SmithCo mine trailers have been used in the mining industry for many years because of their rugged construction, superior stability, faster cycle times, and easier unloading capabilities.
Traditional mine trucks haul significant payloads, but they need the processing plant to be close to the pit in order to work efficiently. As mining operations move farther from processing facilities, tractor-trailer configurations offer a number of benefits that can reduce ton-per-mile costs versus conventional haul units: less fuel use, longer tire life, lower-cost maintenance, and reduced infrastructure needs.
Our mine trailers offer hydraulic suspensions and are custom designed specifically for tough mining conditions—high production environments, long duty cycles, remote mine locations and extreme weather conditions. They can be configured to use many types of tractor unit, from conventional off-road equipment to heavy truck chassis, and they deliver payloads up to 100 tons per trailer, or 200 tons when trained together.
SmithCo mine trailers are hauling gold ore, coal, iron ore, copper concentrate, and bauxite in mine locations across the globe.
Mine Trailer Design
Our mine trailers are designed and built for each customer’s specific application. SmithCo can design multiple trailer combinations to maximize payload and minimize equipment complexity. Trailer configurations can be designed to work with many types of tractor unit, from conventional ridged and articulated off-road equipment to economical heavy truck chassis. Tubs are constructed to withstand the impact and abrasion of materials and ensure minimum carryback.
Sophisticated Ton Per Mile Estimates
Our engineers use multiple inputs for trailer design. We incorporate a customer’s annual tonnage goals, road grades, payload requirements and trip times to give you multiple configuration options and accurate ton per mile costs.
Meeting the Challenges of Mining
Equipment reliability and uptime are crucial in the mining world, which is another reason that our easy-to-service mining trailers are so beneficial. In addition, trailers are very adaptable, so they can be switched over to other tractor units in the case of a tractor breakdown.
Smaller Footprints—Simpler Haul Roads
Mining companies that use SmithCo mine trailers can haul their materials to the processing facility at a much lower cost than if they used a standard haul truck. In addition, the cost of developing and maintaining the haul road is greatly reduced. Mining regulations dictate that a haul road be four times the width of the largest vehicle using the road. The use of SmithCo mine trailers reduces this cost because the footprint of our trailers is significantly less than a haul truck. Our mine trailers make opening satellite mines more feasible for this reason.
Ideal for Hauling Ore Long Distances
The added distance of a satellite mine or remote location makes a traditional haul trucks unfeasible for moving ore to a processing plant. Moving processing operations would be too costly and inefficient. But with a smaller, more nimble side dump, hauling 10km or more is viable. Hauling the ore with a side dump trailer means that the processing plant can stay where it is.
Plus, a mining side dump trailer costs a fraction of a traditional mine truck, has a much quicker return speed to move more material per shift and dramatically lowers fuel costs. You can spend more time loading or unloading and less time waiting.
Customer Support
We put a huge amount of after-sale support into each one of our mine trailer sales, because we take customer service very seriously. We understand that having parts in supply is a critical part of achieving production targets. SmithCo has years of experience getting parts on the ground and advising our customers on stocking their storerooms. Time is money in a haul operation, and we strive to make sure you get quick answers and parts moving when you need them. Our goal is to help customers be prepared to get units in and out of the shop, and quickly back to work.
Another aspect of our customer service we are extremely proud of is that when you call SmithCo, you will talk to someone. We don’t let calls go to voice mail, and we deliver quick answers to questions and concerns.
Building Custom Solutions
One example of how we create custom mine trailer solutions is our work with Baffinland Iron Mines (BIM). BIM mines high-grade iron ore on Baffin Island above the arctic circle—where temperatures can dip to -55 degrees Celsius below zero. BIM has well over 100 of SmithCo’s Mine Tipper trailers on the job. Before the company began its work, no other organization had attempted to mine so far north.
BIM needed a transportation solution to get this 100km haul project started and handle the extreme environment. BIM began using SmithCo’s mine trailers in 2013, and to date they are still in use hauling iron ore from the mine to the port. We’re proud to say our trailers continue to meet BIM’s production needs.
SmithCo mine trailers are changing the way that mines operate by providing custom solutions that simply can’t be achieved with traditional haul trucks. Interested in seeing how we could design a custom mine trailer for your needs? Get in touch, and let’s get to work.