Two Wirtgen surface miners load coal and lignite in south Texas
A 4200 Surface Miner (SM) extracts sub-bituminous coal at North American Coal’s Eagle Pass mine in Texas near the Mexican border town of Piedras Negras, in Coahuila State. Raw coal is then transported over the border by train to a multi-unit power plant in Coahuila. Meanwhile, at another open cast mine in Texas, another 4200 SM is extracting lignite just as economically.
The two surface miners — the largest models in Wirtgen’s product range — went into operation in the last two years and are extracting low-sulfur coal and lignite, operating 24/7.
The 4200 SM is 6.53 meters (m) high and has an operating weight of 204,300 kilograms (kg) (225 tons). It is powered by a 1,521-horsepower (hp) diesel engine. When cutting soft material, such as coal, limestone or gypsum, the 4200 SM cuts down to a depth of 830 millimeters (mm) using a 4,200-mm-wide milling drum and operating in an up-cut direction.
