LiuGong materials handling equipment is increasingly finding a home in Australia’s diverse landscapes, including both above ground and deep underground at some of the country’s most iconic opal mining operations near Coober Pedy.
Mish Blanusa has been mining at Coober Pedy for about 30 years as part of a generational opal mining family, following in the footsteps of his father, Dusan.
He operates to a depth of about 18 metres at his 200 x 400m2 claim area, which also is the discovery site of the renowned 72-carat ‘Virgin Rainbow’ opal.
One of the rarest opals ever found, the Virgin Rainbow is today valued at more than $1 million and resides at the South Australian Museum.
Mish upgraded to a LiuGong 848H wheel loader and then added a 915FCR limited swing excavator and after singing their praises, it has not taken long for some of their cousins to pop up around the area.
“LiuGong machines have come a long way, now with Cummins engines and similar components to other major brands, like Kawasaki pumps. Everyone scoffed when I got them, but others have since bought them and there are more who are now looking at them,” Mish said.
“I initially heard from a mate how well a LiuGong excavator performed on the big pipeline from Roxby Downs to Lake Eyre. It replaced a Caterpillar and it lasted longer for a third of the price.
“I got the 848 loader almost two years ago and then got the 15-tonne excavator with a blade about eight months ago and showed a mate, and he has since bought a 32t LiuGong excavator and a loader as well.
“I spent less than half the price of others on the loader. It was $300,000 less and I didn’t even spend that amount on it.”
The LiuGong wheel loader replaced an old International loader and while Mish also uses a 20t Volvo 360BLC excavator, he said he “needed something in between” and the LiuGong 915FCR was performing well.
“The excavator goes in deep and then digs sideways. The holes are 6m high by 8m wide and we will go for 40-50m, following the seams,” he said.
“The 915FCR is the largest limited swing machine we can get with a blade. The blade pushes the material out behind and the loader picks it up for processing.
“In an average day, the loader moves 150-200t over six to eight hours and it has great fuel economy. We load a hopper that feeds into a trommel, and then it goes on a conveyor and we use a noodle box and ultraviolet light.
“The excavator runs on AdBlue, which has been excellent down in the mine. You don’t smell any diesel and it has been so economical. You move the most dirt for the least amount of diesel.
“The big excavator uses diesel, so we can’t use that down in the mine. We also had a small Kobelco that dug smaller holes, but the diesel stuffs us.”
Mish said the LiuGong machines, purchased through Lewis Ag & Construction in Adelaide, work every day in some of the “most shocking, dusty conditions”, but he had not encountered any problems or downtime issues.
“The Lewis team has been great with the machine start-ups, first services and parts support,” he said.
“We just have a grease nipple at the top of the excavator that can hit the roof of the mine. We also had a gear indicator stalk on the loader that was becoming loose, but Lewis Ag promptly did a service job on it for us. We couldn’t be happier with the way they did the job and got us back to work.”
The 15t, 160-horsepower, high-spec LiuGong 848H wheel loader features a 3m3 bucket and offers a 10.2t tipping load.
Its Cummins QSB7 engine with Stage IIIA emissions and well respected ZF200 automatic transmission provides more comfortable operations and reduced gear reduction.
When in second gear, and if the speed is lower than the maximum speed for second gear, at the touch of a key, the gears will automatically shift to first gear in the current direction of operation.
If the operator changes the driving direction, the gearbox automatically shifts to the reverse direction of two gears.
LiuGong’s high spec loader models also offer extra machine options including reversing fans, variable hydraulic transmissions, radial tyres, ride control, rear view cameras, extra counter weights, air suspension seats and auto lubrication.
The 915FCR excavator has been lauded for its power and comfort and in addition to its Stage V Cummins engine without exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), a highly spec’d standard configuration – including 360-degree cameras for added safety – is providing an automotive experience for operators with quietness and exceptional comfort.
“We can be using the loader in full sun, 50 degrees and in really fine dust that is like talcum powder and we just tap the dust out of the filters and blow a heap of dust out with the reversing fan at the end of the day when we shut down. We bought extra air filters to rotate and since we got a turbo air cleaner, it’s been even better,” Mish said.
“The seat and the air-con are excellent in the pressurised cab, the rear-view cameras are great, especially in the middle of the night when you can’t see anything, there are also impact alert buttons and the auto-greaser has been brilliant.
“They just need to upgrade the stereo to like those in the latest machines.
“The air-con in the excavator and the set-up inside is great as well. It’s more modern than the loader.
“It has a massive monitor, full connectivity with your phone, the stereo is good doof-doof, there are the cameras and the quick-hitch works a treat.
“We use a mud bucket and a deep ripper sometimes.”
opal opal