Modern Mining May 2018

CRUSHING, SCREENING AND MILLING

Kwatani busy with big order to supply screens to coal mine

Leading vibrating screen expert Kwatani is supplying one of South Africa’s biggest coal mining operations with 44 screens and feeders. The contract is probably the biggest of its type to have been awarded in South Africa in recent years and the biggest ever secured by Kwatani. A number of the screens boast widths of up to 4,3 m.

T he vibrating screens and feeders are for a new coal treatment fa- cility that will produce an added coal fraction destined both for lo- cal consumption and export, and which will rely on expanded rail provision by Transnet. “The size of the order demonstrates not just the faith that the customer places in our cus- tom-engineered products but also the capacity and expertise that resides in our business and extensive facilities in Spartan,” says Kwatani CEO Kim Schoepflin. The total order includes two large double- deck run-of-mine screens measuring 3 m wide by 9 m long and three 2,4 m by 6 m degra- dation screens which will be installed in the mine’s drum plant. Kwatani is also supplying

Kim Schoepflin, CEO of Kwatani.

20 screens and three feeders for the cyclone plant, including five 3 m wide by 7 m long desliming screens. Among the largest units are the drain and rinse screens; four of the 16 supplied machines boast dimensions of 4,3 m by 7 m. In a further

The pride and joy of Kwatani, the 4,3 mwide scalper exhibited dur- ing a recent open day at Kwatani’s premises.

indication of scale, each of the units is driven by two large gearboxes which deliver a centrifugal force of over 460 kN each. The company’s capability allows it to handle contracts of this magni- tude while continuing to service all its customers to the level that they expect, says Schoepflin. “Compliance to the mining char- ter is also increasingly important in the coal sector, and Kwatani – as the first and only vibrating screen com- pany to meet and exceed charter requirements coupled with a BBBEE Level of 3 – offers this assurance to stakeholders as well as contribut- ing to our customers’ BBBEE points when they tender for local coal sup- ply contracts,” she says. The company was also able to offer the customer an attractive commercial package, according

36  MODERN MINING  May 2018