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Mining limestone in India

India is rich in natural resources, including abundant reserves of limestone. Limestone of different material qualities is mined in a pit of the Pannedam limestone mine which supplies limestone to a nearby cement factory. The surface mining technology is applied here to mine the different grades of limestone in a selective operation.

Surface mining replaces the otherwise used method of blasting, which causes tremendous levels of noise, dust and ground vibrations and precludes precise mining of the specified limestone grades. Selective mining of the limestone grades, on the other hand, enables the mine’s exploitation rate to be increased significantly. 2100 SM and 2500 SM surface miners from Wirtgen are used in the Pannedam mine for this more economically efficient and more environmentally friendly mining method.

Three Wirtgen 2100 SM surface miners are in operation to supply limestone to the Pannedam factory. The 2100 SM miners achieve average production rates of 613 tons per hour when mining the predominantly hard limestone material. Their impressive work quota prompted the mine owner to complete his fleet of surface miners by a Wirtgen 2500 SM.