OST-Africa has developed the Efficiency Base (E-Base) system, which is a precision-engineered belt drive base system, developed to optimise tension, alignment and efficiency in pump and motor applications in mining and heavy industry.

“Our robust E-Base system is a self-tensioning base, designed for pump applications with V-belt drives, to ensure precise belt alignment and reduced energy losses. The E-Base was designed in response to persistent and costly drive-alignment problems reported by pump-station maintenance teams,” says Chantelle Scheepers, Marketing Manager of OST-Africa, specialists in the design and manufacture of screen, transmission and materials handling products.

“Companies are under pressure to reduce operating costs, streamline maintenance and extend the service life of critical equipment. Yet many operations are struggling with the effects of poor preventative maintenance, which leads to inefficient pump performance, higher operating costs and compromised system efficiency.

“Drive-belt inefficiency is a leading cause of production loss, unplanned repairs and energy waste in demanding environments. Industry studies and OST-Africa field data show that improper tensioning and misalignment account for up to 40 % of belt failures and a significant share of motor-bearing damage.

South Africa has cemented its position as a global centre for the production of Weir’s cutting edge ENDURON® Elite banana screens. Backed by major infrastructure investment at Weir’s Alrode facility in Gauteng, this site is now the first in the world dedicated solely to manufacturing this advanced new range.

The Alrode expansion adds a further 1,600 m² of dedicated production space under roof, equipped with two 63-ton gantry cranes operating at a clearance height of 18.5 metres, according to Alandré van Vuuren, Integrated Supply Chain Director at Weir. This strategic upgrade was driven by a landmark £53 million contract awarded to Weir by Barrick’s Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan, which includes the supply of fine grinding, separation, and tailings solutions.

“The advanced technological capability and rigorous quality assurance at our Alrode plant – together with our robust local and regional supply chain – enabled us to manufacture the first two ENDURON® Elite screens even before completion of the expansion,” says Van Vuuren.

“We already had the specialised expertise and equipment in place, including a laser facility capable of cutting the massive 12 m by 5 m side plates. In parallel, we ran a targeted supplier development programme to further strengthen and empower our local supply partners.”

Mines around Africa are creating economic momentum for new local markets and the spread of technology, supporting a level of social transformation that can be enhanced by more effective dialogue between public and private sector players.

As Cape Town hosted the Investing in African Mining Indaba, the focus again includes ways to harness mining’s contribution to inclusive and sustainable growth.

According to Andrew van Zyl, managing director of SRK Consulting (South Africa), the sector is an important catalyst in fostering intra-Africa trade, as well as opening up value chains in new technologies with significant social benefits.

“Mines play a vital role, often underestimated, in bringing critical mass to the adoption of valuable technologies that would otherwise struggle to gain a local foothold in communities around Africa,” said Van Zyl. “Decentralised renewable energy is a good example, which can rapidly transform livelihood opportunities, productivity and general standards of living among communities.”

The African mining equipment sector is entering a decisive phase. Growth across the continent is not simply expanding opportunity, it is fundamentally raising the performance, scale and efficiency standards required to remain competitive.

For mining operators, this shift turns equipment strategy into a long-term business decision rather than a routine capital upgrade.

Current projections indicate the sector will reach $3.84 billion by 2030, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 4,24% from 2025. Within this broader continental picture, South Africa stands out with particularly strong growth trajectories, its mining equipment market poised to expand from $1.27 billion in 2025 to $1.67 billion by 2030

At Mining Indaba 2026, AECI is stepping into the spotlight with a solution designed to meet one of mining’s most practical challenges: delivering electronic blasting precision without the complexity and scale of large systems.

As a mining solutions partner integrating explosives and electronic initiation, AECI is showcasing SmartShot Nano, a compact electronic initiation system developed for small to medium blasts within an integrated blasting workflow.

Designed with constrained environments in mind, SmartShot Nano extends the benefits of electronic initiation to development ends, trim shots, narrow access areas and short-separation work fronts, places where crews still need disciplined timing, but also value speed, portability and simplicity.

“SmartShot Nano is about precision without the burden of scale,” says Hendrik Botha, Global Portfolio Manager, Mining Explosives and Initiating Systems at AECI. “We designed it for smaller patterns and constrained spaces where crews still need disciplined timing and a straightforward setup they can trust.”

Realising value through a unified pit to port approach

As Mining Indaba 2026 convenes, African mining is undergoing a significant structural shift. The mining value chain is no longer linear. It has evolved into an interconnected ecosystem in which integrity at every stage directly influences commercial outcomes, investor confidence, and long-term resilience.

For operations seeking sustained investment and operational stability, fragmented approaches to sampling, inspection, and analysis are increasingly a liability. Disconnected data, duplicated processes, and unclear accountability introduce avoidable risk, steadily eroding value as materials move from pit to port and into global markets.

A unified pit to port strategy offers a clear solution. By supporting transparency and protecting margins across the value chain, an integrated testing, inspection, and certification approach allows mining companies to focus on their core strength of extraction. Accurately verifying the value of resources as they move through the value chain remains a high stakes exercise that demands independent expertise and consistent oversight.

SEW-EURODRIVE continues to strengthen its position as a leading partner to Africa’s mining industry, delivering robust, commodity-specific power pack and drive train solutions that support some of the continent’s most demanding mining operations.

With a deliberate, customer-centric strategy and decades of on-the-ground experience, the company has become synonymous with reliability, innovation, and long-term support in mining environments.

According to National Sales and Marketing Manager Jonathan McKey, the company’s mining journey began more than two decades ago and has since evolved into a continent-wide footprint spanning multiple mineral commodities.

“Twenty years ago, we secured our first major power pack contract for a platinum mine in Limpopo,” McKey recalls. “That project marked the beginning of our deep involvement in mining and today our gearboxes, motors and coupling combinations are operating in almost every mining environment across the continent.”

From platinum and gold to coal, copper, and chrome, SEW-EURODRIVE’s engineered drive train systems have become integral to mission-critical applications. This success is rooted not only in technical excellence, but in a systematic approach that prioritises understanding customer needs and building sustainable support ecosystems around every solution.

“As in every industry we serve, the success of our power packs lies in a systematic responsible approach that begins with a clear understanding of what the customer really needs,” McKey explains. “We don’t just develop application-specific solutions – we take it a step further by building a sustainable cost-effective supply chain and long-term support ecosystem to back those solutions well into the future.”

A step-by-step strategy built for long-term mining success

SEW-EURODRIVE’s expansion into mining has been anything but accidental. Each new commodity segment has been approached with careful planning, technical evaluation, and a commitment to long-term sustainability.

“We prioritise focus,” says McKey. “It is about understanding the landscape before we enter – not just from a technical standpoint, but also from a long-term support and capacity perspective.”

The company’s early work in platinum mining laid the foundation for this strategy, requiring detailed insight into gear ratios, power demands, and operating velocities.

“It was vital to understand the gear ratios, power requirements and velocities commonly used in platinum operations,” explains McKey. “That insight allowed us to rapidly grow our footprint in that segment expanding into neighbouring operations and quickly growing our customer base. From there, we moved into chrome mining.”

As SEW-EURODRIVE expanded into chrome and later coal mining, it adapted its designs to suit each environment, from standardised gear ratios in chrome to lighter materials and faster conveyor speeds in coal. This adaptability has positioned the company as a dominant supplier of industrial gearbox solutions across Africa.

“Today, we are arguably the dominant force in mining across Africa when it comes to industrial gearbox solutions,” McKey says. “That position wasn’t built overnight.”

A key enabler of this growth has been sustained local investment. Beginning with local assembly in Nelspruit in 2006, SEW-EURODRIVE expanded production and warehousing at its Aeroton headquarters in Johannesburg, where a Phase 2 expansion is now nearing completion.

Equally important has been the company’s emphasis on aftersales service and technical support.

“We knew early on that delivering quality products wasn’t enough – we had to match that with world class aftersales service,” McKey says.

Today, SEW-EURODRIVE is also helping mining customers transition toward smarter, more flexible operations through automation and digital control technologies.

“The traditional combination of motor, gearbox and fluid coupling for controlled start-up is evolving,” McKey notes. “Now, customers want flexible drive systems with precise speed control and the ability to adjust production rates on demand – and our technology is delivering that.”

Beyond gearmotors, the company also supplies full open gearing solutions for mills and other critical mining applications, offering fast, reliable drop-in replacements that minimise downtime and enhance operational continuity.