The lucky recipient of the Mobile Miner 40V: Hecla’s Lucky Friday silver-lead-zinc operation in northern Idaho, US, which operates in the Coeur d'Alene mining district.

According to Atlas Copco, the powerful mechanical rock excavation machines in its Mobile Miner family are all fully customisable and feature a well-known steel disc-cutter technique. Additionally, the small and flexible machine’s continuous mining technology can help make mining projects more productive, more predictable and easier to schedule.

“We have had a good cooperation in the R&D project and will now deliver the first in hopefully a series of Mobile Miners to Hecla,” Atlas Copco global strategic projects and alliances official Mikael Ramström said.

“We see mechanical rock cutting as an important step forward to significantly increase productivity and safety as we mine at greater depths at the Lucky Friday, and are proud to be working with Atlas Copco, a leader in the field, to develop the Remote Vein Miner,” Hecla president and CEO Phillips Baker Jr added.

No delivery date for the order was released.