MechChem Africa August 2017

⎪ Materials handling ⎪

Mining sector recovery on the horizon

Weir Minerals Africa is gearing up for an upturn in the mining sector that it believes will occur soon, says Gavin Dyer,Weir Minerals Africa’s regional managing director for Africa and the Middle East.

“ S igns of market improvement have been coming through in the com- pany’s order book since the end of last year,” says Dyer. “We have been preparing our operations anddistribution systems for this long-awaited upturn, in line with our ambitious growth plans,” says Dyer. “We aim to achieve at least double the growth rate of our markets, and our past success shows our ability to reach and exceed tough targets such as these. For instance, we aimed to double our business between 2010 and 2015, but achieved that goal in just three and a half years.” Weir Minerals has built its strong reputa- tion on the back of, in particular, a substantial installedbaseofWarman ® slurrypumps. This, in turn, supports continued growth in its aftermarket supply and associated services to support these products. It is also making progress in gaining market share with non- slurry products and services. Huge opportunity lies in the application of the newand improvedmaterials and technol- ogies thatWeir has developedover the years, which can also improve the performance of the older technologies still being employed in customers’ operations around the continent. “With deep roots in the mining industry in Africa, we have a large installed base of products, particularly the older generation pumping technology,” says Dyer. “Our newer materialsandtechnologiesmeanthatcustom- ers have the opportunity to upgrade their existing equipment rather than replacing these with new units. Such upgrades are a cost-effective route tohigher efficiencies and productivity improvements.” Dyer emphasises that its technological advances and successful applications around the world allow Weir to implement these solutions for customers inAfrica, introducing the latest materials and technologies almost anywhere on the continent. “Whereour customers areoperating in re- mote mining locations, our value proposition based on the lowest total cost of ownership is especially important, giving them affordable solutions to optimise their processes so that there is less downtime for maintenance and related disruptions,” he continues. Pushing the frontiers of innovation through its own research centre, Weir also partners with universities and leverages its own worldwide presence by collaborat- ing between group companies in different

countries; high-level technical advances are continuously generated, and the results are shared globally. Growth inAfrica forWeir alsomeans ben- efiting local economies through its philosophy of full participation in the markets it serves. This includes helping smaller suppliers to build capacity and spreading the benefits of economic development. In South Africa, for instance, Weir has identified a small foundry as an important sub-contracted supplier and has assisted in the installation of quality sys- tems and technical advice. “Our presence across Africa creates opportunities for other local businesses as suppliers, and we employ staff from local communities,” says Dyer. “While we prefer trading directly with our customers, we also have strong relationships with agents and distributors in the region; we see value in being in close proximity with our customers, and so we expand our geographic presence wherever demand requires.” This is also in line withWeir’s strong com- mitment to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Codes of Good Practice, with a special focus on skills development. Itswork on this front led to the company recently earning the Steel and Engineering Industries Federationof SouthernAfrica (SEIFSA) award

Rajen Govender, HR Director for Weir Minerals Africa & Middle East, with the SEIFSA award for most transformed company of the year. for excellence as the ‘Most Transformed Company of theYear’. It also supports a range of social responsibility initiatives that develop science andmaths skills –which in turn feeds into the talent pipeline. q

A sectional view of a Warman AH pump showing technology innovations such as the Hi-Seal expeller.

August 2017 • MechChem Africa ¦ 19