Modern Mining February 2015

COVER STORY

The complex will include offices, workshops and a sophisticated rebuild centre able to refurbish all machines in the Volvo range.” He notes that construction of the new premises is well advanced with occupancy scheduled for August this year. Vaughan says Babcock has also been strengthening its footprint in the Southern African region and has opened a new branch in Matola in Mozambique and established branches in Namibia and Botswana, which were previously served by independent deal- ers. In Zambia, one of its key markets, it has branches in Kitwe, positioned at the centre of the Copperbelt, and in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital. It has also expanded to Solwezi in recognition of the fact that the centre of grav- ity of the Copperbelt has been shifting further to the north-west of Zambia in recent years with the opening of new copper mines such as Kansanshi and Lumwana in North-Western Province – with a third major mine, Sentinel, in this same area now in the commissioning phase. One of the biggest sellers in the Volvo line- up marketed by Babcock is the Volvo ADT, which comes in three different models locally, the 30-ton payload A30, the 35-ton A35 and the 40-ton A40. The Volvo ADT is reportedly the global market leader and has proven extremely popular in South Africa and neighbouring states, with the A40 in particular being a best seller. The models available in Southern Africa are from the F-Series and the A40F, first intro- duced in 2010, was the recipient in 2012 of the ‘red dot’ design award, probably the most pres- tigious design award in Europe and arguably the world. According to Vaughan, one reason for the popularity of the Volvo ADTs is the incredible longevity they offer, with many units in the local market having clocked up over 30 000 hours. “The Volvo haulers can soak up the hours,” he says. “In addition, they’re noted

for their fuel efficiency, which we believe is market leading, and the high standards of safety they offer. The range is also feature rich. To take just one example, all Volvo ADTs are equipped with Volvo’s unique Automatic Traction System (ATC), which automatically selects the optimal drive system to suit underfoot conditions. “In normal mode, ATC selects the fuel-sav- ing 6x4 drive configuration, only switching to 6x6 drive when more traction is needed. The resulting fuel savings can be very substantial – up to 6 % by Volvo’s estimates. There is also, of course, a beneficial impact on tyres with tyre life potentially being extended by up to 10 %.” Vaughan points out that the reputation of the Volvo ADT is such that used machines are in huge demand worldwide. “The Volvo ADT is almost like an international currency,” he says. “We find that the ratio of the number of

David Vaughan, Sales Director – Equipment, Babcock, pictured with the Volvo L350F loader.

Powered by a 394 kW Volvo engine, the Volvo 350F loader is an ideal machine for tough mining environments.

February 2015  MODERN MINING  17