History Surface Mining

From Vision to Recognized Technology

Why not transfer our expertise in asphalt milling to mining solid rock? This idea triggered the development of a new, cost-effective mining method, surface mining, in the mid-1970s. What followed was a unparalleled success story that WIRTGEN has continuously led as a driving force from the very beginning.

WIRTGEN Drives Development of the Method

1980 marked the birth of modern surface mining – WIRTGEN developed a prototype based on road milling machines, the 3000 SM surface miner. With the first machine officially sold, the 1900 SM surface miner, the company successfully entered the market in 1983. Following the requirements of the market, larger and larger machines were developed over the years for even greater performance.