Tadano CC 38.650-1 lifts conveyor at Peru’s Cerro Verde mine

An 84-metre boom in a copper pit

Peruvian crane service provider San Lorenzo has put its new Tadano CC 38.650-1 lattice boom crawler crane to work at the Cerro Verde copper mine, at an altitude of 2,700 metres. The task is the assembly of a conveyor belt that will move gravel and rock up out of the pit. The first section the crane placed on its prepared supports weighed 247 tonnes and measured 80 metres; the finished conveyor will run to 900 metres.

The crane was rigged in an SSL_1 configuration with an 84-metre main boom, the Vario-SL system, a ramshorn hook block, 225 tonnes of counterweight and 245 tonnes of Superlift counterweight. A Tadano AC 5.220-1 all-terrain crane served as the assist crane and, according to Tadano, drove to the mine under its own power.

Why the set-up took six weeks

A CC 38.650-1 normally goes together in a matter of days. This one took six weeks, deliberately. A four-strong Tadano team handled commissioning and handover while walking the San Lorenzo crew through the rigging sequence for the first time, turning the erection into a training exercise for both the customer’s personnel and Tadano’s own staff.

“The reason we decided on the extremely versatile CC 38.650-1 for this grueling job was the fact that it’s an incredibly powerful and rugged machine that can handle the kind of conditions you find at this type of mine day in, day out. Those conditions entail a lot of wear, so it was good to have the Peruvian TÜV office confirm it by approving the Tadano CC 38.650-1 for unlimited use at all mines in South America.”

— Sönke Eichhorn, technical training instructor, Tadano

Getting crane and crew onto site

The crane shipped from Germany to the Port of Callao in Lima, went first to San Lorenzo’s yard in Arequipa, then travelled to the mine on 28 truckloads. The Tadano team’s own route to site ran through the mine operator’s hospital: everyone had to pass a medical examination before being cleared for work at altitude, followed by a safety briefing at the Cerro Verde training centre. Eichhorn describes the site as extremely loud, dusty and harsh — hard on people and machinery alike.

Despite that, the crane was rigged on schedule and the conveyor assembly started as planned. The CC 38.650-1 will stay at Cerro Verde for another five years.

“We’re tremendously grateful that Sönke and his colleagues went all in to help us set up the CC 38.650-1 for the first time ever despite the tough conditions at our mine. We worked together incredibly smoothly, and to tell you the truth, the training they provided was simply perfect.”

— Victor Condori, service manager, San Lorenzo

Source: Tadano — Photos: Tadano