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| A Wirtgen 2200 SM Surface Miner cuts precise patterns while harvesting an average of 895 mt/h. |
Exportadora del Sal S.A. (ESSA) operates huge seawater salt evaporation ponds not far from the city of Guerrero Negro in western Mexico. The salt level “grows” by about 20 cm over the course of one year. The resulting salt crust needs to be harvested carefully to allow for a maximum salt yield, create an even and clean surface and avoid damage to the newly forming salt crust.
Wirtgen noted that its Surface Miner 2200 SM, with a maximum cutting depth of 25 cm, cutting width of 3.8 m and powered by a 708-kW engine is perfectly suited to meet this challenge. Its cutting drum is mounted close to the machine’s center of gravity to guarantee maximum cutting performance, producing even, stable surfaces that are well suited to the use of trucks. The machine’s four track units can be separately adjusted for height via hydraulic cylinders to allow accurate cutting depth and cross slope settings.
According to Wirtgen, early experience with the 2200 SM at the ESSA mine quickly showed that it performed at optimum capacity when cutting to at an average depth of 20 cm at a working speed of 15 to 20 m/min—and the fines content of the mined material met customer specifications as well. During its two years of operation there, the 2200 SM has harvested an average 895 mt/h of salt at a fuel consumption rate of 0.12 l/t.
