Modern Mining December 2021

COVER STORY

Breathing new life into old bulk materials Amid an increasing trend to ‘sweat’ existing assets, mines are leveraging thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions South Africa’s proven expertise in turnkey refurbishment/revamp projects, allowing

them to extend the lifetime of their existing bulk materials handling assets at a reasonable cost, with minimal downtime, writes Munesu Shoko .

A s mining companies pore over their bal- ance sheets and all aspects of the business to find every competitive edge, many have found solace in extending the lifetime of their existing assets due to their business and operating circumstances. Corné van Rooyen: regional GM, thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions Sub Sahara Africa, Service Mining & Minerals Sales, says there is an increasing trend in the industry to sweat existing bulk materials handling assets, including stackers, drum reclaimers and other stockyard machines. “We have had many enquiries for mid-life refur- bishments, when in fact some of the machines in question are already way past their midlife. Due to the cost and the long lead times associated with new capital projects, customers are choosing to extend the lifetime of their existing machines, and in some instances even look for opportunities to increase capacities,” says Van Rooyen. Some of the machines operating in the field were designed as far back as the 1980s, and because over-engineering was the order of the day back then, most of these machines have room for capac- ity increase, thanks to more refined engineering practices today.

Capabilities and processes For a typical refurbishment/revamp project, thys- senkrupp works closely with the client to develop the scope through an initial full audit/inspection on the machine. “It’s quite a detailed inspection which looks at every aspect of the machine, including elec- trical, mechanical and structural, from top to bottom,” explains Van Rooyen. From there, thyssenkrupp will generate a full report that details all that needs to be done on the machine. “It’s normally quite a lengthy process, and in some instances it can take as long as three years because you have to do the inspections, develop a scope and then agree with the client on the scope,

Centre: thyssenkrupp recently completed a mid-life refurbishment on two 10 000 t/ hour shiploaders operating at Saldanha Bay. Below: thyssenkrupp recently successfully completed a drum reclaimer refurbishment project.

8  MODERN MINING  December 2021