cover story
18
06.13
T
he trucks are manufactured in Belarus, a coun-
try which used to be part of the old USSR
but which been independent since the early
1990s. The company which makes them, Belaz (JSC
‘Belarusian Autoworks’), is based in Zhodzina, Bela
rus where its factory typically produces 2 000 units
a year. Belaz introduced its first trucks in the early
1960s. These were small machines with payloads of
27 and 40 tonnes but the range has broadened over
the years and today the company can supply mechan-
ical drive trucks in the 30-90 tonne payload class and
electric drive trucks in the 110-360 tonne payload
class. The 360-tonne (or 400-ton) machine is equiva-
lent to the top-of-the-line machines from Caterpillar
(with its Cat 797F and Unit Rig MT6300AC), Komatsu
(with its 930E) and Liebherr (with its T 282 C).
Not content to sit on its laurels, Belaz is planning
to push through the 400-ton barrier and is well ad-
vanced with the development of the Belaz-75710, a
Belaz
ready to go big
in local
mining market
One of the new 220-t capacity Belaz-75302 trucks purchased by Tau Mining for use at Sishen.
Dmitry Venchik, Director,
Mynbou Rigs Afrika.
Belaz dump trucks could soon become a more familiar sight at South Africa’s open-pit
mines if current plans by the Southern African distributor, Mynbou Rigs Afrika, come to
fruition. According to Dmitry Venchik, a Director of Mynbou Rigs, a new marketing drive is
now being launched to increase market penetration of the Belaz machines, which are cur-
rently in operation only at the Sishen iron ore mine and a couple of opencast coal mines
in Mpumalanga. He points out that while the Belaz trucks are not common in South
Africa, globally they account for 30 % of rigid dump truck sales. They lead the market
in Eastern Europe and are also reported to be extremely popular in China and several
other Asian countries.
450-tonne (496-ton) ultra-
classmining truckwhich is
currently in the prototype
stage. Once launched in
the next few months, this
will be the world’s biggest
truck. It will be rated at
4 600 hp (3 430 kW) and
will utilise Siemens drive
systems. Belaz also has plans to introduce a full line
of articulated trucks, underground trucks and LHDs
and, in addition, is developing a 90-tonne electric
drive truck, which will be a world first.
The Belaz brand has a roughly 11-year history in
South Africa, with a distributorship – with which
Venchik was involved – being established in 2002.
The present distributorship, however, dates back to
2008 when Mynbou Rigs Afrika was founded. A ma-
jor landmark occurred in 2011, when Tau Mining,
