Hitachi fleet meets Kachar challenge

The authorised 6512 Hitachi dealer in Kazakhstan, Turkuaz Machinery, has supplied a large fleet of Hitachi mining equipment to SSGPO’s (Sokolov-Sarbai Mining Production Association) Kachar iron ore mine.

The open pit in the north of the country, where temperatures vary from +40°C to -46°C, is home to 21 Hitachi EH3500ACII rigid dump trucks, and two EX5500E-6 and five EX3600E-6 ultra-large Hitachi excavators.

With 1.3 billion tonnes of reserves at Kachar, there is enough mining work estimated for at least another 60 years. The extraction process at the mine’s ore rock area is carried out by the excavators, which were delivered between 2008 and 2014, and now have between 5,000 and 45,000 working hours. They load the dump trucks with overburden or iron ore.

The company’s first machine, an EX5500-6, arrived in 2008. The mine had previously worked with rope shovels at an output of 100,000m³/month, while the new excavator was capable of delivering the same volume in one week.

“This was an excellent choice of machine and led to the purchase of the first EX3600-6. While both machines are very reliable, the smaller footprint of the EX3600-6 is better suited to the size of the benches at this mine,” says Vladimir Podgaetsky, SSGPO’s Deputy Director of Production.

“As a result, we use the EX5500-6s at the upper levels of the pit and the EX3600-6s further down.”

SSGPO then completed the Hitachi fleet with the EH3500ACII rigid dump trucks.