Another new Caterpillar R2900 XE diesel-electric loader has landed in Australia ready to go to work at AIC Mines Limited Eloise copper mine project in Queensland.
PYBAR, a Thiess company, announced that it had delivered the loader to Eloise, where it has been providing underground development mining services since 2020.
Eloise joins the likes of Stawell (Victoria), Sand King and Spotted Quoll (Western Australia) and Tomingley (New South Wales) to recently receive at least one of these loaders. Westgold Resources, Gold Fields and MMG also have the diesel-electric loaders in their mining fleets at one of their operations in Australia.
The new R2900 XE boasts more than 31% greater fuel efficiency, a 20% increase in productivity and 52% quicker acceleration than previous R2900 models, according to PYBAR.
The R2900 XE features a switch reluctance electric drive system alongside a Cat C15 diesel engine, which offers up to 335 kW of power, with Caterpillar saying the machine comes with lower engine revolutions per minute resulting in reduced fuel burn, heat, noise, vibration and exhaust emissions.
“Equipped with Cat Command technology with full autonomy, including auto dig and dump features, the machine will deliver larger payloads, reduced emissions and enhanced safety features for our client’s project,” it added.
PYBAR says its skilled and dedicated team is keen to set the new loader to work alongside its existing fleet of specialised underground mining equipment to further support the successful development of the project.
The Eloise copper mine is in north Queensland, 60 km southeast of Cloncurry and 155 km east-southeast of Mt Isa, was commissioned in 1996 and has since mined over 14.5 Mt of ore grading 2.7% Cu and 0.8g/t Au to produce 376,000 t of copper and 195,000 oz of gold in concentrate.
