Tag Archives: low-profile mining

Epiroc registers robust mining demand in Q3

Environmental, Mining equipment, Mining finance, Mining services, , , , , , ,

Epiroc continued to register high demand from the mining sector in the September quarter, as several large mining equipment orders were won over the three-month period, leading to a 17% year-on-year rise in orders received.

This total of SEK14.36 billion (US$1.29 billion) was supported by strong organic growth and acquisitions, Epiroc said, as well as its largest order ever received – a SEK700 million agreement to supply the Kamoa-Kakula copper operation in the DRC with Minetruck MT65 S haulers, Scooptram ST18 S loaders, Boomer 282 face drilling rigs and Simba E70 S production drilling rigs.

In a quarter that included no acquisitions, Epiroc saw its operating profit increase 12% to SEK3.26 billion, while its operating margin was up at 21.7%.

Helena Hedblom, President and CEO of the company, said the quarter saw particularly strong demand for its automation and connectivity solutions, which was reinforced by a recent agreement with Boliden, Algoryx and Örebro University to evaluate autonomous face drilling options, plus a separate strengthened cooperation with Newcrest Mining to take a holistic approach towards the entire mining process at several Newcrest mines.

Outside of these financial specifics, Hedblom said the company was also looking to consolidate several functions – transactional and human resources, among them – into new regional centres of excellence to better serve customers in certain markets as part of its wider operational excellence pursuit.

“These will be rolled out region by region,” she told IM.

One such change is happening in South Africa, with the company moving production of its low-profile machines from Örebro, Sweden, to South Africa. This move follows the acquisition of Aard Mining Equipment in April of this year, and recognition of a substantial portion of the low-profile market being in southern Africa, Hedblom acknowledged.

Aard, based in Chamdor near Johannesburg, designs, manufactures, services and supports a wide range of mining equipment, specialising in low-profile underground machines for mines with low mining heights. Its products include drill rigs, bolters, loaders, scalers, and more.

BEV retrofits on the up

A key differentiator in the Epiroc electrification portfolio that has been covered extensively by IM is the company’s battery-electric retrofit options.

Launched in the March quarter of 2021 – with the first retrofit kit offered for the ST1030 underground loader – the solution was viewed as a sustainable way to electrify machinery, with the conversion kits expected to be fitted during a midlife service rebuild.

Hedblom said interest for these retrofits continued to build from the mining community, with the company scaling up the number of retrofit kit models available, the expertise and resources to enact these changes, and the “standard operating procedures” required to offer this.

“It is still early days…but over the coming years we expect to have a mix of both new [battery-electric] equipment sales and retrofits coming through,” she said.

ARM selects Epiroc equipment to help restart Bokoni platinum mine

Equipment maintenance, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Epiroc says it has won a large order for low-profiling mining equipment from African Rainbow Minerals for use at its Bokoni platinum mine in Limpopo Province, South Africa.

African Rainbow Minerals has ordered drill rigs, loaders and mine trucks for use at the mine, which is restarting after operations were paused for care and maintenance in the past few years.

The machines ordered are built with a low profile well suited for the mine’s low tunnel heights. The equipment includes Boomer face drilling rigs, Boltec and Cabletec rock reinforcement rigs (an Epiroc Cabletec SL, pictured), Scooptram LHDs and Minetruck haul trucks. All machines come with Epiroc’s Certiq telematics solution for automated monitoring of productivity and machine performance. Other advanced features include, for example, the Boomer machines being equipped with a pilot hydraulic control system that further improves drilling accuracy.

The order is valued at more than ZAR200 million ($11.6 million) and was booked in the March quarter of 2023, with deliveries set to beging this quarter and continue into 2024.

“We are excited to once again provide equipment to the Bokoni platinum mine,” Helena Hedblom, Epiroc’s President and CEO, said. “We look forward to supporting African Rainbow Minerals as they restart and operate the mine in the most productive and safe way possible.”

Back at the end of 2021, ARM agreed to buy Bokoni from Anglo American Platinum and Atlatsa Resources, stating plans to restart mining operations in 2023.

Epiroc makes a play for low-profile underground equipment specialist AARD Mining

Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, , , , , , ,

Epiroc has signed an agreement to acquire South Africa-based low-profile mining equipment manufacturing specialist, AARD Mining Equipment, in a deal that will see the Stockholm-based OEM further strengthen its growth ambitions in Africa and beyond, Helena Hedblom says.

AARD, based near Johannesburg, designs, manufactures, services and supports a wide range of mining equipment, specialising in low-profile underground machines for mines with low mining heights. Its product line includes drill rigs, bolters, loaders, scalers and more. The company’s customers are mainly in the southern Africa region, with the company having approximately 200 employees and revenues in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, of about SEK650 million ($62 million).

“AARD has reputable and reliable products that complement our underground product portfolio well,” Hedblom, Epiroc’s President and CEO, said. “This acquisition will further strengthen our growth ambitions in Africa and beyond. We are looking forward to welcoming the great team at AARD to Epiroc.”

Mike Adendorff, AARD’s CEO, added: “We are excited about the prospect of continuing to grow the business within the Epiroc Group.”

The acquisition is expected to be completed in the next few months, with the transaction containing conditions normal for transactions of this nature, including regulatory approval from the competition authorities.

AARD was established in 1983 as part of the Boart group of companies. It is currently wholly owned by Matasis Mining Equipment Pty Ltd. The company’s corporate office and manufacturing facility are based in Chamdor on the West Rand, some 55 km from OR Tambo International Airport.

AARD’s product range of trackless mobile mining machinery (TM3) is used extensively on more than 30 base metal, precious metal, coal and diamond mines in sub-Sahara Africa. Its engineering and technical teams can custom design and build bespoke machines to suit customer’s needs, according to the company, with modifications and changes to existing equipment, as well as complete or partial rebuilds, able to be undertaken at the factory in Chamdor, Gauteng.

AARD says it continuously undertakes research and development, factoring this into the design and manufacture of equipment that meets customer requirements for improving safety and productivity.

The company carries a full range of spares and major components for its product range and, with satellite warehouses in Kuruman, Steelpoort, Rustenburg and at some mines, says it is able to make spares available on a 24/7 basis.

Alongside its facilities in South Africa, it also has subsidiaries in Zambia (AARD Zambia, based on the Copperbelt) and Zimbabwe (AARD Zimbabwe, based in Harare, Zimbabwe).

Sandvik welcomes new LH208L low-profile loader to Toro family

Mining equipment, , , , ,

Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions has added another low-profile unit to its Toro™ family, with the introduction of the Toro LH208L loader.

The loader is tailor-made to operate efficiently in conditions where working height is extremely limited, with an equipment height of just 1.6 m but high payload capacity of 7.7 t. The main market for the loader is southern Africa.

The Toro LH208L loader is a strong and reliable workhorse for low-profile hard-rock mining, specifically designed for the toughest of conditions, Sandvik says. The loader’s frame is reinforced to resist ground and roof impacts, with the welded steel box structures used in the frame and boom providing strong resistance to shock loads.

The machine is fitted with a ROPS and FOPS certified canopy, protecting the operator in the event of roll-over or falling objects. The canopy door includes a door lock and latch mechanism, with an interlock switch that automatically applies the brakes and inactivates boom, bucket and steering when the door is opened. Adjustable high-power LED lights as standard configuration enable better operator visibility, further enhanced by a standard monitoring camera system which includes front and rear cameras. To improve overall underground safety underground, a Proximity Detection System interface option is also available, Sandvik said.

The Toro LH208L also offers options specifically designed to improve productivity, such as Sandvik integrated weighing system IWS and traction control, both of which are already available for a number of other Sandvik loaders. The integrated weighing system measures the payload when lifting the boom, as well as the number of buckets filled during a shift, and records the results to My Sandvik Digital Services Knowledge Box™. Payload monitoring assists in maximising productivity by optimising loads, reducing overloading and helping to identify training needs, the company said. The traction control system reduces wheel slippage when penetrating the muck pile and filling the bucket, extending tyre lifetime and decreasing rubber waste.

The loader is equipped with a Deutz 140 kW Stage II engine, with catalytic purifier and muffler. The optional diesel particulate filter (DPF) is made of sintered metal and is field serviceable, cleaned using a high-pressure washer or steam cleaner. Using sintered metal as the DPF material also results in a long service interval, according to Sandvik. To reduce emissions and fossil fuel consumption, the engine can also use paraffinic fuel, thereby meeting BS EN 15940 requirements.