Liebherr has signed an agreement with BHP, a leading global resources company, to integrate Liebherr engines into BHP’s existing R 9600 600-tonne excavator fleet at South Flank mine in Western Australia.

Liebherr-Australia executive general manager of customer service Tony Johnstone and BHP general manager of South Flank Steve Campbell recently met in Perth to mark the signing of a deal to repower the South Flank R 9600 fleet with D9812 Liebherr engines. Repowering the R 9600 fleet enables reduced maintenance and standardized parts capability.

The integration follows intensive factory and field validations on the D98 engine series, which includes a two-year validation study at BHP’s Jimblebar mine where the Liebherr D9812 has successfully powered an R 9400 for almost 20,000 hours.

Steve Campbell, BHP’s general manager for South Flank said, “BHP has a long-standing relationship with Liebherr across our Western Australian Iron Ore operations, and we have six of their largest machines in operation at South Flank. We’re looking forward to continuing with this collaboration which promises to bring performance and availability improvements to South Flank as we continue to ramp up production.”

“We are pleased to be expanding our partnership with BHP through the integration of our engine technology,” said Joerg Lukowski, Liebherr mining executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Building on the Liebherr Group’s shared in-house competencies across different product segments, the D98 series completes the existing Liebherr engine portfolio for mining equipment by expanding into the upper power range.

Designed specifically for the mining industry, the D98 series engine offers low fuel consumption and consequent emission reductions. The engine is also compatible for use with sustainably produced hydrotreated vegetable oil fuel that can significantly reduce CO2 emissions.

The new engines will be supported locally by Liebherr-Australia. The first D9812 repowered R 9600 is scheduled to be operational by the first quarter of 2023, with repowers of the remaining R 9600 fleet to occur over 2023 and 2024.