DMS said the contract was long-term and included the immediate purchase of “multiple” Coaltram vehicles by Centennial which would be deployed at a number of its New South Wales underground mine sites.

Centennial could increase the number of its initial Coaltram purchases during the contract, as planned mining operations take place in 2012.

While the number of units sold remained confidential, a DMS spokesman told ILN the machines cost approximately $1 million each.

DMS Coaltram general manager Craig Anderson said Centennial’s purchase of the vehicles across its sites cemented DMS’ confidence in the product.

“These vehicles are designed and produced in Australia for Australian conditions and that is reflected in their increasing popularity with local miners,” Anderson said.

“With a Tier 3 electronically-controlled engine and the onboard MONEx management system, the Coaltram offers significant advantages for future vehicle tracking and uploading of operational critical data to be integrated automatically into the existing minesite management systems.”

Anderson said DMS had already sold over 50 vehicles since the product was released to the market two years ago and planned to increase production at the Newcastle facility to meet industry demand.

DMS has sold Coaltrams to numerous coal mining companies including Donaldson Coal and BHP Illawarra Coal.

Its latest sale of the 10-tonne trams was back in April after it sold multiple Coaltram vehicles to Ensham Resources for its underground operations near Emerald in Queensland.