TRACK & WHEEL50-TONNEHitachi ADTgains traction in West Coast mine.In late 2008, <strong>CablePrice</strong> held a working demonstration of the worlds largest articulated dump truck- the 50 tonne rated Hitachi AH500D. Present among approximately fifty industry guests for thedemonstration at J.Swap’s Taotaoroa Road Quarry, just outside Cambridge, were Gary Birchfield andhis nephew Steffan Jamieson of Birchfield Coal Mines Ltd.ARTICLE BY GLENN CROASDALE12
TRACK & WHEELGary’s parents, Max and Betty Birchfield, began working theopen cast Giles Creek coal mine in 1984 processing througha flume and a trommel screen, with a capacity of about 15 tonnean hour. Since taking the mine over from their parents around adecade ago, Max’s five children have been focused on increasingthe tonnage going out of the mine by investing in productiveand durable machinery, and are now processing in excess of 300tonnes of coal an hour. With new infrastructure able to processsuch quantities, Gary looked towards his trucks to get a lot morecoal up from the pit to the top site, in a hurry – but wet wintersrestricted his rigid trucks ability to operate, and Gary says the40-tonne ADT’s were not able to carry enough.The mines coal is sub bituminous, low in sulphur and has cleanburning, heat retaining characteristics making it ideal for encloseddomestic burners and inner city industrial use. Giles Creek coalis also perfect for blending with faster burning, higher heatvalue coals as it captures the hotter heat and ensures thorough& economical combustion. There are estimated reserves of 16million tonnes of recoverable coal in the current permitted areaand the mine currently processes coal at a rate of 100,000 tonnesper annum – but the region is also known for some of the harshestand most unpredictable weather in the country.Impressed with the size and performance of the AH500D’s abilityto cart a 50-ton payload in the dry November conditions of thedemonstration, Gary was however, concerned that it would notbe able to foot it in poorer underfoot conditions such as those hefrequently experiences during typically wet West Coast winterswith such a weight on its back. So to prove the trucks ability<strong>CablePrice</strong> took the AH500D to the Birchfield’s Giles Creek Minein the Maimai Valley, North-West of Reefton in early 2009, to putthe truck to the test.A month after the Hitachi AH500D was demonstrated to theBirchfields on their turf, I travelled to the Maimai Valley to visitthe owners of the country’s first 50-tonne ADT at the Birchfield’sGiles Creek mine to discover how the truck was faring in thechallenging West Coast conditions – and I couldn’t have pickeda better day to test it out. It was a miserable Autumn morning,requiring two attempted landings into Hokitika before myflight was able to break through the low-settled cloud denselyblanketing the West Coast. I had arrived in the middle of aweather bomb!Eventually I arrived at the mine and soon got talking with Karen,one of Gary’s sisters and co-shareholder. She says “Gary andSteffan’s presence at the Hamilton demo made a difference, buttesting the truck onsite made the biggest impact. Seeing themachine, operating it and being able to know it would do the jobthey wanted it to do down in the pit, was a big influence.”Gary explained that the Hamilton demo gave him a goodappreciation of just how big a truck the AH500D is, but said “Iwas still worried about putting that sort of weight on the truck,that it wouldn’t hold up. But since having it onsite we’ve foundthat our fears didn’t hold water” and he adds “it handles theground as good as the 40-tonners do.” Prior to the rigid trucksthey were using 40-tonne ADT’s in the mine to cart coal, butfound the smaller trucks just couldn’t cart enough.From Karen’s point of view the fact a new truck would have lessdowntime was attractive, but she says “for the others, its abilityto work in bad weather and its ability to compete on load capacitywith the rigid trucks were also influencing factors.” In fact, oneof the most persuasive arguments for Gary was the ability of theAH500D to carry the same loads as their 50-ton rigid trucks andstill be able to operate in poor underfoot conditions where therigid trucks could not. Today was certainly going to be a goodtest for that. When I arrived at the mine, what I saw palpablyvindicate Gary’s rationale; parked up were two large rigid offroadtrucks whilst with precision timing the AH500D ascendedthe haul road and passed in front of me with a full load of coal onits back, keeping traction and good speed with obvious ease inthe muddy conditions. Later in the morning I would take a ridein the truck and experience it operating comfortably in the pit innear knee-deep mud, in ground conditions which could only bedescribed as atrocious thanks to the deluge of rain that showedlittle sign off abating. Interestingly, the day prior dust was thebiggest problem at the mine!TO THE NEXT PAGE13
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