SCOTTISH photo-journalist David Wylie has released the fourth book in his acclaimed ‘Earthmovers in’ series, looking at some of the most incredible mining machines and cutting-edge technology from around the world.
Earthmovers in USA, Australia & Europe: Mining and Technology takes readers on a journey inside some of the most iconic mining and quarrying locations on earth. The book features 23 individual site reports and more than 500 stunning photographs.
The project has been a true labour of love for David and serves as a unique look at the changing industrial heritage, capturing as it does some of the massive changes – along with his three other titles – that have taken place over the 15 years that he has been writing about and photographing earthmoving equipment.
The book celebrates the often under-reported and under-appreciated restoration work carried out by mining companies. Fittingly, the first chapter takes a poignant look at Banks Mining’s final restoration of Shotton surface mine, which involved the last two Terex RH200 mining shovels in Europe.
“Banks has come to the end of an era with coaling in the UK,” David told Project Plant. “In my three other books there’s lots of Banks Mining content so this brings it to an end with (the closure of) Shotton. Although they’re not doing coal extraction anymore, it turns into a positive because Banks has picked up a good contract at Newark, mining gypsum – the only surface gypsum extraction mine in the whole of the UK. Then we touch on how they’ve also diversified from their internal plant team to an external team called Banks Plant Solutions.
“With all four books, the pride thing for me is to capture that very short period where there’s been a huge shift in mineral extraction.”
The centrepiece of the book is a visit to Wyoming, USA, where David visited Komatsu Mining’s enormous customer support facilities in the town of Gillette and produced a four-chapter overview of the work of mining giant Arch Resources, including the firm’s innovation around autonomous D11T dozers, 400-ton haulers, rope shovels digging 100-foot-tall coal seams, and award-winning land restoration work.
David visited Arch Resources’ famous Black Thunder Mine, which features the world’s largest operational dragline – the 7,500-ton Ursa Major. The trip was ten years in the planning and fulfilled a dream for David to see the mine and some of the amazing machines in operation there. Renowned machinery author Keith Haddock – who has written the foreword for the book – was instrumental in getting him access onsite.
David added, “Arch Resources is one of the biggest mining companies in the US. They operate arguably the largest surface coalmine in the world. Their Black Thunder Mine produced 60 million tons of coal last year and has the world’s largest operating dragline. It’s a Bucyrus-Erie 2570WS model. It’s huge, with a 164 cubic-yard bucket on it – that’s about 200 tons per scoop. In the book, I really put the reader onsite, as close as I can possibly get to it safely. I’ve got this cracking wide angle shot where I’m just standing behind the operator and the bucket coming in and swinging, uncovering the coal seam just in front of it.
“This 2570WS was commissioned around 1977 and cost $50 million at the time according to a postcard I picked up at Gillette’s mining museum. It’s moved over a billion cubic-yards of material over the years – a world record for a single bucket machine.”
The front cover is a stunning shot of the Black Thunder mine, comprising a P&H 4100 XPB rope shovel loading a Caterpillar 795F electric drive haul truck.
“This is a very similar picture to one I saw ten years ago that Keith Haddock had taken,” David said. “It’s just brilliant the way the light captures it. I had to go back and take this picture because when I first went, the light wasn’t quite right. I had to wait for the sun to come round. None of my pictures are just snapshots, they’re all carefully taken.”
Other standout machines to feature in the book include the (uprated) 120-tonne Komatsu D475A-8 dozer in the UK, a 240-tonne Cat 994F wheel loader in Australia, and Liebherr’s 800-tonne class R 9800 and T282C haulers in Australia.
There’s also a chapter on David’s visit to the Liebherr mining factory in Colmar, France, which he revealed completed a unique hat-trick. David reckons he’s the only journalist to have had the privilege of taking photographs in Komatsu’s site in Dusseldorf, Caterpillar’s now closed mining equipment facility in Dortmund, AND Liebherr’s Colmar factory.
While the book uncovers case studies from the USA, Australia, and across Europe, there is a healthy amount of Scottish content, with David keen to show his global readership how beautiful our nation is.
One chapter concerns the Brodick Ferry terminal redevelopment project on the Isle of Arran, carried out by George Leslie, which utilised Blackwood Plant Hire’s Komatsu PC360-11 super long front excavator with bespoke Euro-Fab dredging bucket to help remove the remaining structure of the old pier.
Another chapter tells the story of Hodge Plant Group’s Cat D9T dozer’s quarry restoration work in Dalmellington, East Ayrshire, while the Motherwell-built Volvo R100E hauler’s work with Banks Mining is highlighted in Chapter 4.
There is also a fascinating insight into A&L McCrae’s work at Loch Striven in Argyll and Bute, where the firm put into action a new John Deere 672GP GPS-enabled and joystick-controlled grader. David revealed the model was the first John Deere construction machine sold in the UK in the last 50 years and was tasked with helping to build and maintain road lines for commercial timber extraction.
Around 80 photographs included in the book are presented as double-page spreads, showcasing the machines and backdrops in all their glory. David has deliberately excluded captions on those images, letting the pictures speak for themselves.
Published in the UK by CPI Group, David got a pleasant surprise when the first editions arrived, and he noticed the images seemed sharper than in previous books. The printer had recently upgraded some of their lines to HD printers, with David’s book selected as one of the first to benefit.
The book concludes with a teaser about the next instalment in the series, which David revealed will focus on iconic mining machines from manufacturers including O&K, Demag, Liebherr, and Caterpillar.
“It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a wee while, but I haven’t quite got round to it, but I’ve been collecting stories over the years and working with manufacturers like Caterpillar and Komatsu to do iconic mining machines. I haven’t quite decided what the book title is yet, but I’m going to look at machines like the Terex RH400, Liebherr R 996, Cat 994, and the very first hi-drive Caterpillar bulldozer – the mighty D10. I’ve got all these stories on the computer. I just need to turn them into a book and add additional images.”
• Earthmovers in USA, Australia & Europe: Mining and Technology is a limited-edition book and can be purchased directly from David. You can contact him at david@earthmovingimages.com or via his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/earthmovingbooks
