The two Coaltram vehicles were handed over to Mastermyne last month and will ultimately be placed at Oaky Creek to support Mastermyne’s local operations and contracts.
Mastermyne employees and management based in Mackay have undergone a familiarisation period on the Coaltram vehicles ahead of their delivery to the Oaky Creek mines near Emerald.
Mastermyne fleet manager Beau Brookes said the design and construction of the vehicles and the after-purchase support provided by DMS were key factors in the decision.
“The Atlas Copco Coaltrams are well matched to our site conditions and operational requirements and the fact they are made locally gives us added confidence that they will add long-term value to our business,” he said.
DMS Underground Coaltram general manager Craig Anderson welcomed Mastermyne’s decision to support the Australian-made vehicles.
“The Queensland and New South Wales coal industries have really embraced these vehicles and the more we put into the market the more demand we are receiving,” he said.
“Mastermyne is an incredibly well-respected operator throughout the industry and we look forward to working with them, like all of our customers, to further develop and evolve the Coaltram product.
“On top of the existing penetration into the New South Wales industry, we are well advanced with our plan to double our production capacity over the next 18 months to satisfy customer demand.”
The Coaltrams are manufactured in Beresfield near Newcastle by DMS Underground. Other recent sales have been to Donaldson Coal, BHP Illawarra, BMA and Centennial.
Anderson said other articulated load haul dump vehicles used in Australian underground coal mines had had minimal changes or improvements in the past 10-15 years.
“Customer feedback has seen further product development and improvements adding to the already existing competitive advantage of the Atlas Copco Coaltram,” he said.
“With a Tier 3 electric controlled engine and the onboard MONEx management system, the Coaltram offers significant advantages for future vehicle tracking and uploading of operational critical data to be integrated automatically into the existing minesite management systems.”
DMS, an unlisted public company, was formed in May 2009 with the merger of six mining services businesses: Anderson Group of Companies (the Coaltram vehicle designers), Ausgroup Industries, Ausscaffold, East Coast Engineering, AllSteel Fabrications and MachineTek Engineering.
