A change of fortunes for South Africa’s beleaguered textile sector depends on many factors – and leading operations and maintenance service provider to the steam and boiler sector, Associated Energy Services (AES), can make a material difference to its future success.

“AES has been active in the sector since the 1990s, and has first-hand experience of its implosion after trade liberalisation and an influx of cheap imports toppled less competitive local companies, leading to the loss of over 100 000 jobs. Now, we are well positioned to share our knowledge around energy optimisation, to make a real difference in the much-needed revitalisation of the textile sector,” says Managing Director, Chris Paterson.

Weaving a new textile tomorrow

According to Paterson, the company is already working with a large textile dyehouse in KwaZulu-Natal, looking at options for optimising its steam supply. “Most of the current hope and positivity within the textile sector hinges on key market changes. Overall, according to the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), the textile industry accounts for 14% of manufacturing employment (60 000 to 80 000 jobs) and contributes around 8% to GDP (gross domestic product).

According to the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster (CCTC), a not-for-profit initiative established by government and industry to boost competitiveness, the sector stabilised after 2014 by implementing best practices, lean manufacturing principles and a government-supported machinery modernisation programme,” Paterson points out.

Having built its reputation as a responsive and reliable partner in the field of dewatering, heavy duty slurry pump and dredging, IPR is now well positioned to provide customers with all they need.

Managing Director Lee Vine says that the company’s success is a combination of quality global brands and solid home-grown expertise. This allows IPR not only to represent and market the highest quality of equipment, but also to specify optimal solutions and design customised products that support customers’ efficient operation.

“Our professionalism over the years has led us into partnerships with the world’s leading pump manufacturers,” says Vine. “Among these collaborations is our role as master distributor for Atlas Copco dewatering pumps in southern Africa, as well as our agency across sub-Saharan Africa for the Toyo range of specialised heavy duty submersible slurry pumps.”

These brands, he explains, are today the core of a comprehensive rental fleet that drives IPR’s vision of becoming the leading player in dewatering and heavy duty slurry pumping. The IPR fleet has everything a customer needs – from electrical submersible pumps to diesel-driven pump sets – for a quick and sustainable response. Its success to date has also been underpinned by its design expertise and modern workshop facilities.

Making mines safer and more productive has long been the strategic intention of mine automation, and surface drill rigs are now part of this technological evolution.

According to Kabelo Nkoana, Business Line Manager for Automation and Digitisation at Sandvik Southern Africa, AutoMine® is available for Sandvik i-Series models in the company’s intelligent range of down-the-hole top hammer and rotary blast hole drill rigs. Mining customers in southern Africa have been embracing the functionality, and reporting positive results.

“Sandvik AutoMine® system essentially replicates the machine control system to enable remote automation over the mine’s Wi-Fi network,” he says. “There is an awareness that safety could be compromised when rigs are operating close to a highwall, or when there are unstable geological conditions on the bench. Automating a drill rig in these conditions is an important contributor to safety.”

Surface drills

Sandvik’s i-Series machines come standard with features such as the onboard data collection unit technology for engine operation and other major components. Various operational and machine health data from the sensors are collected in the OEM’s Knowledge Box, and transmitted to cloud storage for analysis and real time reporting to support informed and accurate decision making. This creates the foundation for the automation process, which also enhances reliability and performance.

Pilot Crushtec’s crushing and screening solutions are key for a wide range of applications within the energy minerals sector, and the company has built a significant footprint in these industry segments.

Wayne Warren, Sales Manager Africa at Pilot Crushtec, highlights that the company has crushing and screening equipment operating successfully in lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel, copper and graphite operations in the region.

“The flexibility of our mobile and modular equipment allows customers to tailor solutions to match diverse ore characteristics and processing plant requirements. This adaptability is crucial, especially when dealing with variations within the same commodity category, like lithium ores that differ in behaviour,” he explains.

Pilot Crushtec

Pilot Crushtec’s equipment selection also considers material abrasiveness, minimising equipment wear by bypassing crushers when necessary. Their mobile equipment often includes pre-screening options as standard, reducing the need for additional screens.

Having witnessed that customers often need robust and compact on-site lighting, IPR now offers the range of Olikara lighting towers to suit every application.

The specialist pump dewatering company can now provide lighting solutions as part of its package, according to Warren Spann, Business Development Manager at IPR. The Olikara range of QubePower lighting towers includes three different sizes, and can be powered by diesel or petrol engines, solar or battery power, or mains electricity.

“All models share the ability to withstand the rigours of mining, infrastructure and industrial environments,” says Spann. “As a leader in pumping solutions, we can offer the Olikara QubePower range with the same attention to quality, support and maintenance that our customers have become accustomed to.”

Olikara range

At the smaller end of the range is the QubePower Mini – an ultra-compact, petrol driven unit with a 10 foot extendable tower with 400 W LED lights. In the mid-range is the QubePower model, a medium sized lighting tower powered by an air-cooled diesel engine and with its compact footprint this model allows more towers to be carried per truckload.

Alpha Exploration Ltd.  has provided an update on the drilling results from Aburna Gold Prospect, located within the Kerkasha Project in Eritrea.

Potential

The ongoing drilling program consists of both reverse-circulation drilling and diamond core drilling. Assays have been received from 16 holes completed over the Hill 52, Central, and Northeast Area prospects on Aburna. Aburna is a major orogenic gold prospect covering an area of at least 7km long and 2km wide. It is one of the three significant discoveries made by Alpha on the Kerkasha license in the last three years. These holes extend a wide, high-grade zone of mineralization initially defined in 2022.

Michael Hopley, Alpha’s President & CEO, expressed satisfaction with the results, particularly highlighting the extension of high-grade zones and the identification of shallow, high-grade mineralization at Hill 52. The technical team is preparing additional drill targets to further extend mineralization.

A total of 33 drillholes for 6,033 meters have been completed at Central Area, Hill 52, and Northeast Area. Further assay results are awaited, and additional drilling is planned as part of the ongoing program. The highly mineralized shoot at Hill 52 is larger in size and higher in grade than expected, with a shallow plunge. The shoot is contained within a larger shear zone, with high-grade zones developed within dilate areas created by internal structures. The shoot is fairly well defined for 200m along strike and is open down dip and down plunge.

Pasofino Gold Limited is is gearing up for an extensive exploration campaign in Bukon Jedeh, Liberia, as part of its Dugbe gold project.

Bukon Jedeh

Bukon Jedeh is situated on a 4.1km trend of productive artisanal gold mining, located about 10 km southeast of the Dugbe Gold Project in Liberia. Despite its abundant gold and history of production, the area’s geology and potential are not fully understood.

In 2012/2013, Reverse Circulation (RC) drill holes found high-grade gold intervals in the Tuzon and Dugbe F deposits. Pasofino revisited the area in 2022 and collected up to 31 g/t gold samples. Pasofino plans to commence exploration with diamond core drilling in March 2024. The drilling will involve testing a selection of ‘hard rock’ pits, twinning some previous RC drill holes, and testing the fold-hinge target. The company aims to better understand the geology through geological mapping and high-resolution ground magnetic survey data.

The drill rig has been mobilized from Monrovia to Greenville, a coastal town located about 70 km from Bukon Jedeh. Preparation of access roads and drill sites is ongoing. A 125-150 line-km ground magnetic survey will be conducted by SEMS Exploration of Ghana to assist in positioning drillholes and interpreting results.

K92 Mining Inc. has reported the findings from its inaugural drill program at Arakompa, situated near the Kainantu Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea.

The project, located approximately 4.5 km southeast of the Kainantu Gold Mine’s processing facility, has shown promising results from the first two drill holes. John Lewins, the CEO and Director of K92 Mining Inc., expressed enthusiasm about the early results, highlighting the multiple intersections and substantial size potential observed through surface sampling, drill holes, and local workings.

Drill results

The mineralized corridor at Arakompa spans approximately 1.7 km in strike length, with a width ranging from 150 to 225 m and a vertical extent exceeding 500 m. Importantly, Arakompa’s proximity to existing infrastructure and the processing plant presents an opportunity for potential production expansion beyond the ongoing Stage 4 Expansion at Kainantu.

Plans are already underway to expand the drilling program at Arakompa in the near future, indicating confidence in the project’s prospects. Chris Muller, the Executive Vice President of Exploration at K92, noted that Arakompa represents a vein system similar to the Kora-Judd consolidated corridor, with significant potential. Besides high-grade massive sulphide veins, gold mineralization associated with widespread phyllic alteration suggests the presence of a fertile porphyry system at depth.

Hydraulic and Automation Warehouse (HAW), a Bosch Rexroth Africa Group Company,has incorporated Power Team SA’s SPXFLOW and Bolting Systems into its offering, effective 1 November 2023.

The strategic incorporation of this range of high-force precision tools and workshop equipment from SPXFLOW Hydraulic Technologies complements HAW’s extensive range of hydraulic components. It will also provide even more turnkey solutions for clients in the maintenance, mining, power generation, construction and port industries.

All existing orders will be honoured as well as any work in progress, which will be carried out in the Group’s ISO-accredited repair centre. The two companies will work in tandem to address all orders received prior to 1 November. “We would like to assure our client base that, as a leading component supplier with distribution outlets across Africa, we envisage a seamless transition ensuring that clients benefit from HAW’s African distribution network and in-house expertise,” said Werner Joubert, HAW General Manager. “The current high standard of service will be maintained during this transition and into the future.”

The company’s five strategically located branches in Johannesburg, Middelburg, Cape Town, Pinetown and Gqeberha, as well as its distribution network throughout Africa, will ensure that industries across the continent get the products they need quickly and efficiently.

“HAW and Power Team SA are committed to making the transition as smooth as possible for all clients and employees,” Joubert concluded.

About Bosch Rexroth Africa

Bosch Rexroth Africa, also known as Bosch Rexroth South Africa Group of Companies, is the continent’s leader in hydraulics, pneumatics and automation. The Group comprises eight specialist companies: Bosch Rexroth South Africa, Hytec South Africa, Tectra Automation, Bosch Rexroth Smart Mine, Hytec Fluid Technology, Hydraulic & Automation Warehouse, Hytec Engineering and Bosch Rexroth Africa Development. The companies collectively manufacture, source, market and distribute over 30 international hydraulic, pneumatic and automation brands. Bosch Rexroth Africa is on your doorstep through a network of over 35 branches and 20 strategic distributors

Weir Minerals Africa recently manufactured a 20-way cluster of Cavex® 500 CVX hydrocyclones. This hydrocyclone delivers exceptional operational efficiencies, reduced wear and consistent metallurgical performance. With a design built for longevity, this unit is anticipated to exceed a 20 year lifespan because of its easily replaceable wear parts that ensure peak performance throughout its service life.

The hydrocyclone cluster was specifically tailored to the classification and processing requirements of a gold project in West Africa. Lerato Ramanala, Product Manager Hydrocyclones at Weir Minerals Africa, says it will be used in a milling application as part of a flowsheet with an HPGR and ball mill – the Cavex® hydrocyclones will classify the mill discharge. Operating at a relatively low pressure of 73 kPa, the hydrocyclones are meticulously engineered to minimise equipment wear under demanding conditions.

“Our design process considered factors such as port sizes and pipe schedules, ensuring obstruction- free operation, even under challenging conditions in which the hydrocyclones have to contend with a wide range of particle sizes. The feed and discharge pipes were engineered to accommodate the required flow rate and pressure, maintaining a launder geometry that ensures optimal slurry levels during regular operation, without any spillage during normal and design operation,” she explains.

Hydrocyclone cluster

The hydrocyclone cluster operates efficiently: the overflow goes to the trash screen, the underflow launder diverts the discharge, returning some to the ball mill for further grinding, while the other portion is fed to a gravity circuit.

Ramanala says the hydrocyclone cluster is custom-engineered featuring Cavex® hydrocyclones, Linatex® rubber linings and Isogate® WR valves. The Cavex® hydrocyclone features an innovative 360⁰ laminar spiral inlet that significantly enhances separation performance.

“To prolong wear life and reduce the need for frequent replacements, we’ve used R55 rubber, a patented Weir Minerals material, in the hydrocyclones’ rubber inserts,” she adds.

To address abrasion resistance, Linatex® premium rubber, known to consistently outperform other rubber materials in abrasive wet processing applications, was selected. The integration of Linatex® rubber minimises maintenance requirements and guarantees optimal equipment performance. The Isogate® WR valve is a lightweight valve designed for a hydrocyclone cluster of this size, featuring advanced rubber sleeve technology for improved wear life and full bore design for unrestricted flow.

“Notably, this is the first greenfield cluster to incorporate Synertrex IIoT technology for performance monitoring, specifically to detect any roping or splashing events,” Ramanala says. This proactive performance monitoring platform enhances the overall effectiveness of the Cavex® hydrocyclones by providing accurate data on cyclone performance, supporting the operator in maintaining optimal operating conditions, and enabling proactive intervention for unforeseen incidents.

“Synertrex is much more than a condition monitoring system for individual pieces of equipment. As the technology continues to develop and Weir Minerals works to leverage the equipment and process data it alone has as the OEM, its customers are increasingly seeing it as the preferred partner for intelligent solutions and digitally-enabled services,” she says.

Hydrocyclones provide cost efficient separation in mineral processing applications, especially compared to traditional screens. Even with its substantial size, a cluster of this magnitude maintains a more compact overall footprint, facilitating space optimisation within the process plant while still achieving the necessary cut point.

Weir Minerals Africa’s experienced local team carefully analysed operational requirements, flow rates and pressure differentials when designing this Cavex® hydrocyclone cluster to maximise efficiency and meet required throughput rates. Structural integrity was a primary focus due to the cluster’s large size, and extensive use was made of computer-aided design (CAD) to ensure a robust design capable of withstanding demanding conditions. The structural design includes walkways, support beams and bracing mechanisms.

The large cluster was manufactured at Weir Minerals Africa’s facility, undergoing trial assembly and quality checks before being disassembled and packaged for shipment to the customer. Installation on-site will be part of the greenfields process plant construction project, with Weir Minerals Africa specialists readily available for installation and commissioning support.