castlebridge plant

SRG, through Castlebridge Plant, operates Europe's largest heavy earth moving fleet. In 2010/11, Castlebridge invested a further £14.8 million in additions to the existing fleet of heavy earth moving machines to meet production growth.

We plan to continuously replace, and grow the fleet where necessary, for the foreseeable future to meet our production growth targets and improve the efficiency of the machinery. The introduction of latest low emission machinery will also assist in meeting the Group's objective of reducing the carbon footprint of its operations

Over the next four years, Castlebridge Plant will strategically invest in over 80 new major plant items in line with SRG's overall growth strategy The Group has its own railhead infrastructure that provides dedicated access to the national rail network. In addition, it also has considerable uses overland conveyor equipment in suitable locations for coal transportation which can reduce vehicle journeys through specific areas.

By way of example, the Group currently has 35 main excavators, or prime movers, which move the overburden from able the coal. These are all similar in size with the largest lifting 17 cu.m. or 35 tonnes in each bucketful. This is loaded into dumptrucks with a carrying capacity of either 100 tonnes or 135 tonnes each.

On average, the Group moves (excavators and replaces) 1.5 million cu.m of overburden per week. This equates to approximately 150 million tonnes per annum.