Gibraltar mine is the second-largest copper mine in Canada and moves more than 308,000 tonnes of rock per day. With so much material to move, fuel consumption is top of mind for Taseko – one of Canada’s leading copper producers. And so the PR 776, with its best-in-class fuel efficiency, was the perfect fit.
‘The PR 776 is the biggest hydrostatically driven dozer in the world,’ says Jan Schroeder, general sales manager for Liebherr-Canada. ‘Its powerful Liebherr engine, coupled with its hydrostatic drive, gives our customers by far the best fuel efficiency in the 70-tonne class. This leads to lower operational costs as well as a significant reduction in the amount of greenhouse gases emitted on site.’
The latest generation of the PR 776, the PR 776 G8, couples this incredible efficiency with brand-new electronic architecture that makes the dozer compatible with Liebherr Mining’s cutting-edge Operator Assistance Systems. These Assistance Systems offer operators unparalleled precision when working with the dozer’s blade and ripper.
Journey to delivery
While the PR 776’s exceptional efficiency played a major role in Taseko’s decision to integrate these dozers into its fleet at Gibraltar mine, it was not the only determining factor. It was also important to partner with an OEM that could work alongside Taseko and find a solution that would suit its business needs and the needs of Gibraltar mine.
In the end, Liebherr-Canada not only came up with a customised solution but also demonstrated incredible responsiveness to the customer’s concerns and gave them confidence in Liebherr-Canada’s customer support capabilities.
‘The decision Taseko made to trust Liebherr-Canada and the PR 776 was about a full solution – not just the machine, not just fuel efficiency and not just customer service. The decision encompassed all of these but was most importantly about who Liebherr is as a company, and the type of business relationship and values that the whole organisation demonstrated to Taseko during the process,’ explains Schroeder.
‘This new partnership with Taseko is an exciting one for us as we now have the chance to showcase the power of Liebherr mining dozers and the incredible work of our customer support personnel at one of the biggest mines in the country,’ adds Tom Juric, divisional director of mining at Liebherr-Canada.
