Antonov Airlines said it safely transported 40 tonnes of mining equipment from Vatry, France, to Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina, to meet a strict deadline and ensure mining operations continued.

In a statement, air transport firm for outsized and super-heavy air cargoes said the oversized cargo sections, which included a large semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill head, were split into four sections, and transported on an AN-124-100 aircraft chartered by Dynami Aviation.

"Airfreight was the only way to safely transport this mining equipment and remain within the customer’s timeframe to limit any impacts on mining operations," said Jérémy Sigault, operations manager, Dynami Aviation.

Antonov Airlines' AN-124-100 was chosen to move the freight due to its ability to accommodate more than 700 cbm of unusually shaped cargo.

"The four pieces of cargo were loaded and unloaded using the AN-124-100’s onboard cranes and will be used in the creation of new tunnels at a mine near to Comodoro Rivadavia," commented Olha Danylova, commercial executive, Antonov Airlines.

The cargo’s journey took two days via Sal, Cabo Verde, where there was a crew rest and refuelling stop, and a second technical stop at Viracopos, Brazil.

Antonov Airlines, a Ukrainian project cargo airfreight expert, has seen an increase in charters for mining projects in 2021, completing three flights of equipment weighing 370 tonnes from Australia to Latin America in March, and two flights with 216 tonnes in total from Turkey to Burkina Faso and Liberia in April.