Coal India signs mining’s largest dragline order in decades for five 1,960 t machines from Russia’s Uralmashplant
Uralmashplant JSC (UZTM), part of the UZTM-KARTEX Group, the leading Russian manufacturer of mining equipment, recently won the tender for supply of five walking draglines to the leading Indian mining concern Coal India Ltd (CIL). On March 25, in Kolkata, Yan Tsenter, CEO of UZTM-KARTEX Managing Company and Binay Dayal, Technical Director of Coal India Ltd., in the presence of the Chairman of the CIL Board of Directors Pramod Agrawal signed the contract which is worth more than $350 million. This is the largest transaction for UZTM over the past 30 years.
According to the contract, Uralmashplant will supply five walking draglines of the ESH 24.95 model (the second largest model Uralmashplant makes) to CIL over five years; the contract also provides for erection and commissioning of the equipment at the customer’s site. Under the contract, Uralmashplant will also provide service support for the draglines and supply spare parts and accessories for 11 years from the date of their commissioning. This model weighs 1,960 t and features a 24 m3 bucket capacity, 95 m boom length, 50 m digging depth, 39 m dumping height and 88.8 m dumping radius.
Unique to these Russian models, the boom is a triangular three-dimensional construction made of tubular elements. The top dragline boom chord is preliminarily compressed, exceeding the tension caused by the working loads. This increases the fatigue strength of the structure, its reliability and service life. The hydraulic walking mechanism provides smooth movement and high manoeuverability of the machine.
Two operator cabins enable control either from the left or the right side depending on particular conditions in the pit-face. The cabins are designed in compliance with the latest requirements of ergonomic standards and are comfortable to work in; an automatic lubrication system ensures durability of the dragline mechanisms and units with minimum power loss for friction and provides for the saving of lubricants; the main units are driven by DC motors with thyristor converter excitation control. A modification with a compact IGBT-based AC drive (frequency converter – induction motor system) is also available.
Coal India has been making huge investments in new high-performance equipment as part of its development program for India’s coal-mining industry. By 2023, the Indian company plans to increase its annual coal production up to 1 billion tonnes.
“UZTM-KARTEX enterprises contribution to the largest project of upgrading the basic industry in India is a new stage of mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries. This is a significant event for the entire Russian machine-building complex that involve more than 100 suppliers of components in the production of draglines,” comments Yan Tsenter, UZTM-KARTEX Group CEO.
“The development of export sales is one of the company’s priorities. The potential of UZTM-KARTEX enterprises and the industry as a whole, the support we receive from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, the policy of Gazprombank, our shareholder, aimed at formation of modern highly-efficient production, large-scale re-equipment of the fixed assets and development of the product line of our enterprises, allow us to expect strengthening our positions in the international market of mining equipment,” he added.
