Modern Mining May 2018

PRODUCT News

Schauenburg contributes to DigiMine initiative

Schauenburg Systems, a South African original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for mine/industry safety and productivity

solutions, is an associated partner with the Sibanye Stillwater/Wits Mining Institute DigiMine Laboratory. Almost two years ago, under the ini- tiative of Professor Frederick Cawood of the Wits Mining Institute, a one-of-a-kind simulated mining operation facility was implemented at the Chamber of Mines building on the West Campus of the uni- versity. The simulation consists of a mine surface area (on the roof of the building), a vertical shaft (using a stairwell), and a mock-up underground mine and control room in the basement. The lab is equipped with digital systems to enable research for the ‘Mine of the Future’. The objective is to transfer surface digital technologies into the underground environment, enabling a mine to automatically and remotely observe, evaluate and take action by using tech- for many years, providing electricity to the national grid and significantly contributing to the economic and social development of the country. Having a Wärtsilä power plant at Geita gold mine, along with a 10-year operation and maintenance agreement, we are entering another key industry segment in Tanzania, which reflects customers’ con- fidence in Wärtsilä’s products and services,” says Rashid Shamsi, Director, Service Unit East Africa, Wärtsilä. Geita Gold Mining Limited is a subsid- iary of AngloGold Ashanti. Wärtsilä also supports the power plant at Siguiri mine in Guinea, owned by another subsidiary of AngloGold Ashanti, through a 10-year oper- ations and maintenance agreement. Celalettin Tanagar, Wärtsilä Services, e-mail: celalettin. tanagar@wartsila.com

nology to enhance protection of mine workers against the typical risks that they are exposed to on a daily basis. Schauenburg Systems focuses on using the latest digital technologies to set stan- dards in health, safety and productivity applications suitable for underground and surface operations. Comments Ettiene Pretorius, Business Manager at Schauenburg: “Our company’s mission is to enhance safety and productivity in the mining and industrial markets through innovation and excellent services for the benefit of all stakeholders.” The Schauenburg Systems ‘digital system’ implemented for the DigiMine Laboratory is the Mine Wide Integrated Monitoring and Control System (MIMACS) product. Schauenburg’s MIMACS solution addresses multiple safety and productiv- ity concerns within the underground and surface mining discipline. Modules of the MIMACS system imple- mented are:  New generation cap lamps (PTC Safelite) including wireless and digital communication.  Portable gas detection instruments (GDI Sentinel) with real time digital data downloading capabilities.  Lamproom and Asset Management system.  R e a l t ime pe r s onne l l o c a t i on monitoring.  Fixed environmental monitoring. Upgrades and new features to the sys- tem are continuously implemented and students are trained to monitor and main- tain the system under the guidance and supervision of post-graduate researchers, Mosima Matlhwana and Faiq Javaid. Schauenburg Systems, tel (+27 10) 590-1571, website: www.schauenburg.co.za

Neal Froneman (left), CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater, and Manuel Pereira, Sales Executive at Schauenburg Systems, at the recent launch of DigiMine.

Wärtsilä to operate Geita power plant The technology group Wärtsilä has signed an operations and maintenance agreement with Geita Gold Mining Limited in Tanzania. In terms of the ten-year agreement signed at the end of 2017, Wärtsilä Services will provide the Geita gold mine with high reliability in operations and maintenance throughout the entire lifecycle of the mine’s 40 MWpower plant. In case of a breakdown, Wärtsilä guarantees immediate repair, securing cost-effective power plant opera- tions and uninterrupted electrical supply for the mine.

Under Wärtsilä’s operations and mainte- nance agreement, local employees are to be recruited and trained to operate and main- tain the power plant. “Wärtsilä has built, operated and main- tained baseload power plants in Tanzania

56  MODERN MINING  May 2018