Banks Mining invest in new mobile plant
Multi-million-pound investment supports Banks Mining’s Northumberland operations
BANKS Mining are making a £3.5 million investment in new mobile plant to enhance the efficiency of their current and planned future operations in Northumberland. The family-owned firm will take delivery this month of six new Caterpillar 740B articulated trucks and two new JS220 JCB excavators at their Shotton surface mine site near Cramlington.
The British-manufactured equipment has been procured from two regional suppliers as part of Banks’ policy of working with local suppliers wherever possible, with the trucks being sourced through the Boldon branch of Finning (UK) and manufactured at Caterpillar’s Peterlee site, and the excavators being sourced through the Scot JCB dealership in Newcastle.
The Durham-based firm has also looked further afield to bring in a second O&K RH200 earthmover, which was previously located in Edmonton, Canada, and was disassembled and brought across the Atlantic over a two-month period at the end of last year.
A three-month reassembly and refit programme has been carried out on the RH200 by a team of Banks Mining plant mechanics at the firm’s Thrislington site, including two of its most junior members with a view to giving them hands-on experience of working with a different type of machine.
The RH200, which will be used for both overburden excavation and restoration work at the Shotton surface mine, will be brought into full service later this month, joining a similar machine that is already in operation at the site.
Robbie Bentham, plant director at Banks Mining, said: ‘Keeping our plant fleet up to date and refreshing it where necessary is essential to help our teams work our surface mining sites in the safest, most responsible and most efficient way possible, and our continuing investment recognizes the skills and expertise that they bring to the job.’
He added: ‘The plant maintenance expertise that we have in house made sourcing and refurbishing this second RH200 an excellent option, and it has also allowed us to give some of the younger members of our team invaluable practical experience in managing and maintaining this sort of vehicle.’
