Ground Control 14 - Luyckx

Technical focusOne of the existing EH3500ACIIs dumping overburden at the vast Zambian siteHugo Truter, Hitachi Construction Machinery (Zambia), Ltd.’sAssembly Coordinatoraddition to the Hitachi stable at Kansanshi, with 2,000 to 6,000working hours between them.John Coleshaw, FQM’s Project Manager, started working atKansanshi in 2010 and so wasn’t involved with the order for thelarge Hitachi excavators. “The EX1200s, EX1900s and EX2500swere already here when I arrived,” he confirms. “These machinesare quite old now, with some having accumulated more than 40,000hours. They have given good service and we can’t fault them.“Hitachi offered the only solution for electric-drive 180-tonnetrucks when we were in the market for these products two yearsago. The EH3500ACII is a good machine and our operators arehappy with their working environment. A main benefit of thesemodels is the automatic retarding control to regulate the downhillspeed, which is excellent for safety and preserves the lifetime ofthe product.”Born in the Copperbelt, Collins Banda has been an operatorwith FQM for three years and has driven one of the EH3500ACIIsfor over 12 months. His wife is also an operator, although she’snow more involved in training new recruits to master the miningmachinery at Kansanshi.“I’ve always dreamt of operating such a big truck and theEH3500ACII is the best machine in my opinion,” says Collins. “It’sso comfortable, even over the roughest ground, and I find that I’mnot as tired as I used to be at the end of my shift. The quality of theair conditioning, seat and suspension contribute to this feeling. Itdrives well on the haul roads, and is so powerful and fast enoughto maintain a high level of productivity.”A number of projects are planned to expand annual copperproduction capacity from the 230,000 tonnes achieved in 2011 toa target of 400,000 tonnes by 2015. The $370million expansionprogramme will be implemented in three phases.Phase one comprises of the expansion of the treatment capacityof the oxide circuit by 20% to 7.2million tonnes throughput perannum. The $200million phase two is planned to increase the oxidetreatment capacity to 15million tonnes per annum.Phase three is planned to comprise of the construction of anew sulphide concentrator with a planned annual throughput of16million tonnes of ore, with the capability of expansion to 25milliontonnes.New additions to the mining fleet will also play a key role in theexpansion programme and some equipment has already beenprocured, including 23 new EH3500ACIIs. These purpose-builttrucks are being supplied as part of a trolley assist package. Thiscommenced in March 2012 with the installation of a 750m testtrack, including an overhead line and a new dump truck for trials byHitachi engineers.The Assembly Coordinator for the Hitachi machines at Kansanshiis Hugo Truter of Hitachi Construction Machinery (Zambia), Ltd.(HCMZ). He has much experience of the rigours of mining in Africa,having worked with Hitachi Construction Machinery SouthernAfrica Co., Ltd. (HCSA) in a coal mine in the Northern Provenceof South Africa since 2002. Four years later, he moved to theLumwana copper mine in Zambia, firstly as the Truck AssemblyCoordinator for the delivery of 28 EH4500 trucks and then as aSiemens technician.In 2009, he started working for what is now HCMZ’s branch atKitwe. “I was initially employed as the Site Manager, before takingon the role of After-sales Development Manager,” says Hugo. “I’vebeen involved with the assembly of the existing EH3500ACIIs, aswell as the future development and assembly of the new truckswhen they are delivered.“The trials with the new truck on the trolley line have been goingwell. The line was supplied by Siemens to test the substationsand to see if it can take three trucks at the same time. It will bemaintained by FQM with an additional 2km running from the baseof the existing line to the bottom of the Main pit.”The design of electric dump trucks has become a more simplifiedprocess since the turn of the century. Technological innovation hasopened the door for the powerful AC drive to replace the traditionalDC drive.Dump trucks with trolley assist require initial investment forincidental facilities, such as power sources and overhead powerlines, but their power to climb slopes and acceleration are excellent.Fuel consumption is also about ten per cent lower than that ofHitachi engine-driven counterparts.The new trucks were scheduled to arrive from mid-July thisyear and be ready for full operation with the new trolley line byMarch 2013. After arriving disassembled from Hitachi ConstructionMachinery Co., Ltd. in Japan, they were partially assembled inSouth Africa so that they could still be transported by road.The journey from Johannesburg to the mine takes around 14days, partly due to the maximum travel speed of 80km/h and thequality of the roads, which means that the trucks have to zigzagthrough each country. It takes three trucks to move each partiallyassembled EH3500ACII: one to carry the frame; one with the loadbody; and one with the tyres.“The advantages of using the trolley line are reduced runningcosts – due to less fuel consumption – and the increased lifeexpectancy of the equipment,” explains Hugo. “There is also ashortage of quality fuel in Africa and the new trucks will help to savediesel for other applications.“The electric trucks excel in environmental performance, in termsof achieving low emissions and noise levels. They also have a lowerrisk of breakdown, because they don’t need a transmission andother such complex components. Their construction is more basicand they require fewer parts, which in turn means lower costs, lessmaintenance and consequently minimum downtime.“These Hitachi EH3500ACIIs were selected for Kansanshi,because the whole truck is owned and designed by Hitachi.The customer wanted a reliable system that can be used asone complete unit. All the other trucks in the market have beendesigned and built by the manufacturer, with the drive systemsupplied by a third party.”The technologically advanced trolley assist system thereforeallows a mining company such as FQM to increase its profits.Needless to say, the reduction in running costs is a major factor indetermining a mining company’s evaluation of a manufacturer andHitachi has already shown that it is ahead of the competition inthis respect.To see a movie of the EH3500ACII rigiddump trucks working in Zambia, please visitwww.youtube.com/user/HitachiConstruction.To receive a digital version of Ground Controlwith new movies, please register online atwww.igroundcontrol.com/subscribe/english28 Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) NV GROUND CONTROL29