IM Editorial Director Paul Moore met with Cipriano Lopez Fanjul, Mining Division Director at ventilation solutions major, Zitron, at the MMH mining event in Seville, Spain in October 2024 to discuss the company’s background and market strengths. Below is a summary of the wide ranging conversation.

Q How important is mining for Zitron as one of the key markets you serve?

We need to start by looking at the roots of the company. Zitron was founded in 1963 in Asturias, one of the provinces in the north of Spain. At that time, the main industries in the region were coal mining and steel production, so our focus during those years was the supply of machinery and accessories to the existing coal mining operations including ventilation equipment, winches, drilling tools and hoisting solutions. In the 1990s, EU-led policies to cut coal-fired power generation plus loss of subsidies was the beginning of a long decline of coal mining in Spain; as a consequence, Zitron started to branch out into other markets such as infrastructure and civil tunnelling, where in ventilation we are the global leader – we are present for example in over 150 underground metro systems in the world. Going back to your question, I would like to emphasise that mining remains at the heart of the company as it represents our origins. Mining saw a downturn in general in the late 1990s and early 2000s but today it is undoubtably a significant and growing industry in global terms – and that includes Europe, with events like MMH in Seville now attracting over 15,000 people. Within this positive context, our distinct mining division was re-founded in 2020, as before that date infrastructure and mining coexisted as a single operational unit. Since then, we have been reinforcing our team by incorporating mining ventilation engineers, engineering consultants or maintenance specialists, to name a few, with the objective of enhancing our offering in mining. We also have a very strong electrical, control and instrumentation department which develops hardware, software and tools specifically designed for mining applications with strategic focus on automation, optimisation of processes, energy saving, and sustainability.

IM Editorial Director Paul Moore with Cipriano Lopez Fanjul, Mining Division Director – Zitron at MMH 2024 in Seville

Q Are there any particular aspects of ventilation digitalisation in mining today that are worth highlighting such as autonomy and real time, on-demand adjustment?

Automation in mining is undoubtedly the trend, which is closely tied to digitalisation. What you don’t measure, you don’t know, so concepts such as: monitoring, control, automation are fully related to the reduction of operational costs in mining. Ventilation is one of the mining processes which offers a lot of opportunities in terms of optimisation, noting that on average, 20 to 30% of the energy used in underground mines is for ventilation. Every dollar that can be saved in terms of energy adds up to a significant total. During recent years, Zitron has developed and implemented a series of on-demand ventilation tools and technologies based on different criteria: continuous monitoring of environmental conditions (different sources of gas emissions and/or heat), evolutive work scheduling, management of ventilation during emergencies, adaptation to different production scenarios throughout the LOM, etc. Additionally, we have recently incorporated into our servicing package a predictive maintenance system that can help our clients to minimise their expenses in terms of maintenance of the ventilation equipment, but also increasing their life cycle and maximising their availability by reducing unexpected stoppages. The technology developed by Zitron, unlike some in the industry, is also very flexible in how it can be implemented based on varying local practices or regulations, different mine types or end-user needs. Basically, the way we usually operate is as follows: our mining engineering and consulting team would visit the mine site to understand the operation and the optimisation opportunities in detail, so we can propose, coordinate and design the most suitable application accordingly. The service package would ideally include the implementation of an independent SCADA or integration with an existing one. One aspect to be highlighted is that our digitalisation tools can be applied on both primary and secondary ventilation systems, understanding that the management of a whole underground mine ventilation network and equipment must be considered as a complex system requiring of the highest level of integration.

Q The focus in mining is growing again in Europe with a realisation that strategically there needs to be more production of critical minerals – are there any important existing mining clients for Zitron you can mention?

It took time – and the occurrence of some well-known recent events – for the Europe and Europeans to realise and understand that we must ensure the production of our own critical minerals; and so here we are now, with plenty of mining projects being developed from scratch or based on the reopening of existing old mines, which is exciting news. As an example, even if you only focus on our local market -the Iberian Peninsula, we have a promising perspective in front of us, with high-value projects from operators and operations like MATSA, ALMINA, Somincor, ICL Iberpotash, Cobre Las Cruces, Masa Valverde, Los Frailes, Geoalcali, El Moto and others. A similar conclusion can also be drawn across the entire EU and UK, without forgetting the important Turkish market, where we are also extremely well positioned.

Q Further afield how does Zitron deliver solutions to mining customers in terms of your network?

I would say that efficient servicing along with proximity to the client is the key factor to having success in the mining market; this principle has remained unchangeable since Zitron was founded more than 60 years ago. As stated before, our HQ is in Gijón (Asturias), northern Spain, where our main factory sits along with our AMCA certified underground test bench, however in order to keep the abovementioned proximity to the customer, we have 23 subsidiaries around the world – most of them directly owned –  which allows us to provide a dedicated local servicing and better engagement with customers. In many of these subsidiaries we also have manufacturing facilities, and it is not coincidence that most of our principal branches are based in mining countries, such as: Chile, Canada, Mexico, USA, South Africa, Turkey, Australia and India. We employ more than 800 people worldwide, so although we are a family-owned company and not a giant at all, we still have a remarkable footprint in most of the mining markets.

Q Ventilation in mining is a highly competitive market with only a few players – what would you say were Zitron’s differentiators?

There is no doubt that our major competitors like Howden, TLT, and some others, also supply very high-quality ventilation systems and solutions and they have a long history in this market niche, just like us. At Zitron, however, we like to think we are laser focused on the client necessities – and as a relatively small company that enables us to come up with very customised, site-specific solutions and to have extreme adaptability and flexibility to every customer’s needs. We have very strong ties with our clients based on trust and confidence built up often over many years. We also have a very strong aftermarket commitment – if there is a problem with one of our products, we will be there as long as it takes to get it resolved. Zitron remains as a family company, so the spirit and mentality of the employees continues in that way, and we hope it will be like this for another 60 years at least.