AS a major mining equipment supplier to Whitehaven Coal, Hitachi Construction Machinery Australia (HCA) would like to congratulate the heavyweight producer on its success of the Maules Creek project.

Maules Creek has been a project close to HCA with involvement from the early planning stages and tendering mining equipment, before its eminent opening in 2015.

HCA are a proud supplier partner to Whitehaven for mining equipment and the associated products along with the supporting services.

To date, HCA has delivered to Whitehaven 57 pieces in total of Hitachi Mining Equipment which are now being operated on site. The fleet consists of: 5 x EH3500, 7x EH4000, 36 x EH5000 rigid-frame dump trucks and 4 x EX3600, 5 x EX8000 large hydraulic excavators.

The fleet is also monitored and managed using Hitachi’s Wenco Fleet Management System.

In support of operating Hitachi machinery and to enhance operator training, the EH5000 truck simulator is accessible on site for Whitehaven operators to gain maximum confidence before graduating into the mines.

To ensure a safe work place is provided, HCA and Whitehaven have together nurtured an enriched safety culture ensuring the project provides a safe work environment from assembly to commissioning and right through to operational stages.

The Maules Creek project has greatly assisted HCA with future development to support the mining business in New South Wales.

Currently, HCA’s Gunnedah branch provides ongoing parts and service support and in light of the growing success of Maules Creek, HCA plans to build a new facility in Gunnedah to ensure this development has the foundation to instil growth well into the future.

“Since the opening in 2015 the Muswellbrook and Gunnedah branches have outpoured support and services to Whitehaven to facilitate the needs of Maules Creek to be world-class operation,” said Nigel Agnew, HCA’s Branch Manager for Muswellbrook / Gunnedah. 

“The commitment of our HCA employees, service providers and equipment has to be 110% in order to support this mining giant, and with that we will continue to dedicate our work processes to fundamentally fuel this operation well into the future.

“We’ve had the privilege to be a part of the major ongoing development, providing leading mining solutions to make the Maules Creek project a continued success.”