Modern Mining April 2019

PRODUCT News

Condra crane and hoists delivered to bauxite project

Today’s crane manufacturers need skills as varied as they are demanding. If growth is the goal, the company has to offer a global capability that includes a willingness to co- operate across continents and the ability to adapt product to local conditions. An order shipped in February by South African company Condra provides a good example of just such a mind-set, with manufacture of a crane and five hoists taking place in Southern Africa to the design specifications of a North American consulting firm, and installation being effected in Guyana, South America, where the Bonasika bauxite project near the

is a common problem. “We can offer tan- gible benefits to our customers by making such technology available,”Yorke says. Metric Automotive Engineering is said to be South Africa’s most comprehensively equipped heavy diesel engine and com- ponent re-manufacturer. Established as a family business in 1969, the company can refurbish large diesel engine components and offers services such as cylinder head remanufacture, cylinder block line boring, milling, honing and boring, camshaft grind- ing, crankshaft grinding, engine assembly and dynamometer testing. Subsidiary Reef Fuel Injection Services offers Bosch, Delphi and Denso approved fuel injection services and is acknowledged as a specialist in Cat fuel systems. and, through impact loading, to the girder and the rest of the crane structure. The splice was executed by means of steel plates welded eccentrically to the four inside faces of the male section of the box girder, resulting in a friction grip that reinforces girder strength and integrity beyond that delivered by the splice bolts alone. “The Condra clamped joint is almost seamless, and enables us to project a girder life in excess of 20 years,”the spokes- man said. The completed crane was tested in late January, then dismantled and shippedwith the five accompanying hoists to Guyana. Crane reassembly on site took place in February, followed immediately by installa- tion and commissioning. Three of the five hoists included in the Bonasika order are standard 2-ton machines from Condra’s SH (short-head- room) Series, designed to make maximum use of expensive factory space – headroom as well as floor – and featuring a hoist pro- file some 20 per cent lower than other models. The remaining two hoists are 1-ton articulated monorail machines with high lifts of 10 and 15 m, both of them fitted with alternating drives and modified cross- heads on the articulated crawls to allow them to negotiate bends of varying radii. Condra, tel (+27 11) 776-6000, website: www.condra.co.za

Essequibo River is using the machines for general loading duties and in workshops. Development of this open-pit bauxite mine began in June of last year. The order placed on Condra comprised a 5-ton, 13,5 m-span single-girder electric overhead travelling crane and five hoists, and could be seen as straightforward were it not for the global spread of consultants, manufacturer and customer, and the specification of a precisely spliced girder to allow containerised shipping. All elec- tric motors were also tropicalised against corrosion. Condra’s export crane orders usually

comprise hoists, end-carriages and crawls manufactured at the company’s Johannesburg works and delivered for mating to gird- ers fabricated in the country of installation. However, the con- sulting engineers appointed to the Bonasika project, JDS Energy & Mining of Vancouver, Canada, specified that the box girder also be manufactured by Condra for this order. A Condra spokesman explained that the splice for containerisa- tion had to be sufficiently precise to deliver a completely smooth path for the wheels of the crane’s underslung hoist in order to avoid damage to the wheels themselves

Condra 5-ton, 13,5 m-span single-girder electric overhead travelling crane for Guyana. Note splice towards the left of the girder to allow containerisation.

Metric offers latest metal deposition technology Metric Automotive Engineering is offering the latest metal deposition technology for repairing water jackets on engine blocks. The worst degradation occurs at the block face where it meets the cylinder head, which can be due to coolant contamination or a lack of corrosion inhibitors. Damage to the sealing surface is repaired traditionally by milling away the affected material.

ture versus a weld can that go up to 600°C to 700°C. As a result, there is no heat stress or distortion, resulting in a chemical bond that resists corrosion even better than the virgin block material,”Yorke says. “We can vary the material we use for the metal deposition depending on the appli- cation,”Yorke adds. “A water jacket repaired in this fashion will outperform one that has been repaired traditionally. The long-term benefits are: (a) your water jacket is now sealing on material that is designed to be exposed to poor coolant and (b) having a lot more deck height on the engine block prolongs the service life.” He notes that metal deposition is par- ticularly suited for mining customers, who often operate in harsh and remote environ- ments where water and fuel contamination

However, the more material that is machined off, the shorter the lifespan of the engine block. “Our main aim is to extend the life of components. In this regard, we have a process that combines pre-machin- ing with metal deposition,” says Andrew Yorke, Metric’s Operations Director. “The advantage of metal deposition ver- sus welding is that there is no heat. You are talking about a 45°C work-surface tempera-

Metric Automotive Engineering, website: www.metricauto.co.za

50  MODERN MINING  April 2019