The highlight will be DBT's innovative new compact loader, which is making its world debut at AIMEX 2007. DBT will present this new member of its diesel fleet at a press conference on 9.30am on the first day of the show, Tuesday September 4.

The compact loader has unique features not found in any other product on the market. Other exhibits include the revolutionary Longwall Top Coal Caving (LTCC) roof support, the EL62 - the most powerful medium-seam ranging arm on the market - and automation products including PMC-R shield control and PMC-D drive control. As a demonstration of DBT's automation prowess, the booth will also feature live data transfer from an Australian mine.

DBT - already a global market leader in longwall equipment - has the stated aim of becoming "tomorrow's number one" in underground mining. The innovations on display at AIMEX 2007 demonstrate that DBT has the people, products and strategies to make this happen - worldwide. Two of the products on display - the LTTC roof support and the compact loader - are developed and manufactured in Australia.

Compact Loader

Designed and manufactured in Australia, DBT's newly developed compact loader debuts at AIMEX 2007. DBT Australia has engineered the compact loader to access the previously inaccessible.

With a width of only 1995mm, optional cab height and a machine cover height of only 1350mm, the DBT compact loader has a much smaller roadway presence than any other modern machine available on the market.

A hydraulic height adjustment option allows the compact loader to be lowered for access or loading and then raised while driving for greater ground clearance. It sets the bar in size and carrying capacity in the sub-10-tonne market.

Modularity was a key design criterion to ensure great flexibility in application. It allows the mine owner or contractor to select the features they require.

The front frame is equipped with a parallel lift, allowing use of work baskets, forks and buckets. The lifting capacity is 6-8t, with a range of dedicated attachments, including side-shift forks, slewing jib crane, buckets (direct mount, spade or straight lip), general-purpose trailer, pipe trailer, belt/cable reeler, manual side-shift forks, work platform, fuel pod and concrete kibble.

The DBT compact loader comes standard with a universal Rapid Attachment System RAS & QDS for rapid pick-up and release of accessories.

LTTC roof support

DBT has once again demonstrated engineering leadership by building Australia's first Longwall Top Coal Caving system at the Austar mine in the Hunter Valley. The LTCC shield on display - like the ones in service in the mine - allows mining to the total seam height of up to 8m by using a longwall shearer to cut the bottom 2.8-3m and then caving the top coal.

Mine owner Yancoal Australia chose DBT to engineer the special shields and conveyors required for safe automated high-performance extraction. The fully integrated system perfectly tailored to geological conditions at Austar is successfully extracting the full coal seam and targeting production of over 80,000t per week at 80% recovery.

The LTCC shield support extends from 1900mm to 3500mm, provides a total support capacity of 1040t and is fully automated with DBT's latest generation PMC-R control, which is also on display. Where poor roof conditions are encountered, or top coal is of poor quality, top coal caving can be temporarily suspended until conditions improve.

Automation

Shields in automatic longwalls need sophisticated control systems - and the PMC-R roof support control delivers. Designed for rigorous duty in harsh environments, the PMC-R is DBT's state-of-the-art automated control for longwall roof support applications.

A member of the Programmable Mining Control family, it allows bi-directional adjacent neighbour functions, limited remote control for single functions of up to five shields (visible range) in standard faces, and remote control in faces without operators.

Software is available for semi-automated and fully automated plow systems, allowing longwall mining in medium and thin seams without operators present at the face.

Once the coal is cut, you need to move it out. Face conveyors require sophisticated drive systems. That's where the PMC-D control unit offers a combination of high power with safe start-up of the loaded face conveyor, full utilisation of the installed power, long service life of components and compact dimensions.

Visit DBT at AIMEX 2007 on Stand 216.

www.dbt.de