Epiroc will be doing the drilling at three underground copper mines in Turkey thanks to a SEK 140M (US$16.1 million) equipment order from Eti Bakir.
The variety of drill rigs, mine trucks and loaders will be used to boost production and safety at the Kastamonu Küre, Artvin Murgul and Siirt Madenköy operations as each undergoes an expansion. The customer also ordered service, spare parts and consumables.
Specifically, the operator ordered Boomer face drilling rigs, Simba production drilling rigs, Boltec rock reinforcement rigs, Scooptram loaders and Minetruck haulers. Most of the units will be equipped with Epiroc’s telematics system Certiq for intelligent monitoring of machine performance and productivity in real-time.
Some machines will also have Epiroc’s Rig Control System (RCS) installed, making them ready for automation and remote control.
Epiroc recorded the purchase on its books for the third quarter. The OEM noted that the newest order is an extension of the companies’ long-standing relationship.
“We are proud that 42 tonnes underground trucks with ejector box in copper mines will be used for the first time in Turkey,” said Gokhan Zengin, the machine manager for Eti Bakı.
“Our cooperation with Epiroc has a long history, we also have a component agreement since six years [ago] and we started using Epiroc MD20 rock drills for underground operation development as of last year.”
Source: Epiroc