WHAT’S NEW The Tools of Automation A Big Electric Shovel

Dresser Industries of Marion, Ohio, has built a new mining shovel for an iron ore mine in Australia.

With a duty cycle of 30 sec., the 65-cu-yd shovel can load a 190-ton truck in three passes. Working weight is 950 tonnes, maximum cutting height is 18 m and maximum cutting radius is 24 m. To add to system reliability and servicability, advanced diagnostics and first-out fault annunciation have been incorporated into the machine. This eliminates the standard, time-consuming method of test points and metres. The shovel is called the Dresser 301-M.