ZAO KGD, an extraction company in the Far East, recently ordered an Atlas Copco hydraulic breaker HB 5800 Dust. After a long journey the machine finally operates with full capacity in an open pit significantly named “Icy.”

After more than 50 years a military area, Kamchatka, the biggest peninsula of East Asia, is no longer restricted for visitors. But still it is an inhospitable, but picturesque, landscape — with temperatures below zero and severe storms most of the time. The area is also known as “the place where all winds come from.”

The company management of ZAO KGD depends on continuous development of any work process, to produce about 3 tons of platinum annually. In order to improve quarrying engineering methods, they exchange views with construction tool manufacturers to find solutions. Atlas Copco CTO suggested that working with a hydraulic breaker could be suited for primary breaking at the “Icy” pit.

That’s when the HB 5800 Dust went on its passage to Kamchatka. A tight agenda for the delivery was organized to avoid the periods of snow or slush, which would let the breaker’s transport freeze. By train, by sea and finally by a special off-road crawler the breaker reached its destination. But not just the breaker. Also a team of CTO service engineers found its way to the “Icy” pit to ensure the equipment’s start-up. It took two flights, a cruise, a helicopter trip and nine hours off-road on a military crawler for them to arrive.

“But these efforts were worthwhile,” as Leonid Polumiskov, ZAO KGD representative points out. “After several months of running the Atlas Copco breaker we can see day by day that we made a right choice. The excellent operating performance and high breaking power of the HB 5800 Dust clearly improves our productivity.”