Modern Mining May 2018

CRUSHING, SCREENING AND MILLING

those skills in-country and nurture young engi- neers in the customer-focused ethic for which Weir Minerals Africa is known. “At the top level, our team of process engi- neers brings years of experience from the mining sector, so they are familiar with cus- tomers’ operations and expectations,” he says. “This knowledge feeds into the way we evolve our service and product offering, as well as how we prepare the next generation of engineers for their role in supporting and building a sustain- able mining sector.” Weir Minerals’ talent pipeline is a testament to transformation and diversity, with 89 black learners – one third of them women – currently being prepared for their future roles in the com- pany. The programme is set to grow further in 2018, with 115 learners targeted to participate. The learners represent a wide range of Weir Minerals’ developmental initiatives, from bur- sary students and graduates to internships and apprenticeships. The result is an in-house process that Steenbok calls the ‘mill circuit university’ – ensuring that Weir Minerals Africa remains at the cutting edge of comminution technology and can offer solutions that reduce the total cost of equipment ownership for mines while contributing directly to the health of their bot- tom lines. “As important as our expanding product range is to our ability to provide solutions, we also ensure that all applications, manufacturing and service must meet Weir Minerals’ global standards of performance,” he says. “This includes ongoing capacity building throughout our extensive network of branches that support our installed base across Africa.” A strength of the business is its strong African footprint beyond South Africa, sup- porting the gold mines of West Africa from its base in Ghana, while also having a presence in Tanzania to service the gold mining regions of East Africa. Central Africa remains a key growth area for Weir Minerals, where it services a sizeable share of the copper mining sector in Zambia and elsewhere. The aggregate business in the Middle East is also a strong market for Weir Minerals, driven by extensive infrastructure and building devel- opments and the demand for Trio ® crushers and Enduron ® screens for these applications is encouraging. Steenbok emphasises the long term view that Weir Minerals takes to its contribution to the mining industry, which is shown in the sizeable portion of research and development that is ploughed into product development.

“Our approach is to ensure responsive and open communication between the design and manufacturing arm, as well as the sales and after-market support function – at all times,” he says. “Critical information is fed from oper- ations level to our engineering department so that improvements can constantly be made to existing and new product lines.” He also notes the importance of the long- term commitment to customers, based on the organisation’s strong and established position. “We never walk away from a customer – they know that,” says Steenbok. “We are here for the long haul, and are committed to making customers’ businesses more efficient, more profitable and more sustainable.” He concludes that Weir Minerals is directing ongoing attention towards ensuring ‘operational readiness’ in its projects, an approach that takes account of the multiple points of coordination and logistics when rolling out a solution for a customer. This attention to detail, he says, makes sure that all aspects of a job are imple- mented to the highest standards of quality, first time around. 

The sandwash plant during installation at Oranje Mynbou en Vervoer.

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May 2018  MODERN MINING  51