Amid growing demand for its crushing and screening services, Trollope Mining Services, one of the largest open-pit mining contractors in Africa, has continued to increase its fleet of Metso machines from Pilot Crushtec, the South Africa-based company says.

With nearly 500 pieces of equipment in its fleet, Trollope has over the years established itself as the go-to contractor in the open-pit mining sector in southern Africa, it says. Currently operating in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, the company has also previously executed projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea. The company operates across commodities including but not limited to coal, platinum, copper, andalusite, gold, phosphate, lithium, iron ore, manganese, diamonds and limestone.

To establish itself as a total solutions provider in the mining contracting fraternity, Trollope Mining Services added a crushing and screening division to its business in 2016. Managing Director, Guy Hopkins, says that in the past three years the division has seen exponential growth on the back of some major projects, necessitating an expansion of the crushing and screening fleet.

Following the fleet expansion program, Trollope Mining Services now operates a total of 15 machines. Of note is that the whole fleet is made up of only Metso machines.

“We prefer Metso machines because of our experience with the equipment,” Hopkins says. “Fundamentally, the design and build quality of these machines are unmatched. Our buying decision is also influenced by the technological evolution of the Metso offering, which allows us to run ‘hands off’ operations. Apart from improved efficiencies, technology paves the way for improved safety on mining sites.”

Of its 15 Metso machines, six are dual-powered units, making Trollope Mining Services the biggest operator of Metso hybrid crushers and screens in southern Africa, confirms Charl Marais, Sales Manager at Pilot Crushtec. The dual-power fleet comprises two Lokotrack® LT120E™ jaw crushers, a Lokotrack LT330D™ cone crusher and three Lokotrack ST2.8E™ scalping screens. These were expressly purchased for a project in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.

With their ability to have both electricity and diesel as power sources, Marais says dual-power solutions provide the best of both worlds – significant fuel savings and a marked reduction in carbon emissions. “Significant cost reduction is achieved when the machines are connected to the grid,” he explains.

Hopkins added: “Given the high cost of diesel, dual-powered solutions help reduce operating costs for our customers. In our experience, the cost of running bi-power machines off the grid is 1/20 the cost of running them off a diesel engine. There is therefore a major cost benefit for our customers’ operations.”

Apart from the Metso build quality, Hopkins says the aftermarket support from Pilot Crushtec is crucial to ensuring high uptime.

“In all our buying decisions, having a partner that we can trust for the long term is fundamental,” he said. “Pilot Crushtec plays a crucial role in supporting us with all the necessary spares and technical expertise to keep our Metso machines running.”