Digging miners out of the doldrums

About two years ago, a staff member at AK Evans Earthmoving approached managing director, Aaron Evans, with a unique idea.

The employee jokingly suggested Evans paint a damaged excavator blue to support mental health awareness group, Beyond Blue, and the rest is history.

AK Evans Earthmoving recently added three Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) EC350D crawler excavators to its fleet, each with a distinctively decorative tail.

Volvo CE Australian distributor, CJD Equipment, assisted with painting the machines’ counterweights a bright blue shade - a striking contrast to the red earth in which the machines operate - and incorporating the Beyond Blue logo and helpline number.

“Being in the Pilbara for over 25 years, I have had the misfortune of losing a couple of mates to dark places,” Evans said.

“The reason for painting the excavators is that these machines are the hub of an operation - they are at the centre where the dump trucks and graders gather to wait for work or be loaded.

“So with a big billboard across the back of the machine, it becomes obvious to all the guys and gals waiting around the excavator.

“When a dump truck driver, for example, is sitting there waiting for his or her load, they get time to stop and think and that’s when things can start to become a little bit more overwhelming for them because they’re not focused on their job.

“At that point, when they may be wondering what they’re doing with their life if things aren’t going so well, here’s a phone number that’s swinging around in front of them.

“The number connects them with someone who can listen and help them with their problems.”

He said approaching Beyond Blue with the idea was challenging at first as it was a rather unusual concept, but the organisation eventually came around to it.

“Once we talked though the details, they embraced this innovative idea and have been very grateful for the support,” he said.

AK Evans now has nine machines with blue-painted counterweights.

In addition to the excavator paint job, AK Evans Earthmoving also pledged its support by donating $1 to Beyond Blue for every hour the machines are worked. It also asks companies that hire its machines to price match.

“It’s a win for everyone, as $1 - about $200-$250 a month per machine - goes towards Beyond Blue and the customer’s name goes on the contribution and they get recognised,” he said.

“We estimate we have donated about $5000 to Beyond Blue up to Christmas last year. That’s over 12 to 18 months with four machines. It’s expanded since then with the other machines coming on board.”

Because the machines also carry the phone number of AK Evans business, Evans said he has been getting text messages for about 12 months as a result of his company’s support of Beyond Blue.

“I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me regarding the work I’m doing with Beyond Blue, they like to know there’s someone there when they need a chat. I want to help others and make sure they get the support they need.”

“There’s probably a dozen people who have reached out over the past year. I’m not trained - I’m just a person who wants to help others.

“We all have to have a crack at helping each other as we all have had challenges in our lives.”

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AK Evans Earthmoving employs up to 100 people and covers gold, precious metals and iron ore mining. Its services also extend to civil works such as roads for shires, the runway in Port Hedland and even creating solar fields. The company operates throughout WA’s Pilbara, Kimberley, Mid-West and Goldfields and also in NSW.

The three new Volvo EC350D crawler excavators bring AK Evans’ fleet of Volvo excavators to 16 machines. But that is only a slice of the hire and contract company’s 160-unit machinery fleet.

The EC350D crawler excavator is powered by Volvo’s 210kW D8 engine and has an operating weight of between 34,300kg and 38,700kg, depending on configuration, with a bucket capacity of up to 2.53 cubic metres.

The company uses track-mounted machines because Evans said they better suit the mining environment.

“We had rubber-tyred machines in the past but they haven’t been accepted in the mining environment - they’re more for metro and civil applications,” he said.

The fleet also includes six and eight-wheel tipper trucks and side-tippers.

Started in 2008, the Port Hedland-based company purchased its Volvo CE machines from CJD Equipment in Perth primarily because of the distributor’s excellent reputation for support.

Evans said he has other brands of excavators in the fleet but made the move to Volvo CE some years ago after finding them more efficient and because dealings with CJD Equipment had been fantastic.

“They just care about the customer,” he said.

“They have excellent support, spare parts are immediately on hand and the Volvo product is less expensive to run than other machines.

“We have tried other manufacturers but have experienced short-comings in aftermarket support. There’s nothing wrong with the product, however we need the reliability of consistent parts availability with back-up support.

“CJD is, by contrast, fantastic. They have great products and excellent back-up and they care about their customers.”

CJD Equipment said it is proud to have a great working relationship with AK Evans Earthmoving and said its pledge is paving the way to a better future in the mining and construction industry.