Digging Deeper

There are a range of novel equipment that vendors are offering to mining contractors. Some of them are quite unique

A recent industry forecast has predicted that ris-ing metal prices and an increase in output from metal mining will lead to global demand for underground mining machinery climbing 4% a year until 2022. Supporting the demand for underground mining equipment will be the increasing use of the latest purpose-built machines in mature markets, while developing economies will also increasingly shift to more sophisticated machinery types. The report goes on to state, however, that with the rise in natural gas production and with many countries transitioning to renewable fuel sources, the demand for coal will climb at a subpar level globally.

Around the world, mainly in developed markets, there is an increasing use of state-of-the-art underground mining equipment, and a shift toward more sophisticated machinery types in developing nations, which will also support underground mining equipment demand.

In India, although the mining sector has been facing its own issues in terms of bans by the government, the fact that mining equipment manufacturers continue to churn out novelty in equipment shows that there’s still some hope for the industry. Generally, mining operations require heavy intensive equipment. Mining applications are broadly divided into light, medium and heavy mining. Varied applications like stone quarry, iron ore mines, coal mines deploy tippers for extracting ores. Mining applications need rugged heavy duty vehicles with very good manoeuvrability and gradeability. Tippers for mining operate in tough conditions and hence the vehicles need to be strong, sturdy and reliable.

Rajesh Kaul, VP & product line head, M&HCV, Tata Motors, says, “On the features front, customers wish for performance enhancing features, which will add to the safety and provide a better operating efficiency in-terms of payloads, carrying strength, mileage and easy serviceability and lower maintenance.”