A refurbished Joy 6LS shearer has been commissioned and is cutting coal at the North Goonyella mine in central Queensland. The shearer is successfully using memory-cut to cut the seam at a fixed height, which means the driver does not have to control the trailing drum.

MIM's Oaky Creek mine has ordered a second 12CM12 continuous miner, which includes a JNA2 electronic system. Joy says the JNA2 provides "one electronic hardware and software platform designed for the supervision and control of all Joy products that require an intelligent control system as part of their design." Joy expects to deliver the miner by April/May 2001.

At MIM's Oaky No 1, Joy are supplying a second-hand ex-Westcliff shearer for the completion of the remaining two or three longwall blocks prior to the installation of a new longwall for the mine's extension, scheduled to go into production by around January 2002. The shearer will be supplied in October 2000 as a rental machine for 12-18 months. A Joy spokesman said the shearer has been fully refurbished and includes high horsepower ranging arms with more installed power for cutting.

In related company news, the new 14CM27, a smaller version of the 12CM27 miner, to be shown at MINExpo in Las Vegas in October, includes a new 1000V traction drive system.

First seen in Australia at QME in Macky in July, the new traction drive is micro-processor controlled and can control continuous miners at a constant speed. The drive is fully regenerative in that it absorbs power when braking and tramming downhill and can drive up to a 60kW AC motor with peaks at 240kW for 15 seconds.

The drive replaces the DC drive and provides equivalent torque performance. Other features are the elimination of a transformer, the ability to operate directly off a 1000V supply and a reduction in maintenance.