Size Matters

Iron ore is the quarry for hugely expensive yellow giants that roam Europe’s largest opencast mine. Alexander Mann pilots one, a Japanese-made Komatsu HD 785

- Reiner Rosenfeld

To reach his workplace in the Komatsu HD 785-7, Alexander Mann has to climb 14 steps. Only then can this 29-year-old Austrian make himself comfortable behind the wheel of the huge dump truck he drives in Europe’s largest opencast mine – Erzberg, in Austria.

His ‘supertruck’ is literally just that. Few other trucks driven in Europe are a patch on his Komatsu. The Japanese HD 785 Komatsu would be a coveted vehicle anywhere, with its 30-litre, 1178hp V12, a weight of 72 tonnes when empty and a 110-tonne payload.

Alex first drove a heavy-duty tipper in the iron ore mine – located in the state of Styria, southern Austria – in 2009. It was an older Komatsu model, an HD 985. Then just 22 years old, a lot of confidence had clearly been placed in Alex; one of these heavy duty trucks costs about €1 million (£890,000), and the job is dangerous.

Concentration required

The tiring routine is particularly challenging for the drivers when they travel over 100km at a maximum speed of 30km/h. Despite being equipped with the latest technology, plenty of concentration is still needed to guide these giants through the mine. A total weight of at least 200 tonnes will be bearing down on the retarders and brakes, to carry away the excess rock or ore-bearing rock to be crushed at the crushing mill after a blasting operation.

Styria is one of Austria’s most snow-capped areas and the roads in winter are often very slippery, despite the efficient snow-clearing, and the 11-metre long, seven-metre wide trucks have to be driven with precision when loading, tipping and turning.