What Orken ordered
Sandvik has received an order from Orken LLP, the iron ore subsidiary of Qarmet JSC, for a fleet of 27 units of underground equipment. The trade publications Global Mining Review and International Mining reported this on September 28. The machines will go to the West Karazhal mine at the Atasu site, where iron and manganese ore is mined. The goal of the project is stated plainly: to move from manual mining to mechanized mining and thereby raise output. The contract value is not given in the reports.
The makeup of the fleet:
- 13 Toro TH430 underground dump trucks and 2 more Toro TH320 dump trucks;
- 5 Toro LH410 load-haul-dump machines and one Toro LH307;
- 3 Sandvik DL321 drill rigs for long-hole drilling;
- 2 Sandvik DD311 development drill rigs;
- 1 Rhino 600 rig for raise drilling.
This is a complete set for the underground cycle: driving of workings, production drilling, loading and haulage of ore. The core of the order is loading and haulage equipment: dump trucks and loaders account for 21 of the 27 machines.
Delivery schedule and what the deal includes
Shipments of the equipment will begin in December 2026, and most of the fleet will arrive before January 2028. The Rhino 600 rig will be delivered last, in June 2028. Besides the machines themselves, Sandvik takes on:
- maintenance kits for the first 5,000 engine hours of the loaders and dump trucks and for the first 2,000 percussion hours of the drill rigs;
- 12 months of technical support;
- a starter set of drilling tools;
- training and on-site support during commissioning and start-up of the equipment.
The purchase is backed by financing from Sandvik Financial Services (SFS). The customer gets the machines, service coverage for the first thousands of hours of operation, tooling and financing from a single supplier.
Training for 300 people
A separate block of the contract concerns people. About 300 Orken employees will first undergo a skills assessment and then theoretical and practical training on each type of machine. The programme covers operation and maintenance, safety, the design of the machine's systems, diagnostics and troubleshooting. Some of the loader and drill rig operators will train on simulators.
"Mechanization is much more than the arrival of new equipment," says Vesa Korpela, vice president of Sandvik Mining for sales in Southern Europe, the Middle East and the CIS. According to him, Sandvik will work together with Orken through the whole stage of the transition and support it with training, technical support, spare parts and drilling tools.
Why Qarmet is mechanizing the mine
Orken's general director, Mahmut Mustafin, explained the choice of supplier by the quality of the underground equipment, in-country service support and the partnership between the teams. On behalf of Qarmet JSC, the deal was commented on by Pyotr Trushin: he called the move from manual mining to mechanized mining an important step that will help raise production and efficiency at West Karazhal.
The order continues the mine development programme that Qarmet described back in February. Then, at the Atasu mine, two underground tunnels that had been driven toward each other were connected for the first time in 30 years. This gave large-size equipment full access to remote areas where work had previously been done mostly by hand, without high-productivity machines. According to GMK Center:
- at that time the mine was producing 2.2 million t of ore a year, and by 2028, under the company's strategy, the volume is to grow to 9.5 million t, that is, more than fourfold;
- 500 thousand t of manganese ore is planned for 2026 at a design capacity of 2.5 million t a year;
- the manganese ore reserves of the deposit are estimated at 349 million t;
- total investment exceeds 400 million dollars; the key projects named include construction of the Central shaft group and reprocessing of accumulated slimes.
What this means for the mining equipment market
For Kazakhstani miners and suppliers, the deal is interesting not so much for the size of the fleet as for its structure.
- In-country service became an argument in the choice. The customer directly names local service support among the reasons for the decision, alongside the quality of the equipment. Suppliers without a service base in Kazakhstan should take this into account.
- A package instead of a single machine. Maintenance kits for the first thousands of hours, tooling, training and manufacturer financing are bundled into one deal. Subsoil users preparing their own tenders for an underground fleet would do well to request such a package in full, and to compare the supplier's financing with a bank loan and leasing.
- Staff for the new equipment. The move from manual labor to machines requires trained operators and mechanics, so personnel training is built into the contract from the very start rather than left for later.
- Work for service companies. When the year of technical support and the starter maintenance kits run out, a fleet of 27 machines will need regular supplies of spare parts, consumables and drilling tools.
- A long schedule. Deliveries are stretched over a year and a half, and the last rig will arrive in June 2028, that is, in the year by which Qarmet expects to reach 9.5 million t of ore.
Sources
- Global Mining Review, "Sandvik to supply 27-unit underground fleet to support Qarmet subsidiary Orken's mechanisation in Kazakhstan", 2026-09-28: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/28092026/sandvik-to-supply-27-unit-underground-fleet-to-support-qarmet-subsidiary-orkens-mechanisation-in-kazakhstan/
- International Mining, "Sandvik to supply 27-unit fleet to Qarmet subsidiary Orken in Kazakhstan", 2026-09-28: https://im-mining.com/2026/09/28/sandvik-to-supply-27-unit-fleet-to-qarmet-subsidiary-orken-in-kazakhstan/
- GMK Center, "Qarmet начал добычу марганцевой руды на «Западном Каражале»", 2026-02-25: https://gmk.center/news/qarmet-nachal-dobychu-margancevoj-rudy-na-zapadnom-karazhale/amp/
