Komatsu has released its ‘next gen’ mining shovel, the 700 tonne PC7000.
Available in face shovel and backhoe configurations, and is matched to plus-200 tonne trucks such as Komatsu’s 830E, 860E, and 930E haul trucks.
The machine’s is driven by two Tier 2-rated Komatsu SSDA16V159E-2 engines, which are rated at 2500 kW.
The crawler assembly overall length 10.5 metres, while it has a track pad width of 1500/1900 mm.
According to Komatsu, the PC7000 has a maximum travel speed of 2.5 km/h, and bucket capacity (for both backhoe and front shovel configurations) of 36 cubic metres at 1.8 tonnes per cubic metre material density.
The machine has backhoe bucket breakout force of 1671 kN; a front shovel bucket breakout force of1994 kN; and an overall operating weight of 682 tonnes in the backhoe configuration and 674 tonnes for the face shovel configuration.
According to Komatsu Australia national product manager Michael Hall, the shovel “represents the latest in mining technology, and was developed as a result of close collaboration with our mining industry partners from around the world; with mining becoming ever more challenging, we opted for a truly customer-oriented approach”.
“As part of this process, our long-term mining partners were asked to define their requirements for the next generation of shovels.
“They identified safety, productivity, maintainability and performance as key drivers – and all were taken into consideration by our design and development engineers
The PC7000’s design was also strongly influenced by industry groups such as the Earth Moving Equipment Safety Round Table (EMESRT).
Hall said the PC7000 had the highest engine power and breakout force in its class, providing fast cycle times.
“This, combined with an easy-fill bucket design, meant in less time at the face to fill the bucket, along with reduced fuel consumption per BCM,” he said.
“At the same time, our Komatsu Hydropilot system prioritises hydraulic flow, ensuring smooth hydraulic response, with simple system layout and a reduced number of components.
Maintenance-related downtime has also been significantly reduced, with the machine design providing easy access to major components, centralised service points and improved maintenance access through the location and increased width of walkways.
Customers can constantly check the machine’s operating status of their machine through KOMTRAX Plus, which is standard on the PC7000, said Hall.
“And for Australian, New Zealand and New Caledonia customers, all machine operational data is constantly monitored and checked in our INSITE Fleet Management Centre at our Fairfield headquarters,” Hall said.
“Our INSITE centre constantly monitors data covering key machine, fleet, production and industry parameters across all Komatsu mining, construction and utility machines operating throughout our region, ensuring we harness the latest ICT (information communications technology) to derive maximum benefits for our customers.”
Additional production enhancing technology on the PC7000 is available through Modular Mining’s ProVision system, which provides bi-directional data transfer from mine planning to the machine and from the machine to mine planning; improved bench level adherence to plan; delineation of blocks and polygons to enable selective mining and ore grade consistency, minimising material waste and improving production efficiency; and enhanced safety via hazard alerts, restricted area identification and proximity warnings.
“With backhoe, front shovel, diesel and electric drive configurations already sold around the world, our new PC7000 is rapidly obtaining market acceptance among major mining companies,” Hall explained.
The shovel was first shown at Bauma, in Germany, earlier this year.
