Late in 2007 Longwall Associates signed a multi-million dollar contract for the delivery of an OEM face conveyor system, comprising an armoured face conveyor, stage loader, crusher and belt tailpiece.
The equipment is bound for the Daning coal mine located in Yangcheng County, Jincheng Shanxi, China.
The right hand face conveyor consists of 1000mm raceway by 1750mm long line pans and includes Longwall Associates' Super Gear Rack shearer haulage system.
The haulage system features Longwall Associates and Voith's AFC Soft Start System.
Additionally, Longwall Associates will outfit the face conveyor with its field proven line of gearboxes, the LAEP 40 Series and the LABP 40 Series.
Similar gearboxes have been installed in the US, with operator feedback claiming temperature reduction and veritable horsepower ratings.
The stage loader is 34mm twin-inboard 1220mm raceway and includes Longwall Associates' LABP 20 Series gearbox.
To signal its long-term commitment to the Chinese market, Longwall Associates has established technical logistics of critical infrastructure components, including spare parts warehousing in the Chaoyang District of Beijing.
Longwall Associates also carries out maintenance and training personnel programs in China under the direction of Jincheng-based sales and service manager Da Yang.
Longwall Associates CEO Tony Campbell said the company was "quickly emerging as a formidable force in the global longwall market".
"Wining the Daning contract marks a milestone for our company, both in terms of further international emergence into the longwall market, and also regionally, as one of the only local industries in our county that is exporting manufactured goods, not jobs, to foreign countries," Campbell said.
Daning's order is the second the mine has placed with Longwall Associates, and as Longwall Associates president Paul Campbell said: "[One of the] greatest endorsements you can receive is business."
Delivery of the equipment is scheduled for 2008 with compatibility trials in Chilhowie, Virginia.
