Tag Archives: Schmidt Kranz Group

GHH happy to leverage a key mining market niche

Automation, Environmental, Equipment maintenance, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Mining software, Power supply for mines, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

GHH is not in the business of forcing its customers to move in one direction or another; it is focused on delivering solutions that work for operators and mine sites today while offering options for what may come tomorrow.

The Schmidt Kranz Group-owned company has made a habit of supplying market niches across the globe, creating machines for the low-profile mines of southern Africa or narrow-vein operations in Latin America.

It has done this while retaining a key focus on the soft-rock sector in its German homeland – one dominated by a major salt and potash player.

Now, having assembled an impressive line-up of new machines over the last three-or-so-years and re-birthing a 10-t loader that the company expects to garner appeal across some major mining markets, GHH is out to claim more significant hard-rock mining share than it has in the past.

“Solid as a rock” is not just a catchy tagline the company attaches to its logo; it is also representative of the GHH machine point of difference.

“Robust, durable and reliable” are the three standout qualities the company highlighted at its most recent product launch in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. One can add to these traits an in-cab operator focus that isn’t always top priority for its fellow OEMs.

The latter element is reflective of the types of customers GHH has traditionally served in the mining space, as well as the need to treat operators with the respect they deserve – especially when there is less of them available to service mining operations in line with the global skills shortage.

The robustness and durability are easy elements to unpick given the company’s standard operating procedure for underground loaders is to allow them to run for 20,000 hours, carry out a machine re-build and let them work for another 15,000 hours thereafter, Ingo Rath, Product Manager for Loaders at GHH, explained.

“In fact, we sometimes have machines that are re-built a third or a fourth time and continue to operate in the field,” he told IM, emphasising this durability.

The reliability benefit is tied to the company’s careful engineering and design, aiming to remove unnecessary electronics that can lead to machine downtime and focusing on hydraulics wherever possible.

Some of the only electronics on-board your average GHH machine are specifically designed to improve uptime.

Take GHH inSiTE, for instance, a condition monitoring solution operating around the globe. This platform – in simplified terms – highlights potential issues that could lead to time in the workshop, while also reporting on individual machine performance.

On top of this, the company can provide real-time brake wear via sensor-based solutions. This is a critical element for both safety and maintenance.

It is not only the sparing use of electronics that bolsters GHH machine uptime.

Take the company’s tethered loaders as an example. Here, the company has designed the cable reel to be carefully distributed and retracted via a vertical coiling mechanism, as opposed to the horizontal equivalent some other manufacturers have elected to use.

This allows the company to offer cables up to 250-300 m in length that have drastically improved cable life, according to Jan Petzold, CEO of GHH Group.

“We’ve analysed the two options – vertical and horizontal reel configurations – and see that we can improve the lifetime of the cable more than twice with the vertical reel due to the reduced tension from controlled spooling,” he told IM.

Design for an outcome

The clever design goes beyond the robust, durable and reliable pillars GHH has built its reputation on.

The introduction of z-link kinematics on the body frame of the new LF10-NEO – as well as relocating the steering cylinders – has allowed the company to boast a 10-t-payload loader with the highest tipping height in its class. It is also a full 0.5 m above the tipping height offered by its predecessor, the LF10.

This is a significant point of difference in this popular class of underground loader and one that the company is confident will be appreciated in key markets like Latin America where the machine will be able to three-pass load not only the company’s MK-30 truck (to be launched next year), but also any other 30-t-payload underground truck on the market.

Modular design philosophy: the LF10-NEO has the same cab as the larger LF14, as well as left- and right-hand saddles bolted onto the back of the loader that can be removed and replaced if required for underground shaft transport

While the company has earned a reputation for delivering machines tailored to the application, it has also been attempting to incorporate more modular design into its newest models to improve maintenance times and reduce assembly durations.

The LF10-NEO, for instance, has the same cab as the larger LF14. It also has left- and right-hand saddles that are bolted onto the back of the loader and can be removed and replaced if required for underground shaft transport.

Within this modular blueprint, GHH is also able to offer a choice of engines on the same block from Volvo Penta or Mercedes for the LF10-NEO, ranging from EU Stage 3, to US Tier 4 Final and EU Stage 5.

This modularity is enabling the company to turn around machines quicker, which proves highly valuable when bidding on contracts from new hard-rock mining clients.

All the while, the company can design a tailored machine for a specific application should the right client come knocking. This was displayed when touring the factory in Gelsenkirchen, where a low-profile SLP-14E tethered electric machine was in the shop awaiting final build and factory acceptance testing.

This machine, like others in the company’s range, came about from collaboration with one of its key strategic customers in the underground mining space.

Pull, not push

GHH is focused on reducing engineering and maintenance complexity on its machines for its clients, but also wants to offer advanced options to those further down the road on their digitalisation and automation initiatives.

Thanks to the help of Schmidt Kranz Group company, Nerospec SK, the company provides an interface to be able to bolt on Level-9 compliant collision avoidance systems to any machine. This, according to Harald Bornebroek, Business Development Manager at Nerospec, represents the first level of automation, with the neroHUB on board these machines able to automatically take over the braking function should an impending accident arise.

The company is also able to offer OEM-agnostic teleremote applications where machines are operating in particularly dangerous areas of a mine – where high seismicity has been observed as an example – but it can also help fully automate loading or haulage operations.

Eric Pohlmann, CEO of Nerospec, highlighted two such applications in Germany – one at an underground salt mine in Germany where a GHH loader is dumping into a crusher and one at a quarry involving a fully-autonomous load and haul pairing from the Germany-based OEM.

And, on the topic of automation, GHH can also claim a world first, having, with the help of the University of Chile’s Advanced Mining Technology Center, run a loading operation at a room and pillar mine without any human interaction in the South American country.

The difference between GHH and most of the other OEMs it is competing with is that GHH is not actively ‘pushing’ these solutions on clients. It is reacting to their evolving needs.

Petzold brought up an excellent example of this when questioned about if the company will create a battery-electric loading and haulage line-up in the future.

To this point, the company only has one machine, the LF19-EB, that has a battery on-board. The battery, however, is used solely for relocating the machine between one loading area and another. Most tasks are carried out with the machine tethered to the existing mine power network via a cable.

The LF19-EB has a battery on-board used for relocating the machine between one loading area and another. Other tasks are carried out with the machine tethered to the existing mine power network via a cable

This machine has been performing well for one of GHH’s key soft-rock customers and, recently, has come to the attention of one of Europe’s biggest underground hard-rock mining companies – interest that could soon result in a machine order.y

For Petzold, this is a much more realistic way of introducing electrification to the underground sector, allowing mine operations to utilise existing power infrastructure as opposed to forcing them into a major redesign.

“While battery-electric loaders may have their application, the need to recharge a whole fleet of them and put extra pressure on the grid means most operations will not be able to support them with their existing power infrastructure,” he said. “With more flexible cable-electric solutions, like that offered with the LF19-EB, this is not an issue.”

Petzold added that higher diesel prices, on top of the need to decarbonise operations, will lead more mining companies to look at these ‘entry-level’ cable-electric solutions sooner rather than later.

For the time being, GHH Group is happy to stick with this philosophy knowing the niche it is mining in the sector continues to make it stand out for all the right reasons.

PERFORATOR develops industry-first automated friction welding machine for drill pipes

Automation, Mining equipment, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , ,

PERFORATOR has started producing drill pipe with the industry’s first automated friction welding machine, it says.

In July, the Walkenrieder, Germany-based company kicked off production with its brand-new robotic tube handling system, which comes with a friction welding machine for drill pipes.

“This friction welding was developed according to our specific requirements and is unique in the drill pipes industry,” Johann-Christian von Behr, CEO at PERFORATOR GmbH, says. “We needed it to work for a maximum range of products, from very small to extra-large diameters. We are now able to friction weld all kinds of drill pipes within this range: 40-220 mm diameter; 4-25 mm wall thickness; and 0.5-13 m length.

“At the same time, it provides additional functionalities that enable us to perform our friction-welding processes much more efficiently and with more flexibility.”

The new system was assembled and installed on site during the past 10 months, in close cooperation with several providers. Special features include the automated loading and unloading system – made up of individual separating and conveyer systems – and two robots that allow more flexible use of the friction welding machine.

Set-up and training times have been reduced and the loading system obtains its data automatically from the controls of the welding machine, according to PERFORATOR. In addition, the cycle time can be lowered.

von Behr explained: “We were looking for a welding machine with automated loading system that could accommodate our various demands. As we couldn’t find a suitable complete solution on the market, we contacted various suppliers and, together with them, we were able to engineer an individually designed machine.”

With this “unique” installation, PERFORATOR says it has been able to improve the quality of its products and improve its process reliability through friction-welding, a process, it claims, is more efficient than traditional arc welding technology.

With this investment, PERFORATOR says it has enhanced its competitive position, particularly in the drill pipes industry.

PERFORATOR, a Schmidt Kranz Group company, is specialised in the design and manufacturing of a wide range of horizontal and vertical drilling technologies. Its core competencies are in the field of drill pipes, drilling tools and injection and grouting pumps.

Nerospec and Schmidt Kranz Group combine automation, digitalisation expertise

Automation, Communications in mining, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , ,

South Africa’s Nerospec Group and Germany’s Schmidt Kranz Group have joined forces to, they say, implement flexible wireless automation and digitalisation solutions for its mining customers.

The two companies signed a shareholder agreement this month to form the new German entity, Nerospec SK GmbH. Nerospec Group is renowned for its reliable wireless communication and machine control technology (particularly proximity detection to trackless mining machine interface and control solutions) within sub-Saharan Africa. Schmidt Kranz Group, meanwhile, has a wide array of products and services for the mining industry through companies such as GHH, Hazemag, allmineral and Mine Master, and operates in 25 countries.

“Founding Nerospec SK is part of our strategy of expanding our global business and delivering a promising new generation of specialised underground mining technology products,” Michael Bruno, CEO and founder of Nerospec Group (top left), said. “Our objective is to innovate underground wireless connectivity solutions, perfect data acquisition and control systems, enhance edge computing and apply the industry’s best-in-class automation technologies. In so doing, we are advancing the automation of ore extraction processes, specifically within the harsh and unforgiving underground mining environment.”

Nerospec SK offers specialised underground mining technology to an existing global customer base. The technology is OEM-independent and is tailored by Nerospec SK specifically in accordance with individual customer requirements, it said. This way, its solutions can add maximum value to customers worldwide through improved connectivity, timeous decision-making information and automation techniques, for any brand, type and generation of machine.

Mortimer Glinz, CEO and shareholder of Schmidt Kranz Group (top right), said: “Our combined underground mining knowledge providing for the efficient implementation of our digital solutions will hoist productivities to a new level. At reasonable cost, we support our customers with reliable cutting-edge technology keeping their miners safe and at the same time increasing transparency of their operations.”

GHH and STE team up to take on eastern Australia mining market

Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , ,

GHH, a specialist in civil engineering and mining machinery, has set its sights on the Australasian region after signing a partnership agreement with Sydney-based Specialist Tunnel Excavation (STE).

With its loaders, dump trucks and utility vehicles for rock logistics above and below ground, GHH has long been represented on many continents. Now the manufacturer, part of the Schmidt Kranz Group, is adding to its sales office in Brisbane, Australia, by joining up with STE.

“We want to shorten the distance to our customers in Australia,” GHH Global Sales Manager, Ken Stapylton, said on the agreement. “Contact before, during and after the purchase is important to us – after all, we are happy to supply tailor-made solutions”.

STE will help GHH cover eastern Australia. With 25 years’ experience on the Australasian continent, STE, like GHH, supplies turnkey solutions: for bulk and detail rock excavation using surface mining, tracked trenchers and specialist excavators for applications across tunnelling, road, rail, civil, mining and pipeline projects throughout Australia and New Zealand, GHH says.

Lee McCourt, Director of STE, said: “GHH completes our range of high-quality machines for almost everything in the field of rock logistics that drives on wheels.”

McCourt’s business was established to provide target industries with a more efficient and safer method of excavation of rock geology, through use of the latest equipment and technology available anywhere in the world, according to GHH.

“The German machine technology fits in perfectly as it is characterised by a driver-friendly, ergonomic design, robust and safe construction and high economic efficiency,” it said. “And, when it comes to ‘going green’, most of the GHH equipment is available in Tier 3, Tier 4 Final and Stage V engine emission packages. Only recently, GHH won an international prize for its product design.”

A first joint project is already being planned between the two companies, but GHH says a whole range of vehicles from other co-operations are being put into position for eastern Australia.