Cat® machinery - a strong partner of the Kuzbass coal miners in Russia

In the first half of 2006, the West Siberian coal basin Kuznetsk Basin (Kuzbass) grew to be the biggest coal producer among the coalfields of Russia and CIS countries. So far this year Kuzbass coal miners have produced 4.5 million tonnes more than during the same period in 2005, an increase of 6.4 percent. Coal deposits in Kuzbass supplied 75.3 million tons of coal in six months. Caterpillar® machinery helped to produce a good deal of this output.

Vostochnaya Technica (VT), the official Caterpillar dealer for Siberia, and Northern and Eastern Russia understands very well that coal mining is a tough job. Cat machines together with VT's customer services, preventive maintenance and prompt delivery of spare parts enable coal produces to create comfortable and safe working conditions while increasing production and reducing operating costs. Among its long-standing partners are such large coal producers as ZAO Raspadskaya Ugolnaya Compania, Raspadsky Open Pit Mine, Krasnobrodsky Open Pit Mine, Yuzhkuzbassugol and Mechel Steel Group.

Mikhail Prilutsky, the head of the tractor and track-type tractor division at Krasnobrodsky Open Pit Mine rates the performance of Caterpillar machines very positively: "Our company, a Kuzbass coal-mining pioneer, has been producing coal since 1947. This year we are planning to produce 5.5 million tonnes per year, and for 2007 our plan is to increase production up to 6.0 million tonnes. During the last eight years Krasnobrodsky has been actively expanding the fleet of Cat machinery. Caterpillar machines are robust, fuel-efficient and have increased motor capacity."

"We also have machinery from other manufacturers. For many years, our company has been using machines made by both domestic and foreign manufacturers. However, it was only after the appearance of Caterpillar that we noted an increase in in-service reliability, which surely contributes to increased production. Spare parts warehouses in the cities of Belov and Mezhdurechinsk make it easy to repair and run preventive maintenance on any machinery unit. Today, the service quality offered by VT for Kuzbass is the best choice possible. Kuzbassrazrezugol has a long-term plan for expanding its Caterpillar fleet," Prilutsky adds.

Durability and performance appreciated
Alexander Taylakov, an engineer at VT's sales department counts that there are a total of 245 units of Caterpillar mining machinery working at Kuzbass companies: "It's a very large fleet and it's growing every year. At the beginning of this year, we completed a large contract to supply six 96-tonne Сat 777 trucks to ZAO Raspadsky Open Pit Mine. These trucks are used for mining geologically complex coal beds using technology new to Russia. After being introduced into the processing chain and ‘coupled' with Caterpillar D10R track-type tractors and deep-cut excavation units, these machines have enabled large-scale mining of high-value metallurgical coals. The increased durability and performance offered by Cat machinery are the major factors driving the coal companies to use Cat machinery."

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