COVER STORY
May 2014
MODERN MINING
21
Pictured here are Hendrik de
Wet (left), depot manager,
Barloworld Equipment
Kimberley; and Schalk Steyn,
head of Steyn Diamante.
In the background is the
new Cat 777D truck fleet
being deployed at Bo-Karoo
mine, together with a new
Cat 992K wheel loader.
180 000 to 200 000 tonnes of overburden needs
to be removed for every 130 tonnes of diamond
bearing gravel sent through the process plant.
“In the past, and on other sites where we
mine, articulated trucks have been our dedi-
cated haulers,” explains Schalk Steyn, head of
Steyn Diamante. “However, given the massive
overburden volumes at Bo-Karoo, we needed
to move to larger off-highway trucks to achieve
a viable cost per cubic metre, in the process
ensuring that we keep ahead of the stripping
and rehabilitation phases, the latter occurring
in advance of the mining programme.”
To meet these production demands, Steyn
Diamante has invested in three Cat 777D
90,4 tonne nominal payload off-highway
trucks, and a Cat 992K wheel loader, which
together form the backbone of the load and
haul overburden stripping operation, and
subsequent environmental rehabilitation. These
machines, which are supplied and supported
by Barloworld Equipment, join an existing Cat
fleet, which includes D11T and D10T track-
type tractors. (Barloworld Equipment is the Cat
dealer for Southern Africa.)
Powered by a 607 kW (net power) Cat C32
engine, the Cat 992K has a rated payload in
standard lift configuration of 21,7 tonnes, mak-
ing it a four to five pass match for the Cat 777D.
“Based on our research, the Cat 777 truck
series and Cat 992K wheel loader are both lead-
ers in their class worldwide, and designed to
deliver high availability at the lowest cost per
tonne,” Steyn continues. “This has certainly
been proven at Bo-Karoo, where to date we
have achieved major savings.”
The 777D truck is purpose-designed to
withstand the rigours of opencast mining,
Centre:
A Cat 777D heads
for one of the mine’s desig-
nated rehabilitation zones.
Below:
Powered by a
607 kW (net power) Cat C32
engine, the Cat 992K has a
rated payload in stan-
dard lift configuration of
21,7 tonnes.
