When taking this into account, a haulage vehicle that can shorten cycle times, burn less fuel, and reduce wear on haul roads—all of which ultimately lead to increased production and bottom-line profit – sure sounds good.
Afrimat is a JSE-listed mid-tier mining and materials company known for consistently delivering exceptional results. The Afrimat Group comprises Construction Materials consisting of aggregates, concrete-based products, cement and fly-ash; Industrial Minerals consisting of limestone, dolomite and industrial sand, and Bulk Commodities, consisting of iron ore and anthracite. The Services segment consists of external logistical and mining services and the Future Materials and Metals division consists of phosphate, vermiculite and rare earths.
The group’s mining and quarrying activities are carefully planned and monitored using a substantial fleet of yellow machinery to achieve sustained and profitable production. Adriaan Lategan is Afrimat’s Physical Asset Management Lead for Mobile Equipment and an innovative thinker.
“During our 2023 budgetary planning, we knew we had to budget for a number of replacement haulage vehicles in the 30-ton class, which is the size of the articulated dump trucks (ADTs) we use a great deal in our quarrying operations,” he says. “We have a well-established relationship with Bell Equipment and the company’s proven Bell B30D and various sizes of E-series ADTs.”
“We were, however, aware that Bell Equipment was supplying a B30E 4×4 ADT to the European market and this haul truck, with its two axles, intrigued us for a number of reasons,” Adriaan adds. “We were fortunate to have use of one of these machines, that was destined for Europe, for a day or two in 2020 and it gave us several pointers that would later prove it would be the correct machine for many of our quarries in the future.”
Adriaan mentions that due to the Bell B30E 4×4 having only two axles, its turning circle is much tighter than that of a six-wheeled machine. There is also less scuffing on the road, which augers well for longer tyre life and less wear on the haul roads.
“The operation at our Lyttleton quarry, located next to the Waterkloof Air Force Base, features a very long, but deep and narrow orebody, with many sharp turns on the haul roads. This caused considerable scuffing of the rear axles, particularly on the centre axle of our traditional six-wheeled Bell ADTs.
Scuffing induces a lot of strain through the drivetrains, which we noticed when analysing their differential and final drive oils,” he says. In July 2023, Adriaan and his team ordered eight Bell B30E 4×4 ADTs with the assistance of Bell Equipment’s Sales Representative, Sascha Caixeiro, all of which were delivered by the end of 2023. Four of the new Bell B30E 4×4 ADTs have been swapped with incumbent Bell B30E ADTs and moved to other operations. One was placed at Afrimat’s Marble Hall Mine in Limpopo and the remaining three were delivered to an Afrimat quarry in Durbanville in the Western Cape where the loaded hauling also includes tight turns.
“Bell Equipment is currently the only OEM producing trucks that are Level 9-ready, meaning the vehicles can accept the installation of PDS (proximity detection systems) anti-collision systems without modifications, which is something the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is increasingly strict on,” Adriaan adds.
“We gain further reassurance from buying the equipment with 36-month/6 000-hour warranties on the wet drivetrains.”
“Since their arrival at the Afrimat Lyttleton Dolomite Quarry, these Bell B30E 4×4 ADTs have made an immediate impact on our production, especially in terms of shortening cycle times, although they carry the same loads as the 6×6 model ADTs, which is on average 28 tons,” says Jon Gunter, Afrimat’s Fleet Manager at the quarry. “Having a slightly shorter body length that is offset against the wider body of the bin, and no centre axle, these Bell B30E 4×4 ADTs are definitely negotiating the sharp turns in our quarry much better than their 6×6 three-axled predecessors and have comfortably shaved off one minute on a ten-minute cycle.”
“One other important fact we noticed from the get-go was that the B30E 4×4 ADTs were also lighter on fuel which has a direct effect on a lower production cost per ton of any material they move,” he adds. “Added benefits would be less scuffing on our haul roads and the trucks’ tyres promising longer tyre life, even though the four tyres cost the same as a set of six on the Bell B30E 6×6 ADTs.”
At the time of writing, Afrimat’s four Bell B30E 4×4 ADTs working at Lyttleton Dolomite had clocked between 600 and 700 hours each which would see them totalling around 1 800 hours a year. “We deploy Bell Equipment’s Fleetmatic® telematics, which gives us valuable production and technical feedback but even more valuable is the attention to detail and care we receive from Bell Equipment’s Product Support Representative, Willy Winter,” Jon says.
“Willy calls on us regularly as a matter of routine and is never more than a phone call away. His advice and technical knowledge are only matched by the care he has lavished on our Bell machines, especially the new Bell B30E 4×4 ADTs.” Adriaan has the last word when he says: “Bell Equipment’s 4×4 technology across all its ADT sizes has been a revolution for us for all the reasons mentioned and then some.”
