Above: Hitachi© EX2600 at a Lithium mine in WA 3 months after the initial fitment of the new specifically designed heavy-duty track shoe.
At the beginning of 2025 Progress Mining partnered closely with a trusted reseller and a lithium mine in Western Australia to address a persistent issue: track shoes breaking on a Hitachi© EX2600 due to heavy rock impact. In June this year the new heavy-duty track shoe design developed in close collaboration with the customer was fitted to an EX2600 as a field test. In early September Progress Mining technicians returned to the lithium mine site for a Condition Monitoring inspection to see how the new heavy-duty track shoe design was performing. The undercarriage of the EX2600 was inspected after 1,400 hours of operation and everything appeared in good order. The new heavy-duty design seems to be working well against rock impacts with no signs of cracking on the shoe base plates and minimal wear on components.
Above: No signs of cracking on the track shoe base plates and the EX2600 platform specific inspection gauge showed minimal wear on components.
The positive results of this first inspection and the good early performance of the components have given the customer the confidence that Progress Mining components can handle the tough conditions at their lithium mine. While our technicians were on site for this inspection a second heavy-duty undercarriage was being installed on another EX2600 in the fleet, with a third install planned for later in the year. With these results the field test was well and truly a success.
Above: Second EX2600 being prepared to get a Progress Mining undercarriage install at the lithium mine site in Western Australia.
If you are having similar issues with any of your machines, contact us to see how Progress Mining can help you get more out of your fleet. Email our expert team at info@progressmining.com.
Click here to read the first case study.