Total value of agreement is estimated to reach US$60 mln (3.4 bln RUB) over 5 years.
The agreement includes providing high quality training to Nordgold employees in areas such as operations and maintenance, utilising VT’s training simulators. Several levels of staff education will be implemented to ensure the highest level of operational safety for employees on site, in-line with Nordgold’s core objectives across all of its assets globally.
The agreement also includes a collaborative partnership to implement Caterpillar’s Cat® MineStar™ HEALTH technology at the Gross mine, where wireless data acquisition is transferred from equipment to central engineering services. This will ensure low costs of operation with best practice levels of reliability. Contamination control, wireless inspection technology, oil sample trending and ultrasonic testing of undercarriage are also part of the agreement.
Louw Smith, Chief Operating Officer of Nordgold, commented:
“Vostochnaya Technica has been awarded what is a landmark agreement to supply equipment for the Gross project. Nordgold developed an industry leading evaluation model to analyse offers based on key criteria of technical, training, component, warranty, parts, technology and innovation support. The structure of the agreement challenges our partner to provide best practice levels of support to ensure the sustainable performance of the fleet to meet the production plans at Gross, which after launch in 2018 will become Nordgold’s largest mine in Russia at full capacity. Construction is underway to build world class facilities, supporting the implementation of best practice maintenance strategy and execution.”
Gavin Knight, VT General Director, commented:
“Vostochnaya Technica is honored to have Nordgold as a business partner and Cat equipment user. World class best practices of equipment management for maximum return on investment is a goal we share with Nordgold. We are committed to support Nordgold in this endeavor through our on and off-site support structures. We thank Nordgold for the opportunity to supply this significant order and are delighted to be part of the Gross project.”
Site assessments using Caterpillar’s global templates have already been conducted by VT to support the nearby Neryungri project to build maintenance systems and capability to meet the challenge of reaching best practice levels of maintenance management.
