TOKYO (Jan. 30, 2008) — Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. signed a deal to supply about 1,300 off-the-road tires a year to gold mining firm Barrick Gold Corp. for 10 years starting in 2009.
Toronto-based Barrick Gold owns 30 mines around the world and is aggressively expanding its mining operation to meet rapidly growing demand for gold, Yokohama said.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Yokohama said the Barrick contract calls for tires for use on 100- to 250-ton class dump trucks used in open-pit mines.
To meet the demand, Yokohama is building a plant dedicated to OTR tires at its Onomichi factory complex in Japan. That plant is scheduled to start operation in January 2009.
A key element of the expansion is the installation of capacity for "super large" tires — those with 45-, 51- and/or 57-inch rim diameters — that are used on the type of dump trucks cited in the Barrick contract.