Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/748269
EquipmentWorld.com | November 2016 11 W hile smaller than con- struction's ConExpo- Con/Agg, the every- four-year MINExpo has an emphasis on big: big equip- ment, big tires and big ideas. Production is king in the min- ing sector, with innovations designed to shave seconds off production cycles, process more material and get miners out of harm's way. Equipment World has always found the show an in- triguing venue to get glimpses of features that may roll their way down the size chart. For example, fully autonomous haul trucks made headlines at MINExpo, with both Cat and Komatsu revealing more about their unmanned yellow iron efforts. Cat says its 493F haul truck, running in tests at the Fortes- cue Metals Group's Solomon mine in Australia since 2012, can now produce 20 percent more material than a manned vehicle. The autonomous trucks now handle 70 percent of the mine's production. Un- like the automobile industry, which is adding semi-autono- mous features such as object detection in an effort to build up to fully autonomous cars, Cat says it's now unbundling what it has learned in its autonomous efforts to offer slices of autonomy in other machines. One such piece will be truck spotting, which helps a haul truck operator know exactly where to position the truck under an excavator for optimum loading. Cat plans to make truck spotting available next year. Komatsu's concept 459-ton Autonomous Haulage Vehicle, with a 2,700-gross-horsepower engine, distributes equal load to all four wheels when the truck is loaded and unloaded, and has four-wheel drive, retarder and steering for shut- tling in both forward and re- verse. Komatsu says it hopes these advancements will eliminate the need for K-turns when loading and unloading. For the here and now, Preco Electronics debuted its reporter | staff report Briefs Doug Oberhelman, Caterpillar chairman and CEO, will retire on March 31st, ending a 41-year career with the company. Jim Umpleby, currently the group president of the fi rm's Energy & Transportation divi- sion, has been named incoming CEO, and current board member Dave Calhoun will assume the posi- tion of the board's non-executive chairman. Komatsu America is purchasing four branches of Arizona-based dealer Road Machinery – includ- ing three in New Mexico and one in Texas – in order to convert them to company-owned sites to be re-branded as Komatsu Southwest locations. Established in 1955, Road Machinery operates 13 other locations in the southwest and features Komatsu mining, construction and forestry ma- chines. The company also carries Wirtgen Group equipment, including Hamm, Vogele, Wirtgen and Kleeman brands. Strongco has completed the sale of 100 per- cent of the shares of U.S. subsidiary Chadwick- BaRoss for $12.4 million to Chadwick-BaRoss Canada, a subsidiary of ISH Capital. Strongco, which has locations across Canada and operated several Chadwick-BaRoss sites in the northeast U.S., has reported better sales this year, but its gross margins have been down. It stated nega- tive cash fl ows in both 2014 and 2015. RDO Equipment has offi cially opened its second Phoenix-area location in Chandler, Arizona, provid- MINExpo announcements hint of construction's future Center stage: Komatsu's concept Autonomous Haulage Vehicle. (continued on page 12) (continued on page 12)