Modern Mining November 2019

COVER STORY

South Africa’s miners sold on Volvo’s articulated haulers

Volvo’s articulated haulers are continuing to prove popular in South Africa’s mining industry – so much so that the A40G, the backbone of the range, can now boast the lion’s share of the market for ma- chines in its class. According to David Vaughan, Managing Director of Babcock’s Equipment business, the excellent sales figures for the articulated haulers are all the more remarkable given that the mining industry remains quiet and that this in turn has impacted the demand for mining equipment.

B abcock has represented Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) in Southern Africa since 2000 and over that period has been highly successful in putting the brand on the map. Over 700 of the A40G and its sister machine, the AG45, have been put into the field, with most of the demand coming from the mining and quarrying industries. The haulers have had a particularly enthu- siastic reception from mining contractors and plant hirers operating in the coalfields on the highveld, who are now served by a state-of-the-art Babcock branch that opened in Middelburg in 2016 and which offers full rebuild facilities for Volvo owners. Volvo CE has recently updated the G-Series

David Vaughan, MD of Babcock’s Equipment business. range, with the new features including cruise con- trol, downhill speed control and the new OptiShift function, which enables fast and smooth directional change. The new features, combined with the unique

Two of Volvo CE’s top-of-the-line machines in action – a Volvo EC950E loads a Volvo A60H articulated hauler.

18  MODERN MINING  November 2019