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Mar 20, 2023

World Mining Congress heads down under

Liebherr Group will continue its legacy as a leading equipment manufacturer with new excavators at this year's World Mining Congress.

Originally founded in Germany after WWII, Liebherr has had operations in Australia since 1981.

In the 40-plus years since, Liebherr Australia has sold and supported a wide range of products to multiple sectors, such as mobile and crawler cranes, offshore cranes, tower cranes, deep foundation machines, and earthmoving and mining equipment.

With its wide range of products and services, Liebherr will be attending the 2023 World Mining Congress (WMC) as a gold level sponsor.

Since 1958, the WMC has been the event for mining companies to connect, innovate and discuss the latest from the resources sector. And it is now being coming to Australia for the first time.

To be held in Brisbane from June 26–29, the 26th WMC will feature an array of topics and discussion streams, including critical minerals, social performance and governance, and environmental sustainability, to name a few.

Liebherr will be a proud exhibitor at the event, where it will showcase its wide variety of products and services for the mining industry, most notably its zero emissions roadmap, its new R 9600 and R 9300 excavators.

Zero-emissions mining efforts

In addition to being a leading provider of excavators, off highway trucks and mining dozers, Liebherr has a strong objective to practice zero-emissions mining.

In 2022, the company conducted a feasibility study that investigated available technologies to determine how it can effectively progress within the zero-emission area.

In a story published in the Liebherr Group magazine, the company outlined some of these low-carbon solutions and fossil-fuel-free initiatives.

Liebherr's trucks from 100 tonne (t) payload and upwards are equipped with an alternating current and are available with a trolley assist option.

As of early 2023, all Liebherr diesel engines in mining trucks and hydraulic excavators can operate with up to 100 per cent hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel, which underpins Liebherr's determination to find multiple solutions for decarbonisation with internal-combustion engines.

Liebherr wants its future solutions portfolio to be less dependent on the electric grid, which it believes will help to provide flexibility and likely be constructed on a combination of technologies.

Further flexibility will be provided through on-board energy storage with the use of batteries or renewable fuels such as hydrogen or hydrogen- based derivates.

Additionally, once more advanced e-fuels, which are made by synthesising captured CO2 emissions and hydrogen produced using electricity, are accessible on a larger scale, Liebherr will be ready to utilise them in machines equipped with its engines.

Liebherr demonstrates through its products and services that it is one of the leading equipment manufacturers in Australia, and the WMC will be the perfect opportunity for the company to further showcase its new excavators and zero-emissions mining efforts.

R 9600

The new R 9600 is powered for mining with a customer-centric approach to define new standards in the 600t mining class.

The R 9600 marks the beginning of the new generation of Liebherr hydraulic mining excavators. It integrates the latest technologies and developments with its reliable undercarriage, high-performance attachments, brand new cabin and on-board assistance systems that enable mine sites to achieve high productivity in any application or setting.

This hydraulic excavator is not only powerful, robust and efficient, but it has been designed to provide easy maintenance and the best serviceability possible.

The R 9600 applies the latest quality control systems to ensure the operator can rely on the machinery and will see the highest performance.

The machine features an operating weight of 633t, a 2400–2500 kilowatt (kW) powertrain, a bucket capacity of 37.5m³, a breakout force of 1730 kilonewton (kN), a digging force of 1560kN, and a maximum oil flow of 8520L/min.

All of these features add up to come pretty serious benefits for a mine site, including greater efficiency where the operator only uses the power and the hydraulic flow they need. This allows for operations to minimise fuel consumption and to maximise hydraulic efficiency.

Liebherr has designed the uppercarriage of the R 9600 with easier maintenance and quicker service in mind. The central service area provides operators with accessibility to all of the machine's features, which helps to reduce downtime and increase productivity on sites.

R 9300

The new R 9300 excavator has been built on an impressive legacy of Liebherr's decades-spanning excavator design expertise. It aims to act as the most efficient 300t class machine.

The newest member of Liebherr's excavator family is equipped with the latest technologies and developments. Not only is it ready to provide increased operational effectiveness, but according to the company it will enable mine sites to meet requirements for the future, such as automation and zero-emission options.

The R 9300 has an operating weight with backhoe attachment worth 252t and an operating weight with face shovel attachment of 253t.

With an engine rating at 1800 revolutions per minute (rpm) of 1007kW, it is accompanied with a bucket capacity at 1.8t per cubic metre (t/m³) of 16.5m³ and a shovel capacity at 1.8t/m³ of 16m³.

The machinery is convoyed with a hydraulics system, which has an attachment and travel drive pump which allows a four-variable flow axial piston pumps and 512 litres per minute (L/min) at a pressure of 350 bar.

A swing drive pump is also enclosed, with one reversible swash plate that pumps 640L/min at a pressure of 350 bar on a closed-loop circuit. In addition, the hydraulics system has a maximum swing speed of 4rpm.

The R 9300 comes with a backhoe attachment with an operating weight of 252t, a bucket capacity at 1.8t/m³ of 16.50m³, a maximum digging force (ISO 6015) of 810 kilonewton (kN) and a maximum breakout force (ISO 6015) of 885kN.

The unit's face shovel attachment comes with an operating weight of 253 t, a shovel capacity at 1.8t/m³ of 16m³, a maximum crowd force at ground level (ISO 6015) of 1105kN, a maximum crowd force (ISO 6015) of 1265kN, and a maximum breakout force for shovel (ISO 6015) of 980kN.

This feature appeared in the June 2023 issue of Australian Mining.

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