Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group, a world leader in mining tyre management and supply, says it will be showcasing several of its newest innovations designed to help maximise tyre life and productivity at the upcoming Electra Mining Africa and MINExpo exhibitions in September, being held in Johannesburg, South Africa and Las Vegas, USA respectively. While Kal Tire’s reputation in the mining industry grew from supplying and servicing tyres on mine sites around the world, over the last 45 years, the company has also become known for developing solutions to drive tire performance and safety.
“Kal Tire has always believed in looking for a better way to do things, and often that’s meant getting our hands dirty to come up with the solution ourselves,” says Dan Allan, Senior Vice President, Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group. “Innovation in tyre management has become a critical part of what we do and how we help our customers remain competitive. We look forward to showcasing some our newest solutions to solve customers’ tyre challenges at these exhibitions.”
The company will be showcasing its award-winning Ultra Repair™ technology—Kal Tire’s exclusive product and process for repairing large injuries on ultra-class tyres that may have previously been deemed irreparable. The process involves replacing damaged or broken steel belts in ultra-class tyres to restore the tyre’s original strength, integrity and performance at a fraction of the cost of new tyres. With over 10 years of proven success in Canada, Kal Tire brought Ultra Repair™ to mine sites in the UK and West Africa. It will also be available in Australia and Chile later this year.
Mine operators in western Canada now have a solution for one of their major environmental concerns thanks to Kal Tire’s new OTR recycling service. In 2016, Kal Tire partnered with a leader in tyre recycling to give western Canadian mine operators their first opportunity to have scrap tyres disposed, shredded and converted into products such as sports field flooring. This new plant, located in northern Alberta, will have the capacity to recycle nearly 6,000 tyres per year (including ultra-class tyres). “Until now, scrap tyres on a mine site were used for berms or retraining walls or simply sent to the scrap pile for storage and that’s probably where they stayed,” says Bob Bennett, Vice President of Operations in Canada, Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group. “We sell and service these tyres, and we wanted to offer customers a simple, proven, environmentally approved alternative when tyres reach the end of their life. This arrangement works well because we already serve customers on many of these sites.” This recycling solution will be made available to other markets in the near future.
In addition to introducing the OTR recycling process, Kal Tire will also be reinforcing the value of another form of recycling: retreading. Over the last 45 years, Kal Tire has advanced its retreading processes and incorporated new technology to ensure its retreaded tires perform as well as premium brands of new tyres. Based on the success of these retreaded tyres and with the expertise gained over time, Kal Tire has expanded this service to include five world-class earthmover retread facilities located in Canada, the UK, West Africa and Chile.