Mobility, Air and Light are Important Tools for
Remote Mine Maintenance Programs

Self-contained heavy equipment maintenance packages furnished by SSB TransPORTER
are often installed on an Iveco 4 x 4 truck chassis as shown here, but also can be designed
to meet other customer preferences.

From Jakarta, SSB TransPORTER reports growing demand for the self-contained maintenance work vehicles it builds for mining and other companies. The operation, which is the Transport Equipment Division of steel fabricator PT Sanggar Sarana Baja (SSB), is currently ordering portable air compressors and generators at the rate of 20 units per year for use onboard these vehicles and expects to need more in the near future. Manufacturing Manager John Schwarzenberg says this is because the popularity of the mobile maintenance concept continues to grow among Indonesia’s operators of heavy duty earthmoving and mining equipment. SSB entered this niche market in late 2002 when it took over transport equipment manufacturing and distribution business assets from PT Porter Rekayasa Utama, a joint venture between the highly experienced Australian group Howard Porter and local partners established in 1992. SSB TransPORTER has developed a wide range of trailers, utility vehicles, dump trucks, fuel tankers and off-highway bus bodies for mining and other resource industries as well as general transportation. The first maintenance vehicles were purpose-designed and built in response to direct enquiries from clients, Schwarzenberg explained. Howard Porter Group is a specialist truck body and trailer manufacturer and the first units were built at the firm’s factory in Australia. Later, some key personnel from both HowardPorter and PT Porter joined SSB Trans- PORTER in the marketing, design and manufacturing fields and this expertise, backed by the financial strength of SSB’s parent, the industrial conglomerate Trakindo Group, has enabled the division to grow quickly. It has already outgrown its two manufacturing facilities in Jakarta and will shortly move to new premises. The self-contained systems are often installed on an Iveco 4 x 4 truck chassis but others will be supplied to meet customer preference. They are equipped to carry out all required regular maintenance work, including welding, oil and water change, refueling, and body and wheel washing. Normal equipment includes storage tanks for engine, transmission, gear and hydraulic oil, each operated by a diaphragm pump. There are also tanks— usually 1,500 liters—for coolant and water for high-pressure washing as well as a fuel tank at the rear with a capacity of up to 7,000 liters. Equipment often also includes a waste disposal unit, storage drums for grease and detergent, toolbox and a fire extinguisher. Although the maintenance unit is now part of the SSB TransPORTER range, it is regarded as a custom built vehicle and many options can be incorporated in the spec. “The units usually work in very tough and remote locations, servicing vehicles that themselves are working hard under the most demanding of conditions, and we design and build them so they can handle all maintenance needs on site, no matter where the client’s vehicle fleet is operating,” said Schwarzenberg. These operating conditions demand equally tough and reliable system components, not least the air compressors and generators fitted on the trucks. The first units were fitted with Atlas Copco portable compressors sourced from Atlas Copco in Australia. When SSB TransPORTER moved manufacturing to Jakarta PT Atlas Copco Indonesia was able to take over supply and provide full service backup. Three types of Deutz-powered portable compressors—XAS 47, XAS 57 and XAS 67—are being used, depending on the mobile unit specifications and amount of air pressure therefore required. These are often ordered already fitted with the 110/230V integrated generator in order to drive the onboard electrical equipment and work lights. SSB reports that the Atlas Copco compressors operate about 12 hours per day, sometimes more, adding that the units have a big advantage in terms of their ability to deliver under the most critical of conditions. The concept has clearly caught on: there are currently about 50 of these units working throughout the Indonesian archipelago, all the way from the western tip of Sumatra to Irian Jaya, according to SSB TransPORTER. “These are tough trucks, we are having great success with them,” Schwarzenberg concluded.

Fourteen Atlas Copco DTH drill rigs help the Geita gold mine achieve an annual
production rate of 18 to 20 mt gold.

In another maintenance-related application, 10 Atlas Copco XAS 36 portable air compressors are being used at one of Africa’s largest open-pit gold operations for maintenance of the mine’s support and operational equipment including drilling rigs. Located in north western Tanzania, 1,200 km by road from Dar as Salaam, the Geita gold mine is owned by Anglogold Ashanti. Its annual production of 18 to 20 mt/y makes it the largest of the company’s 11 open-pit gold mines. Mining at Geita involves stripping of more than 20 million m3 of rock that is blasted and then loaded by hydraulic excavators into 100- and 240-t-capacity trucks. The mine’s fleet of blasthole drilling equipment comprises 14 Atlas Copco DTH drill rigs, which are used to sink 130-mm-diameter holes. For maintenance of the drill rigs and other on-site equipment, GGM relies on a fleet of 10, mostly service truck-mounted Atlas Copco XAS 36’s, mainly for the operation of grease pumps. GGM also has a number of Atlas Copco XAS 136 compressors in the maintenance workshops to run air tools and greasing equipment. Rated to provide a free air delivery of 135 l/s at 7 bar, the XAS 136 is powered by a Deutz diesel engine. Additionally, eight Atlas Copco QAS 14 lighting towers are used to light the pit during night hours. Four QAS 18’s also supply power to offices located at the far side of the mine site, and delivery of an additional five Atlas Copco generating sets and 12 lighting towers is imminent. This large fleet of Atlas Copco equipment is supported by an after-market contract which includes the supply of spare parts and technical support; vital when considering the machines’ remote operational working areas. Stanley Mining Services is responsible for exploration and grade control drilling at Geita. Here, and for its other operations in Tanzania, Stanley employs 14 Atlas Copco XRVS 455 air compressors as well as a fleet of 14 Atlas Copco QAS 18 lighting towers on rental for night shift operations.