The Largest Mining Machinery In The World

The mining industry constantly needs new, innovative and powerful mining machinery that is capable to complete different heavy-duty tasks. Some of the largest machines can be seen on the mine sites all around the world. From excavators, trucks, bucket wheel excavators to draglines and dozers, the mining machinery is constantly getting bigger and bigger when compared with other machines that are used in other industry sectors. The following text will present you some of the largest mining machines that are used on the mining sites.

Bucket Wheel Excavator. The bucket wheel excavator is one of the largest mining machinery that can be found on the mining sites. In fact, the Bagger 293 bucket wheel excavator is the largest machine ever built in the modern human history. This mining machinery, which is also known as Man Takraf RB293, was built in 1995, it is 225 meters long and 95 meters in height. Together wilt all attachments it comes with a weight of around 14 000 tons. Because of its enormous size, the Bagger 293 requires five people to operate it. The bucket wheel of this excavator is more than 20 meters long, and has 20 small buckets which can grab around 15 cubic meters of ground. This mining machinery is generally used at big mining sites and it is capable to remove around 250 000 tons of ground in a single day.

Hydraulic Shovel. Another mega sized mining machinery that can be found on many mine sites around the world is the Terex/Bucyrus RH400 hydraulic shovel. This is a monster digger that weights more than 1000 tons, with a power of max 3300kw and a bucket capacity of 50 cubic meters. Today, Caterpillar's new 6090FS hydraulic shovel is considered as the largest mining machinery from this category, beating the Terex/Bucyrus RH400 with a capacity of 52 cubic meters.

Dragline. The most common mining machinery that can be seen on every coal mine site all around the world is the dragline. There are many dragline models on the market, but one of them is considered as the biggest and the strongest, and that's the Big Muskie. This mining machinery is one of a kind, and it is largest single bucket digging machinery ever created. It took almost two years for assembling all the parts in one big machine. It was a 12 000 ton machine with a bucket capacity of 170 cubic meters. The Big Muskie had a 95 meter long boom and was is powered by 10 460kw and 18 750kw DC electric motors. This mining machinery was used for more than two decades and shifted more than 460 million cubic meters of ground. However, the Big Muskie is no longer in operation because of the increased electricity costs and tight environmental regulations.

Wheel Loader. The LeTourneau L-2350 is the largest wheel loader and holds a Guinness record to prove that. This mining machinery weights around 230 tons and has a max power of 1715kw. With its 40 cubic meter metal bucket, this wheel loader is capable to lift and carry materials up to 65 tons. Recently, LeTourneau introduced its new mining machinery, the new prototype L-2350 that has a 53 cubic meter bucket.