Most successful 60 tonner on the market

MT6020 Truck in Kalgoorlie

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 ACM now has eight MT6020 trucks and a further five MT5010s in its fleet, underlining the specialist underground contractor’s current rapid growth.
“My personal view is that the MT6020 is the best underground truck available on the market at the present moment,” said ACM managing director Brian Rodan.
“We’ve expanded our fleet of MT6020s because it is the most productive underground truck by a fair margin, especially when you look at ramp speed, payload and availability.
“The original Trident [gold mine in Western Australia] fleet has been generally running day in and day out, and we haven’t really had to touch them until they hit the 15,000-hour mark.”
Australia, the biggest market in the world for 50-60-tonne payload class underground mine trucks, is going through arguably its strongest ever year of demand for new vehicles as mine owners and contractors latch onto the reliability and performance benefits offered by the Atlas Copco MT6020, and investment in expansions and new projects ramps up.
Atlas Copco business line manager Matt Cobham said 2011 was also still seeing some catch-up ordering after the severe market downturn of 2009, when much new mining fleet investment was deferred. But a key trend was that of mines switching to, or adding to existing fleets of, the leading truck in its class in the market.
“We’ll deliver 60 MT6020 trucks this year – and more than half of those will have replaced other trucks at mine sites,” Cobham said.
“We have sold the 60-tonners to both miners and contractors in Australia in roughly equal numbers and believe our truck is the clear current first choice for large underground trucks in the Australian market.”
In fact the 100-truck milestone is already in the rear-view mirror.
As at the end of October Atlas Copco had 105 60t MT6020s in Australia, and 53 of its 50t MT5010 trucks.
“We say the MT6020 is more an evolution than a revolution because the frames are pretty much the same as they were 13 years ago,” Cobham said.
“The 6020 evolved from the 5010 with the entire drivetrain – the axles, dropbox, upbox, transmission and engine – upgraded, and the same robust body and cab. The 60t truck is a very solid unit now, with reliability its real competitive advantage. It’s a truck with no significant weak points.
“Our oldest MT6020, at Stawell Gold Mines in Victoria, has done in excess of 22,000 hours to date, and is still going strong. Stawell have six MT6020 trucks in their fleet.
“While other trucks in the market are struggling with reliability issues, we have continually improved our driveline components and we have a reliable truck that's fast on grade and is easier to maintain.”
At a typical 11km per hour on a 15% ramp gradient, the MT6020 is as fast as trucks with smaller payload ratings but is delivering 20% more tonnes out of the mine.
Barminco, which operates in Australia and Africa, has the largest fleet of MT6020 trucks of any contractor or mine owner in the world, with 28 of the trucks plus eight Atlas Copco MT5010s.
“The 6020 trucks offer a step change in the development of the articulated underground truck as was the change from 40t to 50t units adopted by the industry,” said former Barminco operations general manager and now chief operating officer, Stuart Tonkin.
Key advantages of the MT6020 over smaller underground trucks included the increase in tonne kilometres per hour (tkm/hr) productivity delivered, enabling a reduction in the total number of units required in a mine fleet; no significant increase in excavation size was required to accommodate the 60t truck; and the speed on grade improvements.
“Reducing fleet size flows to cost savings for operator and fitter labour wages, flights and accommodation, all of which are stretched in current markets,” Tonkin said.
“Reducing trucking fleet kilowatts also enables cost savings to mine owners in primary ventilation requirements.”
Other leading contractors, such as Byrnecut Mining, GBF Underground Mining and ACM have also turned to the MT6020 and at least 25 mine operators and contractors have the high-performance truck in their fleets.
“Most of the large underground mining trucks in the world come to Australia,” Cobham said.
“Eighty-five per cent of our [MT6020] trucks come here – about 15% around the rest of the world.
“In late 2009, we could see that the requirement for trucks was increasing, and I believe we ramped our production back up sooner than others, meaning our delivery times for new trucks stayed under 12 months.
“We’ve currently got good availability and a good flow of trucks coming into the country. All our MT6020s come from Sweden with the same build spec, so we are able to juggle deliveries somewhat in order to keep our customers happy.”
Cobham won’t say too much at this stage about what the future holds for the MT6020, or next generation Atlas Copco underground truck, but said next year’s introduction of the Cummins Tier 2 engine in the big truck would provide further benefits for customers.
Tier 2 levels are the lowest regulated emissions in the world for off-highway engines over 560kW (751hp). The Cummins Tier 2 engines have the manufacturer’s common rail fuel system, including a high-pressure fuel pump generating around 1600 bar to enable cleaner, quieter and faster power delivery. The system also prevents unbalanced fuelling between cylinders to significantly reduce engine vibration, noise and harshness, making the Tier 2 engine 80% quieter under load and at idle.
“We’ll have a cleaner engine – a better engine,” Cobham said.
“That’s going to make a difference as these larger, decline-access underground mines in Australia in particular go deeper and grapple with ventilation efficiencies as power costs rise.
“There are plenty of underground mines that will continue to rely on truck haulage, and our aim is to remain the most cost effective option for this.
For MT6020 specifications click here