Original subtitles

A new breed of super machines is evolving.

Bigger. Faster.

Smarter. Built to tackle near impossible themes.

Among them, a mighty mega digger. It's amazing how tough these machines are.

It literally moves mountains to unearth precious copper and do what no normal

digger can.

We lose time, we lose money. Hit a quota of $18 million every month.

We'll blow this beast apart to discover technological secrets that overcome

the impossible. From precision gear that swing 560 tons

of metal.

to a toughened cab strong enough to deflect deadly boulders.

We'll reveal how this extraordinary mega -digger evolves to rise above

all other machines.

North of Washington State in the Canadian wilderness lies Copper Mountain

Here, crews work around the clock.

Attention all mine personnel, we have a blast in progress.

To free around $16 billion worth of copper trapped in some of North

hardest granite.

Radio silence must be maintained during the blast.

Global demand for copper is booming.

It's used in everything from our computers to vehicles and

power network.

Copper Mountain must supply factories in Japan with $18 million worth of copper

every month.

To hit this target, the mine must run 24 -7 in all conditions.

It's a relentless and daunting task.

A challenge this big needs an elite crew of tough miners.

Go ahead and get started.

In charge is 14 -year mining veteran and shift supervisor Matt Wells.

We might touch on some high -grade later on today if that does happen. We'll

make sure that gets to the stockpile across from the crusher.

To meet the delivery target, mass shifts must scoop 80 ,000 tons of copper ore

in four days.

Shovel 1, 12, 14, 16, 19, 20. They must make the deadline to secure this

month's profits and keep the mine running.

Have a safe day. We'll see you out there.

Digging the huge volume of ore needed to hit the copper delivery needs huge

machines.

So Copper Mountain Mine has two supersized hydraulic shovels for

30 foot tall, 830 ton mega diggers.

Built from almost 40 ,000 components, their hydraulic arms are as long as a

school bus and can lift 83 tons of rock in one go.

Hardened steel tracks let these monsters glide over

treacherous terrain.

Motors each the size of a car.

Burn up the electricity of a whole town.

These titanic machines are the kings of Earthmove.

The operators running Copper Mountain's two mega -diggers must be the best of

the best.

Pete Hardinger was born into a family of miners.

He's worked at the mine for over three years and earned a reputation as a star

digger operator.

There's ribbing that goes on in any workplace. These guys are going to be

calling me Hollywood.

Just don't even start, Chris. You're Hollywood, man.

You're Hollywood.

What did I tell you? What did I tell you?

I'm still calling you Hollywood.

This is where the bunnies could be made.

Pete needs to live up to his nickname, this shift.

All right, let's get going.

He's got just four days to shovel his 27 ,000 -ton quota of copper ore into a

fleet of waiting dump trucks.

It is time to get digging.

Time to do what we came here to do.

We are up here literally moving an entire mountain.

Dig it out of the face, dump it into a truck.

The dump trucks continually feed the ore into a mighty crusher.

A conveyor shuttles the smashed rock to the mill, which turns it into copper.

The metal is hauled to the port of Vancouver, where it's loaded

onto a ship bound for Japan.

The critical ore is buried under thousands of tons of waste rock.

Pete's first challenge, scoop the junk out of the way.

About five loads of everything we move would be waste rock for one load of ore,

which is the pay dirt, and that's what makes the money.

It would take a regular excavator upwards of 30 minutes to build just one

mine's massive dump trucks.

But the Mega Digger's bucket is specially designed to scoop huge volumes

in record time.

Made from hardened steel, it's big enough to hold a Hummer.

And can rip out 83 tons of rot in a single sweep.

A brutally effective design.

Borrowed from nature's mightiest digger, the mole.

Evolution dealt it an amazing hand.

A wrist bone had transformed into an extra claw.

Giving the paws supreme digging power.

With such formidable tools, the mole can tunnel 300 times its body length in a

single night.

The Mega Digger supersizes the mole's paw.

It also has six claws, only 250 times bigger.

Harder than tank armor, This bucket fills a monster mine truck in just three

loads.

The battle between the bucket and the rock is a relentless struggle.

Done correctly, the bucket wins every time.

Pete's now halfway through his first 12 -hour shift.

His mega -digger is still track -deep in weight.

Pete must clear it and uncover the valuable copper ore by the end of the

24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, this machine has to be on its A

game.

We're digging in the crust of the earth here. This entire mountain is one solid

piece of granite.

In one shift...

Pete will smash his bucket through the rock up to 1 ,500 times.

And driving into the bank with 250 ,000 pounds of force puts a lot of torque and

stress strain on that bucket.

If the bucket breaks, the mega digger will have to shut down for repairs and

waste critical digging time.

So the machine comes with extra protection to withstand the punishment.

Hundreds of steel strips called wear pads that provide a thick layer of

armor.

They form deep ridges that trap tumbling rocks and literally

save the shovel's skin.

It's amazing how outright tough these machines are, the torture they can stand

up to.

Pete clears away the last of the worthless waste rock.

But as the clock continues to tick, a new challenge now stands in the way.

The mine's other mega digger must drive through thick mud to

escape a mine blast.

We don't allow any person to be within that exclusion zone because being hit

even by a small rock could be dangerous, but a large rock could be fatal.

A flip up here.

Jordy, we're going to have to start turning to your left a little bit.

Could critically damage the massive machine and put the deadline out of

Copper Mountain Mine, Canada.

Mega digger operator Pete has just three days to scoop 27 ,000 tons of ore to

feed the mine's mill.

So we can produce $18 million worth of copper for export to Japan.

Right now, the only thing that matters is filling that ship.

It always matters, but right now it's quite critical.

Ship supervisor Matt must move the ore as fast as possible.

The mine's profits and the jobs of its 360 workers depend on it.

There's a lot of setback in this business.

Unfortunately, in operations of these sizes, it costs an astronomical amount

money.

If Copper Mountain doesn't make its monthly deliveries, everyone knows

could repeat itself.

In 1996, the mine shut down after the previous owners failed to turn a profit.

250 miners lost their jobs.

It reopened in 2011 after a $438 million investment.

Today, the mine is under constant pressure to deliver returns.

We have to work with the team and get these deadlines met because, yeah,

is not an option. We must meet these deadlines in order to make money.

Go ahead, Matt.

But making the deadline is a huge challenge.

Matt must continually find and uncover fresh deposits of copper ore for the

operation to stay on schedule.

He calls in blasting supervisor Doug Johnson.

I've always had a fascination a little bit with the things that go bang, such

firecrackers and stuff, but I didn't realize I would end up having a full

career in it.

Doug's team opens up new copper deposits.

by blowing the rock apart with almost 110 tons of explosives.

But before the blast, all machines and personnel must move outside a 500 -yard

exclusion zone.

We don't allow any personnel other than the blasting crew that's specifically

there to detonate the blast to be within that exclusion zone, because being hit

even by a small rock can be dangerous, but a large rock could be fatal.

Copper Mountain runs two mega -diggers.

The one inside the exclusion zone is driven by Tanya Sirota.

She's been digging at the mine for more than three years and is one of its best

operators. All right.

Here we go.

Her challenge is moving her machine from the exclusion zone to the safe area on

the other side of the pit.

It's a large machine, so it's not really meant to be walking a long distance.

It's sort of meant to be in one spot, digging for a long time. So you kind of

stay in one spot and dig, and then when you have to move, we move.

We're going to have to start turning to your left a little bit.

The ground is very uneven.

If Tanya's mega digger bogs down, Matt will have to haul it free with

bulldozers, eating up critical digging time.

Double two, Tanya.

Okay, we can head.

Okay, we'll be back.

But this mega digger had secret weapons to tackle the soft ground.

Two gigantic tracks spread the digger's weight, so its pressure on the ground is

half that of a push bike.

Each one is made up of 50 steel pads.

Together, they help the Mega Digger glide over rough terrain.

They work just like the ankle of a natural acrobat.

The clouded leopard has amazing paws.

Their flexible pads adapt their shape to give ultimate grip.

The ankle can also rotate backwards to make impossible climbing possible.

The digger's feet are just as flexible.

Their articulated joints let them rock side to side.

They should adapt to soft terrain and get 830

tons of digger away from the blast zone safely.

Going good.

Going fairly smooth. We've got our ground guys working hard here.

Should be there in just a few minutes.

Tanya's mega digger is 50 yards from safety.

But up ahead lies another big obstacle.

Potholes hidden in the uneven ground.

If the mega digger slides into a hole, there's a danger its tracks will be

damaged. They could potentially break or snap, or you could lose a track pad or

the shaft breaking in half, or the drive motor seizing up. You'd pretty much be

stuck where it raised it until they come and fix it.

Matt would have no option but to delay the blast until the machine is repaired.

Tanya must put her faith in an ingenious system that keeps the Mega Digger's

tracks firmly attached.

Hidden in the undercarriage is a track -saving

device.

Two hydraulic pistons push against each idler wheel with almost twice

the pressure of a car crusher.

They keep the tracks firmly braced against the chassis and stop them from

slipping off.

Pull off the face there and we'll just set the bucket down and that'll be good.

Tanya and her mega digger make it to the safe zone in one piece.

Doug makes final checks to the explosive.

So I think now all we need to do is just move back to a safe location. We'll

view the blast.

It's a fun thing to do. I expect a good show.

Attention all my personnel, we have a blast in program.

Radio silence must be maintained during the blast.

470 ,000 tons of ore and rock is about to be blown sky high. 5, 4,

3, 2, 1.

Preparing to fire the bomb.

The miners at Copper Mountain, Canada, are racing the clock.

They have just three days left to deliver a shipment of copper to

Attention all mine personnel, we have a blast in progress.

Turning a profit and keeping the mine open rests on blowing apart new deposits

of ore.

Radio silence must be maintained during the blast.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Preparing to fire the blast.

The blast frees up 470 ,000 tons of copper -rich rock.

Time is now critical.

Ship supervisor Matt must get the ore out of the pit and to the mill to stand

chance of making the shipment deadline.

We need to meet those deadlines, and we're not quite there. The pressure's

definitely on.

Mega digger operator Pete gets to work.

His challenge?

Shovel up 25 ,000 tons of the highest grade ore.

And he's got just 72 hours to do it.

Our primary crusher is a hungry bear.

And it's constantly needing feed.

He must rely on his mega digger's muscles to lift this huge weight of

Under the hood are two 2 ,000 horsepower electric motors.

They drive pumps that move the boom and bucket using the power of liquid.

An idea that was at the heart of London's Tower Bridge.

Deep in its bowels, two huge steam engines.

Slowly pushed two gigantic weights 17 feet into the air.

When dropped, they forced water and pressure through a pipe.

The drove a gear system which could raise the bridge's 1 ,300 -ton deck in

60 seconds.

Pound for pound, the Mega Digger is even more powerful.

Its electric motors drive eight pumps.

spinning at 1 ,400 RPM.

They force fluid through the mega -digger's arteries at a pressure 2 ,000

greater than the human bloodstream.

The high -pressure fluid moves huge pistons to push and pull the massive arm

bucket with ease.

The hydraulic system is really the heart and soul of this machine.

I can think of in one cycle, four times, what a crew of miners would mine in one

day, a hundred years ago.

A remarkable feat of technology to be able to do that.

Pete and his Mega Digger are halfway through their second day on ship.

They still have 22 ,000 tons of ore to shuffle.

And their path has just got twice as tough.

Lightly colored seams of worthless rock crisscross the mine.

Pete must only scoop the darker rock containing ore and avoid the lighter

We want the best quality of ore going to the crusher, and that's our main

objective, is to make sure that crusher's fed and make some money at the

the day.

Completing this challenge now rests on Pete precisely controlling the Mega

Digger's bucket to separate ore from worthless waste.

Right in the heart of the machine.

is a group of 16 valves.

They control the flow of hydraulic fluid with extreme accuracy to

move the 16 -foot pistons on the arm with inch -perfect precision.

This way, Pete can put 77 tons of bucket exactly where he wants it.

I use the bucket to reach out and grab onto something or scoop something up.

The same way I would use my hand at home to reach out and grab onto something.

So in that sense, it is just like an extension of myself.

Two days into their shift, Pete and his mega digger must still shovel 20 ,000

tons of ore to meet the mine shipment target.

But dangers lie ahead.

I've got four big boulders up in front of me here.

Killer rocks threaten to fall at any minute.

If they hit the mega digger, they could damage the machine.

That is going to fall down.

And if I don't get it, it's going to hurt something.

a copper mountain mine, Canada.

Pete and his mega -digger have 48 hours to scoop 20 ,000 tons of ore

to make enough copper to ship to Japan.

The deadlines get a little more pressurized as the week goes on.

This week, we're behind, so there's a little more pressure.

This job brings constant danger.

Pete sits directly under an unstable rock face.

Whenever I'm working near a high wall, there's always a potential for material

to come down on me or near me.

Rocks tend to slide down the bank and bang into each other. They shatter and

flying off, making airborne projectiles that go everywhere.

Showers of fast -moving rock mashing through the cab's glass risks injury,

death.

Pete's first layer of defense is at the front of his cab.

A sheet of glass three -quarters of an inch thick.

It's bombproof.

Thanks to lessons learned in the trenches.

In World War I, gas masks saved lives.

But glass eyepieces made them vulnerable.

That was until an American engineer inserted eyepieces with two layers of

and plastic in between that survived the heat of battle.

A hundred years later, this glass sandwich still shields Pete from

Three sheets of hardened glass take the impact.

And two layers of plastic stop it from breaking into lethal jar.

Even when Pete is under attack.

I've been hit by objects maybe a little larger than my hard hat. That type of

thing.

They haven't entered the cab. The windscreens have always stopped them.

Super tough glass protects Pete from small, fast -moving rocks.

But now, a bigger threat looms right above his head.

A huge boulder balanced on top of the rock face.

I've got more big boulders up in front of me here, and I have to be careful,

because I got hit by one. It knocks the hell out of you, and it damages the

machine.

As fast as they want me to load things, they'll be really upset if I break

something.

That is going to fall down, and if I don't get it, we'll have our back to it

with a bucket out there, and it's going to hurt something.

The rock could smash into the mega -digger's calf and threaten Pete's life.

Fortunately, Pete's cab is almost indestructible. Nearly 2 ,000 pounds

of steel plate over a cage of strengthened tubes.

They create a wall of steel that can take a hit from a 500

-pound boulder.

Sir, I'm just watching that boulder because I think it wants to move when

not there to catch it. There it goes.

That's why they give me a big bucket. It's like a big goaltender sometimes,

know?

Pete's winning the battle against the rock.

He and his mega -digger have one day left to shovel the remaining 11 ,000

of ore needed to make the shipment target.

But there's trouble at the mill.

The copper ore it's receiving is low quality.

Metallurgist Mike Westendorf needs higher grade ore to stand any chance of

making the shipment deadline.

So right now we have about 80 % of the concentrate produced, which we need for

the boat.

To get that last 20%, we'll be talking with the pit to rearrange their

to get us some higher grade ore coming to the belt.

Hello, pit shifter Matt. Yeah, go ahead, Mike.

Yeah, I see a head grade start to drop a little bit here. Is there anything you

guys can do on your side to help? Yeah, that's no problem, Mike.

We'll check it out for you and get back to you. Thanks a lot.

Ship supervisor Matt needs Pete and his mega digger to scoop the highest grade

ore they've got.

Shovel one, Pete. Go ahead, Matt.

Yeah, Pete. Can I get you just to step over to your left? We'll get into a

straight run of ore.

And I'll send you another truck. Yeah, I'll move over right away. Can you make

it two steps?

Yeah, we'll see what we can do.

We're under some pressure here.

All right, copy.

Now into the last 12 hours of his shift.

Pete must pull out all the stops.

But mechanical prop...

threatened to put his mega -digger out of action and destroy

the team's hopes of making the shipment deadline.

At Copper Mountain Mine, Canada.

Pete and his mega digger have one shift left to shovel 11 ,000 tons of ore and

make the copper shipment leaving Vancouver.

And I'm actually feeling the pressure from that right now because I can tell

it's not moving anywhere near fast enough.

The mega digger's next challenge is swing back and forth between the rock

and dump trucks nonstop for the next 12 hours.

But 560 tons of metal in constant motion puts a huge strain on the machine.

We have an undercarriage underneath of us and a superstructure that sits on

rotating back and forth, rubbing and grinding on the undercarriage that is

sitting still.

A lot of moving parts. There's a lot of friction.

Pete relies on the Mega Digger's ingenious design to prevent breakdowns.

Where the superstructure meets the machine's undercarriage is the ultimate

prevention device.

A 45 -foot slew ring filled with steel rollers.

Its origins lie in an invention that revolutionized timekeeping.

An 18th century British clockmaker invented a cage filled with tiny metal

rollers.

It cut friction in the swing mechanism to almost zero and made his clocks

some of the most accurate in the world.

The Mega Digger supersizes this idea.

Its upper body turns on the slew ring's 500 manganese chromite steel rollers.

Each one can bear two tons of weight, reducing friction

to keep the mega digger swinging all shift long.

The swing system is a critical component of the machine.

Without swinging, we don't go nowhere.

The super -tough swing system was born almost 5 ,000 miles away at the

Megadigger factory in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Here, engineers fit giant slew rings to Megadigger superstructures in a delicate

operation. So it's quite a complicated piece of equipment.

The team must ensure both parts join perfectly to guarantee the system will

work.

It has to be aligned very precisely because during the production process,

heavy loads will bear on the slew ring.

During regular working operation, it has to carry 570 tons of weight.

That's about two jumbo jets stacked on top of the slew ring.

It takes dozens of skilled engineers nine months to build just one brand new

mega digger.

Accuracy is critical.

One mistake in construction risks a breakdown while digging.

We pre -drilled 154 holes in the slew ring and 154 holes in the

So now we can see if we did work correctly.

Yeah, so both thick. Perfect. Our crane operators did a good job.

And then just 153 more to go.

The engineer's precision is now helping Pete's mega digger inch closer

to the shipment target.

The deadline is just six hours away.

Their final task?

Shovel the last 5 ,500 tons of ore the mill needs as fast as possible.

It's always important to work fast and efficiently, whether the bosses are

watching or the bosses aren't watching. I don't want to be the one to drop the

ball.

The Mega Digger must cycle between rock face and dump truck in under 30 seconds.

Beating the deadline now rests on raw speed.

Between the superstructure and undercarriage are three hydraulic

the weight of an SUV.

Inside them, hydraulic fluid moves seven pistons, hooking with a

combined power greater than a sports car.

Each one locks into the slew ring.

They spin the 560 -ton superstructure through a full turn in 22 seconds

and stop it on a dime.

It's remarkable using a little more than fingertip controls puts the machine in

motion and stops the machine from being in motion as readily and easily as you

switch channels on a television set.

Thanks to the MegaDigger speed, Pete stands a fighting chance of making the

delivery deadline.

But shift supervisor Matt has bad news.

Shovel one, Pete.

Yeah, go ahead, Matt.

Yeah, Pete, go.

I just got word from the office.

We're going to have to take the shovel down for about an hour.

For some maintenance.

Copy that.

The teeth of the mega digger's bucket are badly worn.

The teeth are worn out on here. It's time to get rid of the old and put on

new ones. A little devil work, as we call it here in the mining industry.

The maintenance crew has just ten minutes to get the job done.

At the same time, electricians must extend the mega -digger's power table so

has enough slack for the machine to reach fresh ore.

Are we making out?

Is the boat done?

Yeah. Excellent.

Fantastic job, gentlemen.

The crew finishes the tooth replacement.

But something's wrong.

The mega digger has no power.

Our electrical crew was adding an extension to the power cable.

And they've hit a bit of a snag, so we're a little bit behind now, nearly

an hour behind.

No power cable means no digging.

The mill is still short of the ore it needs to make the $18 million shipment.

Making the deadline now rests on getting the mega digger back up and running.

Back!

Every minute counts.

We need to be on top of it and do the best we can to eliminate this downtime.

Because it's costing us. For sure.

Digging has ground to a halt at Copper Mountain Mine, Canada.

There's just two hours left to shovel the ore needed to make the shipment of

copper leaving Vancouver.

Operator P has been waiting 30 minutes for electricians.

to reconnect his mega -digger to its power supply.

Half an hour doesn't sound like a lot of time, but it translates into 10 or 12

truckloads, and we normally only get about 10 hours operating time in a day,

half an hour is about 5 % of our operating time gone.

Fully laden trucks are already leaving the mine bound for the coast.

The clock is ticking.

The mega digger must get back up and running to stand any chance of making

$18 million copper delivery.

Shift supervisor Matt is feeling the pressure.

Well, right now we're way well past our allotted time now, so I'm a little

frustrated because if our equipment isn't running, we're not making money.

45 minutes late, electricians finally hook up the mega digger.

Power's on, we're finally going to go here. I'm happy now, for now.

Pete dashes for the finish line.

Okay, I'm operating away.

Doing my thing.

A steady stream of trucks continues to leave the mill.

Pete loads the last of his ore.

The mill processes it into copper.

And the last truck found for Vancouver leaves fully laden.

Matt's team has done all it can.

Shovel one, Pete.

Yeah, go ahead, Matt.

Thank you for today.

I think we're going to make the quota. Good job.

The last trucks arrive at the port of Vancouver.

They dump the copper onto conveyor.

The loaded aboard the waiting ship.

Ready to set sail for Japan.

Copper Mountain has made the deadline.

The mine's mega diggers beat some of North America's toughest granite.

And a grueling schedule to deliver $18 million of copper and keep

the mine running for another month.

Very happy. Always happy when we're making money.

We had some problems. It was a tough week. We had a lot of equipment

couple of incidents.

I go home for four days, put my feet out, relax, play with my kids, and we'll

back for another course.

Copper Mountain star digger operator heads for some much -needed R &R. Have a

good weekend. Thanks, Peter. You too.

I'm coming back in four days' time. This time it'll be night shifts. We'll do it

all again.

Same pressures, the same targets, the same challenges.

I'll be back at it.

This mine runs 24 -7, 365.

It doesn't take a day off, ever.

There's no rest for Pete's Mega Digger.

It's still working, shoveling ore with the next shift.

In one year, it'll scoop up almost 14 million tons of precious copper ore.

It's all thanks to an almost frictionless swing system,

hydraulics with more horsepower than two monster trucks,

unstoppable hardened steel track, a near

indestructible steel cab, and a bucket

tougher than tank armor.

It's these technological secrets that have helped this mega -digger evolve

to rise above all other machines.