THE first ever 2m-wide roof shield will be the centrepiece in a display of the world’s most advanced longwall equipment at MINExpo 2000 in Las Vegas.

According to manufacturer, Germany’s Deutsche Bergbau Technik GmbH, longwall miners in various countries around the world have shown interest in 2m-wide shields. The support was designed using 3D CAD ProEngineer software, and was tested at DBT’s test centre in Germany. A 2m-long PF 5 face conveyor line pan matched to the shield support has also been manufactured by DBT.

Also on display at MINExpo will be DBT’s CST 65 face-conveyor drive system, described as the world’s most powerful AFC drive system.

A longer version of this review is the be published in the September edition of Australia's Longwalls.