Tag Archives: Trolley Assist System

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

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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.

Liebherr to present new mid-size-class hydraulic mining excavator at Bauma

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Among its booths at Bauma 2022, in Munich, Germany, from October 24-30, Liebherr is set to unveil a brand-new mid-size class hydraulic mining excavator.

This second Generation 8 machine will be joined by other mining products and solutions on the company’s stands at the world’s largest construction show.

A pre-series model of the new machine will be exhibited at the Liebherr booth. As the second machine within the Liebherr mining portfolio to receive the “Generation 8” label, after the R 9600 excavator, which was launched in 2021, this new model comes equipped with the latest Liebherr technology products, the company said.

The hydraulic excavator to be displayed at Bauma 2022 has already entered the testing phase, with the company planning the start of serial production in early 2024.

The T 274, a 305-t mining truck, will also be on display at the show, featuring what Liebherr says will be “an impressive demonstration of the Trolley Assist System”.

This new truck bridges the gap between the  T 284 (363 t) and the upgraded T 264 (240 t) and was launched last year with the Liebherr Trolley Assist System available as an option.

The Liebherr Trolley Assist System uses an overhead pantograph to connect the electric-drive system to a mine site’s electrical network, powered by the customer’s energy source of choice. The Trolley Assist System offers increased truck fleet productivity, and potential for reduction in fleet size while maintaining yearly production, when compared with standard trucks. The potential for significant reduction of diesel fuel consumption and carbon footprint by decreasing the truck fleet’s CO2 emissions, demonstrates the Trolley Assist System as an effective first step on the road to zero emission mine sites of the future, the company said.

Liebherr already delivers proven field experience with 56 Liebherr trucks fitted with the Trolley Assist System currently in operation across three mine sites, it said.

Liebherr Mining’s recently launched Technology Product portfolio will also be showcased at Bauma 2022.

Mining excavator technology products to be presented will include the Truck Loading Assistant, Performance Monitoring and Application Severity analytic products, Liebherr Power Efficiency, and the Bucket Filling Assistant, which offers the first step towards excavator automation.

Other innovations across the Liebherr Group set to be presented in Munich include Liebherr Components’ first hydrogen engine, the H964, with, the company says, high efficiency and very low NOx emissions with the same service life and maintenance intervals as diesel engines.

The various injection solutions for hydrogen for medium and heavy-duty engines, as well as large engines with 7-100 litre capacity, will also be presented.