Capital Equipment News January 2023

MINING NEWS

A bid to make natural resources more inclusive

Transformation within the resource sector, coupled with holistic perspectives is needed within the copper industry. This is the root of Copper360’s chair Shirley Hayes manifesto. The copper producer launched a project to develop a white paper specifically to mea sure current levels of inclusion in the mining and resources sector. The intent is not only to troubleshoot but to interrogate potential solutions that could overcome hurdles preventing full integration of genders and people with disabilities into the sector. “Not enough is being done in terms of inclusion, and transformation also means more than redressing injustices of the past. It also means addressing inequalities that people still experience every day, particular ly in areas like resources,” says Hayes. The white paper on Inclusion will be

shaped as a study and headed by former Ms. Wheelchair South Africa Tamelyn Bock, a Nababeep local with Copper360’s ESG officer Jennifer Barnard. Hayes says that the study, expected to take several months, will be published in the third quarter of 2023. Hayes mentions that role players in the resources sector are welcome to join in and extended an open invitation. “This is about all of us and is for every one. This is a project that aims to benefit all role players in the resources sector, from copper producers such as us to mining giants. We all need to take heed of inclusion on a greater scale than what has been the case until now,” she adds. Hayes lists people with physical disabili ties as a particular focus. “When I looked at our own infrastructure,

Copper360 chairperson Shirley Hayes.

I realized that it must be incredibly unfriend ly for anyone facing a physical challenge, visitor or potential employee. And while not every aspect of an industrial operation may be conducive to rehabilitating into a friendlier environment, a lot of it can be,” she concludes. b

Digital systems adds value to mines

Judging from interactions with mining customers at Electra Mining Africa 2022, Weir Minerals Africa notes that there is a growing demand for digital integration, which provides mines with data to develop strategic improvements to their operations. To respond to this growing need for digital solutions, Weir Minerals Africa showcased its Synertrex intelligent platform which provides mines with insights into actual costs of running their plants, data to develop strategic improvements to mining operations and the opportunity to performance benchmark every part of their operations. As part of Synertrex condition monitoring,

gent platform can help customers transform their operations. This is because it also assesses their machinery’s performance, including potential improvements, such as optimising the equipment’s energy efficien cy or throughput,” says Tiisetso Mase kwameng, General Manager – Comminution at Weir Minerals Africa. “The Synertrex intelligent platform remotely manages maintenance from moni toring wear and tear, to scheduled servicing and repairs, to keep mining equipment at its most productive, thus ensuring maximum equipment uptime and profitable operations for mining companies,” concludes Mase kwameng. b

she adds, sensors are applied to processing equipment and the data they provide is cap tured and continuously analysed. Customers are therefore able to eliminate guesswork from their operations by having detailed real time insight into how their equipment is performing. Information is displayed on a simple, easy to understand dashboard which can be accessed via any device or integrat ed into existing operational systems. It will convey real time fact-based insights into machine performance and health, remaining useful life and other crucial operational indicators. “As mining companies redefine their investment strategies, the Synertrex intelli

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