Over a period of 80 days from the end of 2005 to early 2006, the EL3000 shearer produced nearly 800,000 tonnes. With the exception of eight days when no production was scheduled, the average output was 10,700 tonnes per day.
On April 1, the EL3000 produced 25,000 tonnes in a single day (three shifts of 9000t, 7000t and 9000t respectively), repeated both on April 2 and April 3. Output in the best month was 305,000t, with overall production up to March 22 totalling 2.14 million tonnes. The mine recently broke another record, producing 88,500t in a single week.
The complete longwall installation was supplied to the Kyrgaiskaja mine in 2004. Located in the central Kuzbass coal region, the Kyrgaiskaja mine produces some 2.5Mtpa.
The EL3000 shearer has a cutting power of 2 x 400kW and a haulage power of 2 x 43kW, modest compared to the installed power of other EL3000 shearers in operation in China, Australia and the US, but adequate for this operation. The shearer has a cutting range of 2.5m to 5.5m and operates on 1140V.
The mining method – a full cut from head to tail gate, and back to the head gate without cutting – and the face inclination presented a challenge. DBT’s longwall equipment in general, and the shearer in particular, were easily able to deal with these circumstances, the OEM said.
