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ZEB1, claimed to be the the world’s first truly mobile, hand-held, rapid laser mapping system, has been put through a rigorous testing process at the world’s deepest gold mine. Owned and operated by Anglogold Ashanti, the Mponeng Mine, southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, is over 2km below sea level.
The ZEB1 was demonstrated in an up dip stope panel and the resulting 3D model was proven to conform to existing plans of the mine workings. ZEB1 was developed by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency,

Caterpillar has unveiled a number of product launches including the new Cat 336D2 (Series 2) excavator, which is said to be a powerful, productive, 36tonne-class machine that adds technical refinement to the solid design of its 336D predecessor.

The 336D2 uses the Cat C9 ACERT engine that meets US EPA Tier 2 equivalent emissions standards (a Tier 3 equivalent package is also available where required.). The C9 engine features precise electronic management of fuel and air to ensure optimum performance in a

In an opencast mine in the north of Saudi Arabia, a Wirtgen 2500 SM surface miner equipped with a 2.5m wide cutting drum is said to have been mining large phosphate deposits in “a highly economical process” since 2012.
In addition to the primary extraction of relatively soft phosphate with an unconfined compressive strength of 25MPa in the pit, the 2500 SM also mines the surrounding hard limestone (80MPa) and extremely hard flint (150MPa) in separate layers.

A fleet of five new Hitachi EX3600-6 excavators has been supplied by the Hitachi construction machinery dealer for Kyrgyzstan, Turkuaz Machinery, to work at high altitude in sub-zero temperatures on the Kumtor gold mine.
The ultra-large mining machines are being utilised as the primary excavators for the 24/7, 365-day operation that mines ice, moraine and rock to reach the gold veins.
The working conditions are as tough as it gets for man and machine at the largest gold mine in Central Asia, which is loca

Reaching niche construction and memorial markets both locally and across the globe, dimension stone mining operations in north-west South Africa’s greater Rustenburg district in the Pilanesburg region have been ongoing since the 1950s.

The world two largest cement producers are understood to have agreed the terms of a US$50 billion (€36.5 billion) merger, in the industry's biggest ever tie-up

It is understood that Holcim will launch a public takeover for Lafarge payable in shares. If successful, the combined entity will be based in Switzerland but will have operational headquarters in Switzerland and France.

Further details are expected today (Monday).

Lafarge Chief Executive Officer Bruno Lafont will become CEO of the combined e

The world’s two largest cement producers, Lafarge and Holcim, have agreed a multi-billion merger of equals in the industry's biggest ever tie-up. The merger, planned for completion in the first half of 2015 will create LafargeHolcim, “the most advanced group in the building materials industry.”

Holcim says in a statement that it confirms that Lafarge and Holcim are in advanced discussions regarding a possible combination. Holcim and Lafarge believe that, given the strong complementarity of their portfolio and the cultural proximity between the two companies, there is rationale in considering a potential merger that could deliver significant benefits to customers, employees and shareholders.

LiuGong Machinery’s Asia Pacific subsidiary Singapore headquarters will now house the Asia Pacific arm of Dressta.

The global construction equipment manufacturer’s move follows the company’s acquisition of Polish company HSW’s (HutaStalowaWola) civil engineering machinery division and its distribution arm, Dressta (known as LiuGong Dressta Machinery) in January 2012.

“The successful integration of both businesses marks a tremendous opportunity for LiuGong to achieve further growth in this region. We s

Caterpillar has outlined its strategy for customers in lesser regulated countries selling and buying used Tier 4 Interim products for operation in those countries, where prevailing fuel quality and fuel sulphur content vary widely. Based on extensive testing, analysis and field validation, the company has determined that Cat Tier 4 Interim engine systems between 130kW-895kW (7-32litre engines) will not require any modification to operate in lesser regulated countries.

For Cat Tier 4 Interim engines less

Thailand’s Siam Cement says it expects 2014 domestic cement demand growth to be lower than the 7% posted in 2013 due to slowdown of the government’s infrastructure spending. Cement demand grew only 2% since the beginning of this year compared to a 6% growth in the fourth quarter of 2013, chief executive Kan Trakulhoon told an earnings briefing.

The world’s biggest JCB dealer depot, Stroykomplekt (SKL) in Ekaterinburg, Russia, has opened after a £6 million (€4.5 million) investment aimed at accelerating growth in one of the company’s most important markets. The company’s dancing diggers are shown performing outside the complex.

Astec has celebrated test-firing the 500th burner manufactured (pictured with the staff involved) since it entered the burner market in 2003. Astec built the 100 million BTU/hour gas-and-oil-firing Whisper Jet burner to be used with a new 375tonnes/hour Astec batch plant produced for Aztexnika in Baku, Azerbaijan.

According to the Federal Customs Service (FCS), crushed stone imports exceeded 25.567 million tonnes worth US$399.2 million (€294.77 million) in 2013, compared with less than 25 million tonnes in 2012. Ukraine was the leader in terms of supplies and accounted for 86% of imports. Norway took the second place (6%) and Belarus the third (4%). Crushed stone was also imported from Kazakhstan (2%), Sweden (1%), and Turkey.

Lafarge has appointed of Guillaume Roux as the new country chief executive officer, Nigeria and Benin Republic. Also an executive vice president, who holds joint French and American nationality, Roux joined the Lafarge Group in 1980.

The Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) has signed a letter of intent with Fives FCB to build a fifth cement plant line with a clinker production capacity of 5000tonnes/day. Fives FCB and TPF Basse Sambre will work together to finalise the contract documents by the end of April 2014.

The turkey contract has been valued at US$261 million (€189 million) and construction will start after handing over the site on a phased manner, starting with two cement mills which will be delivered after 17 months and 19

Italian building materials producer Buzzi Unicem saw a consolidated net loss of €50.70 million in 2013, compared to a net loss of €28.5 million a year earlier.

Losses in the value of fixed activities reached €114.2 million, due largely to the devaluation of sites and new launches in Italy and the Ukraine.

Buzzi Unicem's board hopes to launch a share buy-back of up to €4 million.

The performance of the Portuguese cement company Cimpor in 2013 yielded a dividend volume of €1.83 million to its largest shareholder, InterCement, controlled by the Brazilian group Camargo Correa.

The recent shareholders' meeting approved the payment of a gross dividend of €0.0029 per share. InterCement controls 94.1% of the stock of Cimpor which allocated €1.948 million for the payment of dividends.

Breedon Aggregates, the UK’s largest independent aggregates business has been presented with the Best Construction and Materials PLC Award in the 2014 Stock Market Awards, run by Shares magazine in association with KPMG.

At a ceremony at the Park Lane Hotel in London, hosted by BBC Radio and TV star Giles Brandreth, Breedon beat off competition from four other leading contenders to win the trophy, which was presented to group chief executive Simon Vivian.

The award was given in recognition of the comp

Sandvik Construction launched two developments at 2013’s first bauma Africa: the CH550 cone crusher and the DH350 surface drill rig. The CH550, part of the new generation of compact cone crushers, is based on the proven Hydrocone design, and is said to combine the ability to produce excellent shaped products in fewer crushing stages.