CAPE TOWN (miningweekly.com) – Engineering support services company Babcock will, during the course of this year, launch new “ground-breaking construction equipment”.

“Babcock is renowned and respected for delivering high-production machinery that is also fuel efficient. Therefore, this year, we are adding the Volvo A60H, the largest articulated dump truck (ATD) to ever be launched commercially by Volvo, to our product range,” Babcock Equipment MD David Vaughan said at the Investing in African Mining Indaba.

He remarked that the Volvo A60H’s higher payload represented a 40% increase on that of Volvo’s A40 model, thereby significantly lowering the cost-per-tonne ratio for hauler customers, while its stability, comfort and high hauling speeds are ensured by the matched drivetrain, automatic drive combinations, all-terrain bogie, hydromechanical steering and active suspension, further optimising production and minimising operating costs.

Vaughan commented that the first Volvo A60Hs were expected to reach South Africa’s shores by March and would be launched into the Southern African market by May, together with the new Volvo EC950E, a 90 t crawler excavator that combined power and stability to handle a higher capacity in the toughest applications.

“The A60H is ideal for hard-rock mining, coal mining, general mining and big quarry applications and the EC950E has been designed to load the massive A60H; therefore, they work hand-in-hand.”

Vaughan pointed out that Babcock had already presold three Volvo A60H articulated haulers, as well as one Volvo EC950E excavator to Burgh Plant Hire – a long-standing customer of the company’s.

Burgh Plant Hire CEO and owner Stanley van der Burgh said the company owns a fleet of more than 100 Volvo that are used in coal mining operations – the majority of them articulated haulers – demonstrating that he had full confidence in the new model.

Additionally, Vaughn said Babcock would also offer Volvo’s A45G articulated hauler to South African customers during the course of this year.

He stated that the A45G was designed for heavy hauling in extreme offroad operation. It has a 2 t larger payload than its predecessor the A40.

Terex Trucks sub-Saharan Africa business manager Erik Lundberg noted that another first for Babcock in 2017 would be the introduction of the company’s Generation 10 TA300 and TA400 ATDs.

He pointed out that the Generation 10 ADTs were the first new Terex Trucks products to be launched by the company, since Volvo acquired the Terex Trucks brand in June 2014, and Babcock was subsequently appointed as the official distributor in Southern Africa of these articulated haulers and rigid haulers.

Further, Vaughan commented that demand for larger construction equipment continued as customers were continuously searching for the most cost-effective way to move material.

“With indications of recovering commodity prices, our customers are positive about the outlook for 2017,” said Vaughan. He stated that the mining sector remained an integral market for Babcock, particularly as it had several high-profile customers operating in the coalfields of Middelburg, in Mpumalanga.

SUPPORTING MIDDELBURG COAL OPERATORS
Vaughan recounted that, at the beginning of last year, the company opened an ultramodern sales, parts and service dealership in Middelburg to offer responsive support and service across its entire equipment product range to customers in the region.

“From this new flagship branch, we have been able to deliver improved service and a faster turnaround time and the response from our customers has been exceptionally positive,” he enthused.

Opencast coal mining subcontracting company Atlantis Mining MD Mark Johnstone affirmed that Babcock’s Middelburg facility was “world-class and well-stocked with inventory lines”, therefore, it was very seldom that the company had to wait for parts. “The sales team is always willing to assist us at the drop of a hat,” he added.

Babcock is the exclusive distributor of various international equipment brands in Southern Africa, including Volvo Construction Equipment, Terex Trucks, Tadano and Sennebogen cranes, Winget concrete handling equipment and Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery construction equipment.