2007 Construction and Forestry News Releases and Information

MOLINE, Ill. (July 19, 2007)-When the price of coal skyrocketed by 40 percent two years ago, the mine reclamation business experienced a similar surge. A key piece of equipment in mine reclamation, the articulated dump truck (ADT), is critical for the heavy earthmoving that accompanies any highwall mining operation, according to Terry McKenzie, supervisor for Zag Resources Inc. in Stanton, Ky.

"Last year we kept seventy-some pieces of equipment busy nonstop for 12 months doing mine reclamation," he said. "We used four John Deere 300D and two 400D  articulated dump trucks, and we're planning to buy more of them."

In highwall mining, a bench is cut around a mountain to get access to the coal seam buried inside. The rock and soil above the bench is blasted and hauled away to expose the coal seam at the base of the highwall. Reclamation contractors earn a living by backfilling the bench and highwall to restore the mountain, as well as constructing the haul road and controlling erosion.

This year, Zag plans to launch a coal mining operation. To gear up for that, the company has ordered three more 300D ADTs, according to McKenzie. "The 300D trucks are pushing 1,500 hours, and they're a little better on fuel than competing trucks," he said. "They're excellent for our type of work, because they handle well in tight quarters."

Another Appalachian mining and reclamation contractor is Edsel Preece, president of Twin Ridge Development Inc. and Twin Energy LLC, both based in Paintsville, Ky. Preece runs three John Deere 400D and two 300D trucks.

"For my dollar, those trucks perform as well or better than their competitors, and they're less expensive to run. It seems like since I've been using the John Deere trucks that they've really been catching on here in eastern Kentucky and southwest Virginia," Preece said.

One challenge ADTs face in mining operations is to clean out sediment ponds behind little man-made dams that are built across valleys or hollows. Because coal mining exposes fresh topsoil on the mountainside, storm water will wash the topsoil into local streams unless it is checked by sediment ponds, which are required by environmental regulations. Over time, the ponds fill with silt and must be cleaned out.

Enter an extra-long-boomed excavator and two or three 30- to 40-ton John Deere trucks. The excavator sits on the pond's edge and dips up mucky sediment to load a waiting ADT. The material is hauled to sediment pits. Sediment hauls range from a few hundred feet to a quarter of a mile, according to McKenzie.

On average, we try to keep a three-truck haul," he said. "That keeps the excavator working nonstop, waiting perhaps a minute or two between loads."

McKenzie likes the production he gets from his John Deere ADTs. He says three trucks can haul up to 180 loads per ten-hour day, working on an average-length haul road.

The ADTs also are called upon to build haul roads into the sediment ponds. Soft conditions can make that difficult, because the trucks are hauling in rock and dirt to build a road where none existed before. The fast cycle times Deere trucks provide are important because the mine owner is paying for equipment by the hour.

"You can't go wrong with a John Deere truck," McKenzie said.

Contact:
Jon Asplund
PR Manager
847-298-9900
jasplund@ferguspeters.com

Deb Filipek
PR Manager
847-298-9900
dfilipek@ferguspeters.com