Modern Mining December 2016

BULK MATERIALS HANDLING

never worked before. Says Meijers: “We’ve been appointed to undertake the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) for the 27,1 km single-flight overland conveyor forming part of the Phase 2A project at Asanko’s flagship operation, the Asanko gold mine. The capac- ity is 1 200 t/h and the installed power will be 2,8 MW. We’ll be working with our American technology partner, Conveyor Dynamics Inc (CDI), one of the world’s leaders in the dynamic analysis and design of bulk materials handling systems.” In executing all its new contracts, ELB will be relying to a large extent on its in- house resources. “In 2012 we established ELB Construction (ELBCON) as our construction arm and this has been a game-changer for us, allowing much better control over costs and project execution,” says Meijers. “ELBCON has a full structural, mechanical and piping capa- bility although we still have to contract in the necessary building and civils skills. In addi- tion, we are now self-sufficient in electrical and instrumentation work following our acquisition of B&W Instrumentation & Electrical in 2014, without question one of the leading companies operating in this field in Africa.” Giving a round-up of some of ELB’s other current contracts, Meijers says the company is still on site at Eskom’s new Medupi Power Station near Lephalale, where it has been active since 2011. “Medupi has been a flagship proj- ect for us, with the heart of our work being the provision of coal and ash handling facilities,” he says. ELB is also busy at Black Rock Mine Operations near Hotazel in the Northern Cape, which is operated by Assmang Limited, which is jointly owned by African Rainbow Minerals Limited and Assore Limited. “At Black Rock Mine Operations, we’re pro- viding a Rapid Train Loading Station (RTLS) for the Nchwaning mine, an associated 518 m feed conveyor, as well as two product stackers. Our RTLS technology is amongst the best in the world and the facility at Black Rock will be able to meet Transnet quick loading requirements.” Across border, ELB is working at a diamond mine in Botswana and is also undertaking a shiploader upgrade in Mozambique. Finally, and reflecting on ELB’s successes, Meijers says it is amazing what a difference just a few months can make. “When 2016 opened, we were feeling the effects of the recession in mining and were forced to cut our overheads drastically,” he observes. “We achieved this in part by cutting the salaries of everyone in the company, including management, a move

equipment/materials, as well as the associated installation on site. Further north in Zimbabwe, ELB has been awarded a contract by PPC Zimbabwe for the upgrade of the clinker loading facilities at Colleen Bawn in Matabeleland South. ELB’s responsibilities include the design, procure- ment, delivery, installation and management of all the elements of the upgrade, which is designed to reduce the excessively high dust volumes generated during the process of loading rail wagons and to achieve a quicker turnaround time of the complete rake. The dust volumes will be reduced by innovative design around the integration of the de-dusting unit with the bulk load- ing head while the increased loading rate will be achieved by the interface between the feed conveyor, weigh flask and loading head configuration. Whilst ELB has had a long involvement in executing projects in Africa, a recent con- tract will be taking it to Ghana, where it has

A Rapid Train Loading Station (RTLS) is being provided at Assmang’s Black Rock Mining Operations (BRMO).

feature

34  MODERN MINING  December 2016