Coal Age

MAR 2013

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using a proportional remote control that can be operated both by cable and wireless. Experience has No Substitute— Eickhoff Since 1864 VDMA Putzmeister's Mixkret 4 low-profile shotcrete mixer and transporter. maneuverability in narrow haulages. Its hydrostatic transmission has a stepless variable-gear motor, and there is an automatic speed-control system for moving down slopes fully laden. Putzmeister reports that the Mixkret 4 has already been used successfully at several jobsites since it was launched. Together with an SPM 4210 Wetkret, the company's latest model of concrete-spraying equipment for low-height tunnels, one unit is being used at Trafigura subsidiary Iberian Minerals' Aguas Teñidas mine in the Iberian Pyrite Belt in southern Spain. Working volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, Aguas Teñidas mines 2.2 million mt/y of ore to produce copper and zinc concentrates plus lead, gold and silver. Most of the ore production comes from longhole open stoping, with the main stope layout consisting of a 20 mwide transverse panel system that extends over the strike length of the deposit. After each development blast, the SPM 4210 Wetkret shotcreting system is used to provide roof support. The vertical reach of the machine's reinforced spraying arm has been increased to 10 m, which also provides a 25% increase in the spraying speed at the arm tip as well as increased manoeuvrability, Putzmeister says. Its double-piston pump provides a maximum concrete output of 20 m3/h. The equipment also uses the company's latest software to optimize its operation as well as synchronizing the concrete and additive flows, Eickhoff's story began almost 150 years ago when the company started manufacturing parts for the local mining industry; mining trolleys and shaft hoists were the first components produced right in the heart of Bochum. The first complete Eickhoff coal-cutting system went into operation in 1914, the first bulk order from Russia was signed in 1926, and Eickhoff mining machines also found their way to the U.S. In the 1970s, it became the first foreign company to deliver mining machinery to China. Today, the company says, more than 95% of its mining-equipment turnover comes from international customers. Continuously pushing the boundaries of technology, in the 1950s and 1960s Eickhoff introduced the world's first high-powered hydraulic-driven shearer-loader with the Eicotrack chainless haulage system. During the 1970s, it developed the first fully electric-powered multi-motor shearer, the EDW 150L. It followed this in 1980 with the EDW 300LN, the first fully electrical thin-seam shearer, featuring frequency-converter technology. The SL 500, introduced in 2000, was then the world's strongest and biggest shearer-loader, with a 5.5 m seam capability, and in 2007 the company launched the SL 1000, which is able to cut as high as 7.1 m with a total installed power of up to 2,600 kW. This constant development of mining machinery has allowed Eickhoff to achieve the highest sales numbers of longwall shearers in the industry, the company claims. Today, Eickhoff says, its coal-cutting machines are operating in almost all countries where coal is produced underground. From the remote regions of Vorkuta in Russia to winning potash in Belarus— requiring very specialized, high-powered machines—to Anhui and Shanxi province in China with deep mines and challenging mining conditions, it has the reputation for delivering equipment that works without compromise. Eickhoff reports its machines hold several unrivalled world production records. The first monthly record of 1 million mt was achieved at the Shangwan mine in China in 2003, being equalled in The record-breaking Eickhoff SL 750 shearer at Consol Energy's Bailey mine in Pennsylvania. VDMA 12 VDMA MINING SUPPLEMENT • 2013

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