16 | TOROMONT <strong>2009</strong> ANNUAL REPORT moving mountains part of day’s work at long harbour Site development began in <strong>2009</strong> on one of the most anticipated mining-related projects in canada, the vale inco’s long harbour hydromet processing plant outside St. john’s, newfoundland. Pennecon Limited relies on a variety of <strong>Toromont</strong> CAT equipment including the Caterpillar 740 articulated truck.
when completed in February 2013, this $2.8 billion plant will use a unique water-based process to extract nickel from concentrate, produced at the Voisey’s Bay Mine 1,200 kilometers northwest (in northern Labrador), and refine it to a finished nickel product. The Long Harbour project has attracted 1,000 workers and many local companies to the construction site. One of them is Pennecon Limited, a leading diversified construction company headquartered in Newfoundland and Labrador. Pennecon, through their Penny Heavy Civil Division, was awarded the Long Harbour earthworks contract in late May <strong>2009</strong>. As a long-time <strong>Toromont</strong> customer, Pennecon responded to its contract win with an order for a fleet of Caterpillar equipment and a requirement to deliver the machines in only three weeks. Drawing on its resources in Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as its Concord, Ontario branch, <strong>Toromont</strong> immediately set out first to secure the equipment fleet, which included CAT D8T bulldozers, 345D and 365C hydraulic excavators, 740 ADT off-road trucks, C65 model rollers and a CAT 988H wheel loader. “Normally, when we factor in customization and PDI (pre-delivery inspection), an order of this size would take eight to ten weeks to deliver,” says Dave Fowler, Sales Office Manager at <strong>Toromont</strong> CAT St. John’s branch, who along with two local Machine Sales Representatives, Tom Hill and Peter Warren, worked to fill the bill. “Doing it all in three weeks was a tall order, requiring us to mobilize significant resources.” Locating the equipment was made easier by the dealership’s online inventory management system and once located, modifications were made to certain machines to meet the special requirements of the Long Harbour project: the removal of 1.3 million cubic meters of soil, rock and bog. “As part of site preparation, Penny Heavy Civil are literally removing/ flattening the top of a mountain at Long Harbour, installing underground services including a storm-water management and diversion system, cables and piping, and constructing main and secondary access roads,” says Mr. Hill. “Their equipment must be able to perform these tasks on an efficient and cost-effective basis.” Through customer discussions aided by <strong>Toromont</strong> CAT’s Customer Service Group, with significant experience in fleet production and analysis, a number of units were equipped with machine control and guidance systems. These systems increase productivity by up to 40% by using cross slope, sonic, laser and GPS technology combined with automatic blade controls to allow machine operators to maintain consistent grades. With over one million cubic metres of earth to move at Long Harbour, these systems eliminate the considerable back and forth that would otherwise accompany site preparation. <strong>Toromont</strong> CAT’s Concord branch made a number of other modifications, notably shortening the stick, which is the arm that moves the bucket on an TOROMONT <strong>2009</strong> ANNUAL REPORT | 17 “ we mobilized resources from several <strong>Toromont</strong> cAT branches to deliver the right machines at the right time for pennecon limited to use on one of the largest earthworks projects in this province’s history.” Peter Warren, <strong>Toromont</strong> CAT Machine Sales Representative, St. John’s excavator, and cutting the track shoes to suit the application and the types of material that had to be excavated. On June 15th, <strong>2009</strong>, Penny Heavy Civil put the new equipment to work, along with a number of other Caterpillar machines owned by the partners. Today, a substantial amount of blasting, excavation and earth moving has already taken place, and the one-kilometresquare location of the main process buildings is taking shape. The port area at Long Harbour, which is contiguous to the plant site, is being developed as it prepares to accept in-bound ships carrying concentrate and outbound ships carrying nickel. This remediation work is part of massive improvements being made by Vale Inco. This project represents a continuation of <strong>Toromont</strong>’s service to the Voisey’s Bay mine itself. Today Vale Inco Voisey’s Bay operates a fleet of Caterpillar equipment consisting primarily of CAT 777 off-highway trucks, CAT wheel loaders ranging from a 906 CCE to the large 992 mining wheel loader, hydraulic excavators from a 315 to a 385 and D3 trim and D9 bulldozers. <strong>Toromont</strong> supports the mine through an on-site parts department staffed by highly qualified parts and service personnel. TIH A Caterpillar 345 hydraulic excavator with substantial lift capacity loads material into a CAT articulated truck.
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