Wirtgen Surface Miners in Operation Around the Globe Efficient Mining of Rock and Customer Service

Surface mining – an internationally established method for rock mining CANADA › Limestone › Kimberlite EUROPE › Limestone › Oil shale › Salt › Pegmatite › Gypsum › Coal › Tuff › Limestone › Coal › Gypsum › Dolomite MOROCCO › Phosphate 2 SM 1 SM 2 SM COSTA RICA › Limestone SENEGAL › Limestone GUINEA › Bauxite 3 SM FRENCH GUYANA › Limestone 1 SM BRAZIL › Limestone › Bauxite BOLIVIA › Salt APPLICATION BY ROCK TYPE › Caliche › Salt Bauxite Phosphate ALGERIA › Limestone › Phosphate MEXICO › Limestone › Gypsum › Salt Other Kimberlite Granite LIBYA › Limes

RUSSIA › Limestone 19 SM › Kimberlite 1 SM › Coal 3 SM › Salt 1 SM LEBANON › Limestone stone 11 SM EGYPT › Gypsum ISRAEL › Phosphate SAUDI ARABIA › Limestone 2 SM › Phosphate 1 SM YEMEN › Limestone KAZAKHSTAN › Limestone 2 SM › Coal 2 SM UZBEKISTAN › Phosphate 3 SM › Gypsum 2 SM IRAN › Gypsum INDIA › Limestone › Coal › Limestone › Granite CHINA › Limestone › Caliche › Coal THAILAND › Shale PHILIPPINES › Limestone 1 SM INDONESIA › Limestone 3 SM › Coal 6 SM BOTSWANA › Clay stone 1 SM › Salt 1 SM SOUTH AFRICA › Kimberlite 1 SM › Limestone 1 SM › Coal 1 SM › Gypsum 3 SM AUSTRALIA › Limestone › Tuff...

Australia: mining iron ore on a grand scale In recent years, the fleet of surface miners owned by Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore, has grown to a total of 28 Wirtgen 4200 SM. They are the recipe of success for the economical and selective mining of high-quality iron ore in the Pilbara region in Western Australia. “The Wirtgen surface miners allow us to separate the iron ore from the overburden. The bulk of the iron ore deposit could not be mined using conventional methods, which is why the surface miners are a key element of our success,” says Cody...

The ultra-strong 4200 SM deposits inhomogeneous iron ore as a windrow between the track units. FMG uses the Wirtgen surface miners as their principal mining equipment, operating them on a 24/7 basis. 4200 SM – top performance made to measure “It is admirable how Wirtgen has succeeded in implementing such a high cutting rate right from the start in their first large-scale project in iron ore,” says Graeme Rowley, Executive Director at FMG until March 2010. The extremely powerful 4200 SM – a surface miner that weighs over 200 t and offers a tremendous engine power of 1,194 kW / 1,623 PS – is a...

Russia: mining limestone without drilling and blasting Surface mining produces accurate, stable embankments and even, easily trafficable surfaces. Project details Mining material: Unconfined compressive strength: Surface miner type: Number of machines in operation: Production rate of one 2500 SM per hour: At the ZAO Kavkazcement mine site, cement producer Eurocement has relied on mechanized mining by means of surface miners since 2005. The impressive mining performance of the first two 2200 SM machines prompted Eurocement in 2008 to order the next bigger surface miner model, the 2500 SM. Decisive...

India: long-standing partnership e ­ nsures efficient coal mining have therefore begun in 1999 to reorganize coal production from drilling and blasting to Wirtgen surface miners. Currently, 80 % of the coal is mined using the surface mining process while the remaining 20 % is mined using conventional methods. Windrowing enables coal of marginal quality to be identified and removed more easily. India is the world’s third-largest producer of hard coal. Sainik Mining and Allied Services Ltd. is a contracting partner of Coal India, the country’s largest coal producer, and owns 21 Wirtgen surface...

USA: highly selective mining of thin lignite layers The Red Hills Mine (USA) delivers 77,000 tonnes per week of lignite to a neighbouring power plant. In April 2010, an older model was replaced by an ultra-modern 4200 SM. The surface miner’s significantly higher cutting and loading performance enabled the mine operators to tremendously increase productivity levels while at the same time reducing the fines content in the mining material. Whereas around eight 12-hour shifts had previously been necessary to mine the quantity of coal required by the power plant, the high-performance miner from Wirtgen...

China: environmentally friendly coal mining The Shengli Mine, which extends over a total area of 340 km², has become a reference project in China for the environmentally friendly mining of coal. The lowest coal seam comprises layers of variable coal quality. Since 2009, a 2200 SM equipped with a 3.8 m wide cutting drum unit has been mining these layers selectively at cutting depths of up to 25 cm. In actual figures, the 2200 SM cuts up to 5,000 tonnes of coal in a single 8-hour shift. The 2200 SM produces small-sized material – 97 % of the mining material has a particle size smaller 100 mm. The...

Estonia: selective mining of high-quality oil shale Drilling and blasting leads to a significant degree of mixing between oil shale and limestone – the 2500 SM mines both in a selective process. Kiviöli Keemiatööstuse (Kiviöli) and Eesti Energia Mining, Estonia’s leading oil shale producers, rely on the use of surface miners from Wirtgen. These machines have given priority to the economic efficiency of the mining process. Four deposits are currently operated as opencast mines, generating approximately 50 % of the country’s entire production. In the Kiviöli mine, which extends across an area of...