The transport of a fully-assembled Liebherr R 996 B hydraulic mining excavator between two mine sites proved to be the largest complete excavator moved in Australian history. Six Prime mover trucks were required to tow and push this 675-tonne (744-short ton) machine from the Fortescue Metals Group (FMG)-owned Christmas Creek mine site to its Solomon mine site. Fortescue contracted Mammoet Australia for this undertaking, and 20 Mammoet employees were required to load the machine onto 24 twin-axle (384 wheels) Goldholfer platforms and move it to its new work site. Travelling up to 12 hours per day at 4 km/h (2.5 mph), it took a total of six days to move the R 996 B the 230 km (142 miles) to the Solomon mine. This newly-commissioned excavator will join thirteen other Liebherr mining machines at work at the Solomon mine site.
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