t-payload machines were planned to be deployed at Sentinel, with the remainder at Cobre Panama.

Two Liebherr T 284 trucks with the Trolley Assist System were commissioned at Sentinel copper mine all the way back in 2016 and testing of the trolley solution began in February of 2017, with 12 months allotted for FQM to evaluate the trucks, the trolley and the customer service.

At the end of the trial period, FQM expressed it was pleased with the results of the Trolley Assist System and the performance of the T 284, leading to an order for six more trolley-capable T 284 trucks at Sentinel mine, along with 30-trolley-capable T 284 trucks for Cobre Panama copper mine in Panama, Liebherr explained.

First Quantum to operate world’s largest ultra-class truck trolley fleet with Liebherr T 284

Environmental, Mining equipment, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Precious metals, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , ,

The day after announcing it will accelerate the implementation of its existing low carbon solutions and trigger future projects at MINExpo 2021, Liebherr has confirmed that it will supply a further 11 T 284 trucks to operate on trolley lines at First Quantum Minerals Limited (FQML)’s Sentinel and Cobre Panama mines with the miner claiming, in the process, the title of the world’s largest ultra-class truck fleet on trolley.

In 2013, Liebherr received an initial request from FQML to develop a 360 t trolley-capable haul truck for mine sites in Panama and Zambia. The trucks were required to integrate with the trolley power line that FQML had designed and developed for the sites.

Agreeing to this partnership, Liebherr engineers began developing, testing and verifying the trolley solution. Two Liebherr T 284 trucks with the Trolley Assist System were commissioned at Sentinel copper mine in Zambia in 2016 and testing of the trolley solution began in February of 2017, with 12 months allotted for the customer to evaluate the trucks, the trolley and the customer service.

At the end of the trial period, FQML expressed it was pleased with the results of the Trolley Assist System and the performance of the T 284, leading to an order for six more trolley-capable T 284 trucks at Sentinel mine, along with 30-trolley-capable T 284 trucks for Cobre Panama copper mine in Panama, Liebherr says.

As a mark of success of the partnership between FQML and Liebherr, along with the performance of the T 284 with trolley solution, FQML recently confirmed an order for a further 11 T 284 trucks. These three trucks for Sentinel mine and eight trucks for Cobre Panama mine will join the existing fleets operating with the Trolley Assist System. This soon-to-be fleet of 38 T 284s in Panama will claim the title of the world’s largest ultra-class truck fleet on trolley, according to Liebherr.

“Trolley Assist truck systems have become integral to the development of First Quantum’s large scale open-pit truck haulage operations,” an FQML representative says. “Over the last decade, First Quantum has emerged as one of the industry leaders in implementation of Trolley Assist systems across mine planning and design, installation, operations, and maintenance. We consider our purpose designed Trolley Assist systems deliver a step change in measurable haulage performance through increased truck productivity, improved maintenance cost, and reduced carbon emissions.

“During the past five years, Liebherr has proven itself as a proactive partner in the development of Trolley Assist capable truck fleet systems. First Quantum has selected the Liebherr T 284 ultra-class truck for some of our Trolley Assist deployments at our large-scale mining operations in Zambia and, more recently, as the sole deployed truck at our Panama mining operations. With a high degree of co-operation between our organisations, we see this partnership continuing to grow in years to come.”

Oliver Hoelzer, Director of Mining Liebherr-Panamá, says: “Even before the arrival of the very first truck, Liebherr Panama’s relationship with FQML Panama has been more of a mutual partnership than a pure business relationship. Our highly committed team recognises that Liebherr’s own success is intrinsically linked to the success of FQML.”

Liebherr has also delivered six trolley-capable 100 t T 236 haul trucks to the Erzberg iron ore mine in Austria, bringing the total number of Liebherr trucks with the Trolley Assist System to 56 once FQML’s newest fleet has been commissioned.

Liebherr aims to offer fossil fuel free solutions for its entire digging, dozing, and hauling product range by 2030.

End of an era for Liebherr T 282 C ultra-class haul trucks

Coal technology, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , , ,

The delivery of five Liebherr T 282 C haul trucks to BHP’s Peak Downs coal mine in central Queensland, Australia, marked a milestone for the original equipment manufacturer, being the last ultra-class machines to come off the production line at the factory in Virginia, USA.

National Mining Services recently purchased the five trucks and rented them to BHP. The machines were built over a period of about three and a half months.

The delivery was reported earlier this month by National Mining Services, but Liebherr put together a press release of its own in recognition of the milestone.

The 363 t payload class T 282 C truck will now officially only be produced by Liebherr as the T 284. The T 284, first introduced at MINExpo 2012, continues to be the lightest (lowest vehicle weight) and most capable (highest payload) ultra-class mining truck while offering reduced fuel consumption, delivering over 4,000 hp (2,983 kW) of power, according to Liebherr.

National Mining Services has also recently purchased an R 996 B Hydraulic Excavator, which is working in Western Australia for Fortescue Metals Group at the Christmas Creek iron ore mine. This machine is designed for the best mechanical force distribution, with the production-tailored attachment delivering high digging and lifting forces, according to Liebherr.