A contract for the conveyor system for the extension to the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia has been awarded to Bateman. The scope of work covers design, supply, delivery, erection and commissioning of the conveyor system and include...

At the annual Atlas Copco Press Lunch in London, held this year in the Savoy Hotel on December 5, a range of new product offerings were announced, while IM also spoke to key executives regarding ongoing progress with automated and XLP equipment. The decision to change the company structure was also explained - the Construction and Mining Technique business area is now divided into Mining & Rock Excavation, headed up by Senior Vice President Bob Fassl; while a separate Construction Technique business area is now led by Senior Vice President Nico Delvaux.

Joy Global completed the transfer of its stock listing to the New York Stock Exchange with a bell-ringing ceremony on the exchange floor. Joy Global is a worldwide leader in surface and underground mining products and owns the P&H and Joy Mining equipment brands. The company says the "listing reflects Joy Global's size, record of growth and inherent strength."

A worldwide leader in bulk materials handling technology has announced a new sales and service location, as Martin Engineering opens its offices in Lima, Peru. The new facility will provide products and technical support to the central and northern regions of the country, with plans to continue developing the emerging market in Bolivia. Martin Engineering Peru began operations in April of 2010 with the opening of its main office in Arequipa.

ABB has successfully completed all tests and the no-load commissioning of its ACS 6000 drive, installed at the Ma JiaLiang coal mine's main shaft hoist in Shanxi Province, China. ABB's ACS 6000 drive is designed to allow for continued hoist operation at half-speed and under full-load, if required by the process. With this successful breakthrough, ABB says it "becomes the first supplier worldwide to design and realise this kind of function in a hoist system." This function will greatly reduce the maintenance time and increase the reliability and availability of coal mine production.

Murray & Roberts Cementation has been selected by De Beers as the preferred contractor to undertake the development of an underground mining operation at Venetia diamond mine. This project is in a feasibility stage and will be considered by the De Beers Board in 2012.

A new double drum mine hoist has recently been shipped by Qualter Hall to the Imiter silver mine in Morocco. Qualter Hall secured the contract, awarded by the mine owner Managem and operator Societe Metallurgique D'imiter (SMI) Casablanca, for the design, manufacture, supply, supervision of installation and commissioning of one 175 kW double drum hoist, complete with DC motor, in December 2010. The hoist weighs approximately 15 t, with a diameter of 1,600 mm and a rope speed of 4 m/s; designed to carry 8 t at any one time.

VISTA Training now offers version 2.0 of the Hydraulic Excavator Simulator. This PC-based simulator is an affordable way to train new equipment operators and to help experienced operators hone their skills. All that's required is a high-end PC with a graphics card, a flat screen and some inexpensive controls. This instructionally-designed equipment simulator takes a building block approach to training, starting with simple tasks and progressing to more complex ones. For each training module, software captures data that summarises how quickly and how carefully each task is performed.This data enables trainers to clearly see areas where trainees need to improve, so they can coach them to correct these weak spots. Version 2.0 of the hydraulic excavator simulator contains 40% new instructional content, including these new tasks: •Trench crossing using "boom jacking" •Climbing/descending benches •Bench loading a truck •Truck spotting from a bench •Building a ramp. This expanded training content means trainees will be even more prepared to become proficient and safe excavator operators.

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has a long and successful association of supplying machines and supporting the Chilean mining industry. One of its largest and longest standing mining customers in the country is copper miner Pucobre with underground operations near Copiapo. Pucobre bought its first Volvo products - four BM 4400 wheel loaders, in 1983, and five years later the company introduced the first customised equipment at Pucobre: two 5350B ADTs with low emission engines - unusual at the time in that they were employed underground. The mine subsequently also acquired two BM 4500 wheel loaders.

Montreal-based Major Wire Industries is marking the 15th anniversary in 2011 of its Flex-Mat® independently vibrating wire technology, now in its third generation with Flex-Mat 3 Tensioned and Modular versions. Since its introduction in 1996, Major Wire believes that Flex-Mat technology has revolutionised the screening industry in mining and other industries like quarrying and recycling, providing solutions to common screening challenges and a way to increase product value and return on investment.

MDM Engineering Group has signed the contract for the Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) of Tharisa Minerals’ chromite and platinum expansion project in South Africa, near Marikana.

Tata Motors, India’s market leader in commercial vehicles and the world’s fourth largest truck manufacturer, has launched the new TATA Prima 3138.K 8X4 tipper equipped with an Allison 4430R transmission at the 6th International Construction Equipment and Construction Technology Trade Fair (EXCON) 2011 in Bengaluru, which is organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. The company states that the tipper model is ideal for carrying overburden in coal, iron ore, limestone and other applications involved in the heavy mining industry.