PHOENIX Conveyor Belt Systems GmbH of Hamburg, Germany which produces highest quality conveyor belts, has been awarded a multi million dollar contract by Voest-Alpine Materials Handling in Zeltweg, Austria, against worldwide competition.

The order comprises the supply of approx. 30.000 m of high strength steel cord conveyor belts for Thailand’s largest open cast lignite mine near the cities of Lampang and Chiang Mai. The belting is required to remove 500 million m³ of very hard and tough overburden from coal deposits, at a capacity of 22.000 tons per hour, over the next decade.

The strength rating of the conveyor belts ranges from St 2000 to St 4000, being the strongest belts supplied for this kind of operation. One of the key aspects for this contract was the requirement to manufacture, test and deliver the 30 km of belting within the shortest possible time.

The belting, when completed progressively with the final delivery for this initial operation in January 2002, will be shipped to Bangkok as marine freight and then transported by truck 900 km across Thailand to the open cut mine in the Northwest of the country.

Completing the delivery on time is a pre-requisite to guarantee the power supply to the people of Thailand. 17 % of Thailand’s energy is generated from lignite.