MACA has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Downer EDI Limited’s Mining West business in a deal that could involve a consideration of A$175 million ($132 million).
Just last week, MACA said it was considering the potential purchase of Downer EDI Limited’s Mining West division as part of a stated plan to explore and pursue growth opportunities that will deliver “value to shareholders on an ongoing basis”.
The Mining West business currently comprises four large contracts at the long-life assets of Karara (Ansteel), Eliwana (Fortescue Metals Group), Cape Preston (CITIC Pacific) and Gruyere (Gold Fields, Gold Road Resources).
MACA’s CEO and Managing Director, Mike Sutton, said the acquisition provided MACA with a very meaningful addition of a large-scale mining fleet currently engaged across these projects. This comprises 14 excavators and shovels, 65 dump trucks, 11 surface drills and 36 other ancillary machines.
The fleet being acquired is currently fully utilised, or in the process of being deployed to projects, with the equipment having mixed life (with machines being on average mid-life). MACA says its due diligence has confirmed the machines are in good working order, having been well maintained by Mining West’s internal plant department.
With the inclusion of Mining West, MACA now has total contracted work in hand of over A$3.4 billion, which provides a robust revenue base well past its 2025 financial year, Sutton added.
Macmahon Holdings confirms it has been selected as the preferred tenderer to provide equipment hire and maintenance services at the Foxleigh joint venture operation in Queensland, Australia, from March 1, 2021.
The Foxleigh mine is an open pit, truck and excavator operation in the Bowen Basin, which produces low volatile PCI coal for Asia steel mill customers.
The proposed scope of work for Macmahon involves the hire and maintenance of 21 large capacity dump trucks and other ancillary equipment over a five-year term, together with the maintenance of client-owned equipment.
Macmahon estimates this work will generate around A$250 million ($177 million) in revenue and require capital expenditure of circa-A$50 million. Most of this capital expenditure will be to acquire 220 t dump trucks, which are expected to have a useful life of 10 years, Macmahon says.
Michael Finnegan, CEO and Managing Director of Macmahon, said: “We are very pleased to be selected as the preferred equipment and maintenance provider for the Foxleigh project, and we are looking forward to delivering for a new client in Queensland. This selection highlights our expertise in sourcing and maintaining large scale mining equipment and our ability to offer a range of service models to our clients.”
Foxleigh is jointly owned by QMetco, POSCO Australia and Nippon Steel Australia.
MineWare says it has recently completed its first high-altitude installation of its Argus monitoring system at one of Chile’s largest copper mines.
While technology continues to digitise and automate many mining processes – with the company recently helping a major copper mine in Chile set up its Argus and Pegasys monitoring systems on five of its electric rope shovels without stepping foot on site – there are still some tasks that need to be managed on the ground, it says.
Reflecting on a recent installation of MineWare’s Argus monitoring system on a P&H 4100XPC shovel at this large copper mine in Chile, MineWare’s Vice President for South America, Ramiro Mesina, said his team specialise in adapting and responding to clients’ environmental conditions.
“We pride ourselves on understanding the unique challenges and opportunities at each of our clients’ sites,” he said. “Our technology has been developed to support this and our team are well-versed in solving complex problems.
“Our recent work in Chile saw our team manage an installation of our Argus monitoring system at an altitude of 4,800 m above sea level in -10°C temperatures with occasional earthquakes: definitely not your every-day situation.
“While this was our first high-altitude installation, the process and care our team puts into planning this type of operation is tried and tested. Efficient project management and coordination, led by our Regional Operations Manager, Hector Mendoza, was key to ensuring a successful installation as well as the safety of all involved.”
In addition to the location of the mining site, the MineWare team also needed to manage this process during a global pandemic. Mining sites in South America have continued to operate throughout the COVID-19 situation, however for many this has been at a reduced level or with a skeleton staff.
Mesina said the strict COVID-19 regulations put in place to protect worker’s health and safety meant there was also minimal on-site assistance to support MineWare’s installation process.
“This was another factor we needed to address in our planning,” he said. “We knew we needed to reconsider logistics as there would be challenges with making resources and vehicles available.
“We determined that the most efficient process would be to add additional time to our preparation on-site and run the installation over four night shifts. This allowed our team to identify any other issues prior to the installation while taking into consideration the potential impact of the altitude on our team.”
Mesina said the team successfully completed the installation on schedule, with only a couple of small earthquakes halting the progress on-site.
Argus is an advanced monitoring system for electric shovels, hydraulic excavators and wheel loaders.
The interoperable solution captures and shares valuable operating data to on site and remote mining personnel in real time to optimise payload performance, mine compliance and machine health, according to the company.
Five SANY excavators, including two SY750Hs, two SY500Hs, one SY215C, and one SRT95C rigid-body mining truck, have recently been delivered to two large coal mines in Indonesia, the China-based equipment manufacturer reports.
The latest delivery, the SY750H, the largest-tonnage SANY excavator in Indonesia at 76 t, added to the SY500Hs and SY215Cs already on site. The SY750H is equipped with a 5.4 cu.m bucket to achieve higher ripping in difficult ground conditions, SANY says. It comes with a fuel-efficient ISUZU engine.
“The SY750H crawler excavators are used specifically for overburden, as well as for loading dumper trucks in the mine,” SANY said. “They have proved their efficiency, cost-effectiveness and reliability in operation.”
The delivery of the SRT95C, meanwhile, represented the first rigid truck to head to a coal mining job site in Indonesia. It came equipped with a Cummins QST high-power engine with electronic fuel injection control and Allison transmission. “This means enhanced acceleration performance and reduced fuel consumption and emissions,” SANY said.
The truck’s frame is made of alloyed structural steel, which features resistance to low temperature, bending, twisting and impact. In addition, McPherson front strut suspension adopted on the front axle and steering mechanism smooth the ride, according to SANY.
“SANY’s equipment has a strong presence in Indonesia as clients across the islands have purchased a range of products, including excavators, cranes and mining trucks, since years ago,” it said. “These machines have proven their outstanding off-road properties as well as a good quality in service.”
The client from one of the coal mines said: “With large grab capacity, high fuel efficiency and rapid working cycles, SANY excavators fully meet our requirements. Also, the productivity and stability in operation and good aftersales service, especially the spare part support, make SANY rigid mining trucks impressive.”
The delivery of these excavators and trucks followed another order from a mining customer in Africa last month.
On July 23, Eritrea’s Bisha Mining Share Company, owned by Zijin Mining, took delivery of nine SRT95C dump trucks it ordered earlier this year from SANY. These trucks will help the copper-zinc mine increase ore production.
Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM) is looking at trialling autonomous ultra-large hydraulic excavators at an Australia mine site as part of a series of verification tests.
The tests, set to begin from the start of the 2021 financial year (from April 1, 2021), are geared towards improving future mining site safety and productivity, HCM said.
“The remote controlled ultra-large hydraulic excavator will be developed in order to improve the working environment and ensure the safety of operators,” the company stated. “This excavator will be equipped with operator support systems, such as a collision avoidance system with other mining equipment, to ensure the same level of operability as with the operator on board the machinery.”
Following the initial development, some part of the excavation and loading operation will be automated to allow a single remote operator to operate multiple ultra-large hydraulic excavators, the company said.
“The incremental development will eventually realise the ultra-large hydraulic excavators with autonomous operation features,” HCM said.
The remote control, driving support system for manned excavators and autonomous operation features are all retrofittable onto the EX-7 series of ultra-large hydraulic excavators to enable mining site customers to use the equipment they currently operate, while supporting autonomous operation at mining sites in the future, HCM said.
The company explains: “Mining resources including iron ore and copper sustain the activities of global industries, and the sites which mine these resources are required to operate in a stable manner 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
“In contrast, the operators of ultra-large hydraulic excavators are required to repeatedly perform complex operations for a long period of time while paying attention to avoid collision with surrounding equipment and the stability of the vehicle, in order to excavate and load mining resources in an efficient manner.”
Because the safety and productivity of ultra-large hydraulic excavator operation largely depends on the operator’s skill and experience, building a production system that does not depend on these skills and reduces the operator’s workload are important issues at mining sites, it said.
Such developments have been coming from the group considering the company entered the mining machinery business in the late 1970s, and has made leaps in tele-remote operations of excavators within other sectors.
For example, the company used a remote-controlled unmanned excavator to advance the development of technologies in the reconstruction work at Mount Unzen Fugen-dake volcanic eruption in 1992. In 2013, it also led the industry by advancing the development of technologies for long-distance remote control by remotely operating a hydraulic excavator located in the Urahoro test site, Hokkaido, over an internet connection from approximately 800 km away in Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture.
“Now, we have decided to begin verification tests at an actual mining site to advance the development of autonomous driving for ultra-large hydraulic excavators, reflecting the needs of customers,” it said.
The autonomous operation for ultra-large hydraulic excavators can be deployed as a standalone system, or as a part of fleet management system (FMS), such as the Fleet Control from Wenco International Mining Systems, a HCM subsidiary with a solid implementation track record at large-scale mines.
“Our goal is to balance a high degree of safety and productivity by having autonomous operation through sharing the information among the autonomous ultra-large hydraulic excavators, dump trucks and other equipment,” the company said.
Because it is difficult to assess the conditions around the vehicle and the inclination of the vehicle during remote control compared with a manned operation, the actual machinery will be equipped with a collision avoidance system and a vehicle stability monitoring system to reduce the burden on the operator performing the remote control during the verification tests, HCM said.
In addition, Wenco has been advancing the development of an excavator payload monitoring system, which measures the weight of the material inside the bucket, and plans to test this feature at the same time.
Reflecting the needs of actual customers through verification testing will further improve remote control and driving support technologies in ultra-large hydraulic excavators, HCM said.
“These operator support systems can be retrofitted onto the EX-7 series of ultra-large hydraulic excavators and are scheduled to be ready for the market during the 2022 financial year (April 1, 2022 onwards) as systems installed on actual machinery to increase operation safety,” the company said.
Integration with the autonomous haulage system (AHS)
HCM began researching AHS in 2009, with six EH5000 rigid dump trucks now starting 24-hour autonomous haulage at Whitehaven’s Maules Creek coal mine in New South Wales, Australia.
Because a diverse and large quantity of manned and unmanned machineries mix together in a large-scale mining operation, the radio communication needed for the operating control must be managed in a stable manner, HCM explained.
“The AHS from Hitachi Construction Machinery runs on the Wenco FMS and utilises various technologies from the Hitachi Group to realise a significant advantage by extending its range of control up to a maximum of 100 vehicles,” the company said.
The goal of autonomous ultra-large hydraulic excavators is to balance a high level of safety and productivity, even in the autonomous mining sites of the future, by sharing information with dump trucks and other machinery.
The Hitachi Construction Machinery Group has thus far been engaged in realising “reliable solutions” to solve social issues as a close and reliable partner for our customers, it said.
“Going forward, we will continue to promote the development of long-distance remote control and autonomous driving, ultra-large hydraulic excavators using ICT and IoT for mining industry customers around the world to help provide the higher level of safety and mine management productivity improvements that our customers require,” the company concluded.
Weir’s ESCO division says it has extended its Nemisys mining tooth system to a new range of excavators.
The expanded Nemisys offering serves as a direct upgrade and replacement for the SV2® system and competitor weld-on systems for plate lip hydraulic excavators, it said.
Earlier this year, the company introduced the Nemisys N70 Lip System for hydraulic excavators as it looks to expand the tooth system’s reach beyond the large mining shovels, large excavators and wheel loaders it was initially developed for.
This latest addition will see the mining tooth system support 160 ton (145 t), 200 ton (181 t) and 250 ton (227 t) excavators.
“Operating on over 700 machines worldwide, the Nemisys system has demonstrated market leadership in reliability, site safety and enhancing machine performance,” the company said.
ESCO says the Nemisys system features hammerless locking mechanisms for greater safety and easy replacement, while the slim contoured profile improves bucket loading and reduces fill energy.
“The system is also known for reducing or eliminating unplanned downtime, providing major improvement in cost reduction and balancing machine maintenance cycles,” it said.
Austin Engineering has placed second overall at the 2019 Swedish Steel Awards, at the same time as its two-piece excavator bucket was awarded the Peoples’ Choice Award at the event.
First awarded in 1999, the Swedish Steel Prize is an international award for companies, institutions and individuals in the steel industry. The prize, owned by SSAB, has for 20 years been recognising and rewarding those that have developed a method or product that fully utilises the potential of high-strength, wear resistant and other premium steels.
An independent professional jury assesses the entries by considering their applicability, profitability, environmental benefits, performance, innovation and creativity.
The jury said: “Austin Engineering has taken a significant leap in innovation for the design and maintenance of excavator buckets. With a modular approach, they have developed an innovative concept that combines low weight with optimal use of the complete product before scrapping. The solution utilises the characteristics of high strength and wear resistant steel and has extremely low barriers for implementation.”
Designed and manufactured in Australia by Austin Engineering, the two-piece bucket features a reusable upper section and a consumable lower segment designed for quick and safe bucket change-outs during scheduled maintenance intervals.
The reusable upper section has been designed to maintain overall structural integrity of the assembly for a predetermined service life through multiple change-outs of the lower, consumable, section.
According to the company, typical baseline service life for the upper section service will be in the vicinity of 30,000 hours; around four to five years based on industry expectations of conventional one-piece buckets of similar size and capacities.
Along with Austin Engineering, the finalists in this year’s award included Kampang from Brazil for its feeder modules for axial grain harvesters used in soybean farming, Roofit Solar from Estonia for its metal solar roofs that produce electricity and the US-based Shape Corp (overall winner) for its robust manufacturing process for 3D shaped tubes.
Steel award entries must be a method or product that fully uses the characteristics of premium steel within SSAB’s product range, but does not necessarily need to be steel produced by SSAB, according to the organisers.
LiuGong has used the backdrop of the 15th Beijing International Construction Machinery Exhibition & Seminar (BICES 2019) in China to launch a new range of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) as well as remote controlled ‘intelligent’ wheel loaders based on 5G technology.
At BICES 2019, LiuGong is showing three BEVs, including two excavators – the 906E-EV and 922F-EV – and the company’s star wheel loader, the 856H-EV (pictured).
While not all these machines will be big enough to have mining applications, LiuGong explained that the units were very much the start of a platform that could see bigger machines manufactured.
Edward Wagner, Executive Director of LiuGong New Technology, said the total operating cost of a battery powered earthmover is, or soon will be, “depending on the exact vehicle design and customer application, lower than that of a diesel-powered machine”.
LiuGong’s new BEVs are designed for the new electric economy, it said, with a state-of- art, but well proven, lithium-ion battery system for energy storage.
“That power is directed into super high efficiency permanent magnet electric motors to create the motion necessary to drive the machines,” it said. “The machine’s mechanical and hydraulic systems have been optimised for high efficiency: a typical BEV will have peak power output that is two times a conventional diesel power machine. This enables the battery electric earthmovers to accelerate faster and perform more coordinated movements.”
These movements will also be more precise given the full electronic vehicle control, according to LiuGong. “More powerful, quicker and more precise all add up to more productivity, which is raised more than 10% compared to that of a diesel machine,” the company said.
These lithium-ion batteries are designed to last the full life of the machine and eliminate the daily maintenance and regular service routine that comes with diesel engines.
The first generation of LiuGong’s BEVs batteries are equipped with fast charging technology and innovative energy-saving technologies, according to the company. This sees them need only one hour to charge the battery to 80% capacity.
Zeng Guang’an, Chairman of LiuGong Group, at the launch ceremony for LiuGong’s BEVs, said: “We are committed to creating more value for our customers. And that is why LiuGong will never stop independent innovation.”
The LiuGong’s 906E-EV excavator is an example of how quickly and easily a diesel machine can be converted to battery electric, the company said. This machine uses most of the diesel excavator’s hydraulic system allowing for a very rapid conversion time. It is equipped with a battery large enough for a full working day, according to the company.
The new 922F-EV excavator is driven purely by electric power, with the battery pack located centrally in the rear for optimum mass balance. The electric motor and hydraulic system have been optimally packaged to maximise operator visibility, LiuGong says. “The result is industry leading operator visibility which will further enhance performance and efficiency.”
A feature of the new 856H-EV wheel loader is a pure electric driveline with regeneration. This improves operating performance and reduces the energy consumption.
LiuGong explained: “The hydraulic system is electrically driven while using proven off the shelf components. Performance is incredible given the 300-plus-kW peak power capability.”
All three machines are designed using a new platform strategy, which means a very high degree of commonality of parts and systems across all LiuGong’s new energy machines. “This simplification of parts will further lower the total cost of ownership,” it said.
LiuGong introduced the company’s first intelligent shovel remote control wheel loader at its 60th anniversary celebration last year and, at BICES, it has presented its new 5G-based remote-control intelligent wheel loader, co-developed and supported by China Telecom and Huawei technology.
According to Cai Dengsheng, Deputy Chief Engineer of LiuGong’s Intelligent Technology Institution, the model can be remotely controlled from over 2,000 km away, compared with 2 km as of last year, realising real-time response and accurate control through the 5G network.
This 5G network is the most advanced network communication technology in the world with only 30 millisecond data transition from Beijing to Liuzhou, according to LiuGong. “Meanwhile, the transmission quality or stability are not influenced by either a complex environment or long transition time,” the company said. “It is the best technical solution for timely, efficient and high-quality transmissions of large amounts of data.”
The company added: “It provides a high-quality network environment and network technology support for LiuGong’s remote control driving research and provides strong support for the combination of edge calculation and cloud computing in intelligent control under remote control conditions.
“As one of the few Chinese construction machinery companies that has mastered the 5G technology, LiuGong is expected to realise remote-control driving from even longer distances under this platform.”
In addition, LiuGong’s intelligent shovelling wheel loader can sense material penetration; has one bottom loading and dumping function, along with auto levelling and controllable placement of the bucket. It also features an intelligent throttle control system, the company said.
Under remote-control driving mode, all operations can be observed from the videos that are sent back by the machines’ cameras. It also applies the intelligent protection technology to realise automatic identification and auto emergency stop.
As a result, the machine can not only be used in its normal applications, but also can be applied in dangerous and unsafe environments such as rescue and disaster relief.
In addition to the BEV and 5G releases, LiuGong used the event to launch four new excavators in its F-Series range that have mining applications.
The 922F is a new-generation 22-ton hydraulic excavator. It and the other F-Series vehicles come with a fully electronically controlled hydraulic system and intelligent heat dissipation technology, with the excavator boasting high operating efficiency, low oil consumption and low noise.
It has “unique engine matching technology and new P/S/E mode ensure higher efficiency and low oil consumption”, the company said.
The company also launched the 926F 25-ton hydraulic excavator, the 936F 36-ton excavator with 1.7 cu.m bucket and the 92-ton 990F excavator which comes with a heavy-duty structure and optimised crushing design.
The inaugural Truck & Shovel conference is now just over seven weeks away and the stage is set for an exciting event looking into the future of the global loading and haulage industry.
With topics such as automation, digitalisation, fleet management, and tyre and fuel optimisation on the agenda, there will be much to discuss at the 1.5-day event, taking place at the InterContinental Singapore, Middle Road, on September 19-20.
In addition to gaining the support of Komatsu Mining (Platinum Sponsor), Zyfra Mining (Gold Sponsor) and Mining Industry Professionals (Media Sponsor), IM Events is pleased to announce that the Singapore Mining Club has backed this global event.
Truck & Shovel 2019 will now be held in association with the Singapore Mining Club, an influential group that exists to promote development of Singapore as the pre-eminent regional hub for the management and financing of mining enterprises.
We chose Singapore for this global event for several reasons, including:
Taking place in Ballroom I and II of the InterContinental Singapore, this event has attracted a number of high-profile speakers that have masses of industry knowledge to share with delegates.
We plan to kick off the day with a keynote from Komatsu Mining’s Jason Knuth (Senior Manager – Data Solutions) and Simon Van Wegen (Product Manager – Data Solutions) on ‘Data-driven designs for dynamic mining environments’.
The duo, who have spoken at many high profile conferences around the world, are set to reveal how advanced mining original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are leveraging the plethora of data nodes on smart equipment to adapt equipment and design solutions for the modern mine environment.
Mikhail Makeev, Global Business Director, Zyfra Mining, is set to continue this digitalisation theme during his catchily-titled ‘How to make your mine “rock”’ presentation. The company has automation and fleet management expertise that it has applied across many mine sites, with Makeev keen to share details on these experiences.
For those focused on surface mining automation, Truck & Shovel tackles the concept from three different angles.
Drew Larsen, Director of Business Development, ASI Mining, will provide a business case for haulage automation with a presentation titled: ‘Autonomous Mining – more feasible than you might think’. The company, 34% owned by global mining OEM Epiroc, began work on a project with Barrick Gold to retrofit and automate a fleet of Komatsu 930-E Ultra Class haul trucks at the Arturo joint venture operation in Nevada, last year, and is expecting to issue news on projects with other miners in the near future.
Tony Cutler, Principal Consultant, OTR Global, will be tackling automation from a different stance in his ‘Factoring tyres into autonomous haulage’ presentation. Research from the leading mining OEMs offering autonomous haulage systems (AHS) indicates these systems have the potential to prolong tyre life, a claim Cutler will interrogate up on stage.
And Steve Russell, Director – Mining, Scott Technology Ltd, will be looking at autonomous refuelling in his talk. With a title of ‘Robofuel Robotic Refuelling – A safety and productivity initiative for the 21st Century Mine’, he will highlight case studies that showcase just how effective this process is in an open-pit mining context.
The look and feel of loading and haulage equipment hasn’t changed dramatically over the past few decades, but with mining companies and OEMs now receiving data in real time about how trucks and excavators are operating and interacting with each other, one would expect these design blueprints to, in the future, be altered in some way – for example Komatsu’s cabless haul truck concept.
Taking on this topic at the event will be Christopher B Althausen, Director of Sales & Marketing for Pioneer Solutions LLC, and Brad Rogers, CEO of Bis Industries.
Althausen’s presentation, ‘Mining truck design and development: challenges, hurdles and solutions’, looks at his and his company’s experiences approaching haul truck design over many decades. Rogers’ talk, meanwhile, focuses on ‘Innovation in minesite haulage’. With Bis Industries now having successful trials of its revolutionary Rexx haul truck in its back pocket, delegates will look forward to hearing all about the proven productivity benefits of using this 20-wheel machine.
The first day of the event will finish with a packed session on truck bodies and excavator buckets where four speakers will highlight just how effective customised solutions can be in the open-pit mining environment.
Carl Samuelson, Global Business Support Manager, Metso Haul Truck Solutions, will talk about successes the mining OEM has had with its hybrid haul truck tray, the Metso Truck Body, while David Pichanick, Global Manager Market Development & Innovation, Austin Engineering, will reveal how thinking ‘outside the box’ and changing the way the company uses materials in dump bodies and buckets has had an impact on safety and productivity. Tom Smith, Engineering Manager at DT HiLoad, rounds out the truck body talk, presenting, ‘HERCULES: The Strongest Tray in Earth’.
Ian Cornfoot, Managing Director of G&G Mining, has the honour of closing day one with a presentation on the use of customised excavator buckets titled, ‘Moving Rocks Not Steel – “Productive innovations in earthmoving buckets”’.
As has been well documented, fuel efficiency is key when it comes to open-pit mining, with optimised fuel selection and management often keeping the cost per tonne down.
This topic kicks off day two of the event, with Kevin Dagenais, CEO of Blutip Technologies, looking at the use of predictive modelling techniques to target mining inefficiencies in this space. Sean Birrell, Group Product Officer, FluidIntel, follows closely behind him on ‘Analytics opportunities in fuel and lubricant management – unseen risks & untapped value in your supply chain & operations’, with Joao Silveirinha, Chief Technology Officer of Banlaw, rounding out the fuel talk with a talk titled, ‘Digital Transformation and Automation as it relates to the management of Hydrocarbons in Mining’.
The last session of the conference is all on safety and training, with two speakers keen to talk up the benefits of these in open-pit mining where accidents can cost lives and machines.
Daniel Bongers, Chief Technology Officer of SmartCap Technologies, will present, ‘Zero fatigue incidents achieved – moving to alertness monitoring’ in his 30-minute slot, with Graham Upton, Director of Business Development at simulator specialist, Doron Precision Systems Inc, following him with ‘Shovel and Truck, side-by-side Coordinated Training’.
For details of how to register for this event, or access the full program, please visit the website: https://im-mining.com/truck-and-shovel/
Please note, all company delegations of two or more people are entitled to a discount. Get in touch with Editorial Director, Paul Moore ([email protected] ), or Editor, Dan Gleeson ([email protected] ), for more information.
XCMG has opened its first spare parts centre in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in an effort to provide “all-around support and services” for customers in the country.
The new centre will connect with the Xuzhou Headquarters, Erenhot Distribution Center and mining districts’ On-site Support Warehouses to create a complete “sale-support-repair” service, it said. This will provide “high-quality equipment, flawless support in operation and guarantees for equipment throughout the entire life cycle of XCMG’s products”, the company said.
XCMG’s Song said: “As Mongolia accelerates the construction of infrastructure over the next decade, XCMG will be on-hand to help develop the local market. With our new service centre and complete solution, there will be no limit to what we can build together.”
The company’s exports to Mongolia are increasing year by year, XCMG said, with the total number of machinery shipped to Mongolia up to July 2019 already exceeded the total for 2018, according to recent customs reports. “The dramatic increase underlines the position of XCMG’s large-tonnage mining excavators, loaders, graders and mining trucks as the top choice for operators in Mongolia,” XCMG said.
To meet the ever-growing demand for spare parts support and services, XCMG initiated the spare parts centre project with local dealer AODE in April. Some 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) was invested to construct the 2,000 sq.m site located in Ulaanbatar. This will significantly improve XCMG’s ability to provide spare parts services in Mongolia and its neighbouring region, as well as better sales services in Middle Asia, the company said.
Wang Min, Chairman and CEO of XCMG, said: “XCMG is committed to providing excellent products and service to all our customers, service is part of the product itself, and XCMG will invest heavily to create a global spare parts network and standard service procedures to win customers’ trust.”
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