South African based vibrating screen and feeder original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Kwatani reports that orders for its equipment have surged in recent months to record levels, with orders coming not only from South Africa and the southern African region but also overseas markets.

“The current level of business is the best we’ve ever seen since the company was founded nearly 50 years ago and every month now is turning out to be a record month,” says Jan Schoepflin, General Manager Sales & Service at Kwatani. “The growth is quite astonishing – in fact, 50 to 60 %, year on year.”

He adds that Kwatani is currently producing around 60 machines a month. “To keep pace with demand, we’ve rented an additional 3 000 m² of factory space to complement the 17 000 m² we already have,” he says. “Being part of Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions, which in turn is a business area within the Sandvik Group, we’ve also been able to outsource some production to other Sandvik factories overseas, including Sandvik’s Indian factory.”

One of Kwatani’s current orders – won in the face of intense opposition – involves the supply of over 70 screens and associated equipment to a large copper mining operation in Central Asia. This is the largest order in Kwatani’s history and probably the largest single screen order ever to be won by a screen manufacturer based in Africa. “We’re expecting another large order from this region shortly – it won’t be quite as big but will still be very substantial,” says Schoepflin.

Kwatani is also busy with two big contracts in southern Africa, one for a major platinum mine in South Africa and the other for a zinc project in the DRC. Both projects are in the construction phase.

According to Schoepflin, the surge in sales reflects not only more buoyant conditions within the global mining industry but also Kwatani’s membership of the Sandvik Group.

“We became part of Sandvik at the end of 2021 and this has opened many doors to us,” he says. “We’ve always been big in Africa and were, in fact, already ranked as the biggest screen manufacturer on the continent prior to being acquired by Sandvik but were less strong in certain other parts of the world. Being part of Sandvik has given us improved access to many markets, particularly in South America where Sandvik is the dominant supplier of mining equipment.”

Schoepflin also points to the quality of Kwatani’s products as another reason for the skyrocketing demand for its equipment. “We produce bullet-proof products that work reliably and efficiently and that have been proven in Africa’s mining areas, which are probably the toughest in the world in terms of the demands placed on machines,” he says. “Equipment that works well in Africa will perform anywhere.”

He adds that the fact that Kwatani’s equipment is manufactured locally is another major plus for the company. “Our manufacturing costs here in South Africa are low by global standards and our exports also benefit from the fact that South Africa’s currency, the rand, is very weak. The result is that our machines are very competitively priced.”

Kwatani forms part of Sandvik’s crushing and screening division within Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions. This now includes not only Kwatani and Sandvik’s own screening business but also the recently acquired mining related business of Schenck Process Group, making Sandvik the world’s biggest supplier by far of vibrating screens and related equipment.

Lithium is a crucial component in the switch to renewable energy, but the extraction process of this critical mineral has been costly to the environment.

Lithium arguably plays the most important role in ditching fossil fuels and ensuring the world can move towards a zero-carbon future. The lightweight metal is found in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which are used in most personal electronics and most importantly, electric vehicles (EVs).

The demand for EVs has seen a huge increase in recent years, with companies scrambling to target multiple lithium exploration projects to ensure lithium supply can meet demand. However, in order to ensure the safety of our planet, lithium extraction methods must be done in an environmentally sensitive way that causes as little damage.

Any type of resource extraction is harmful to the planet, with removal of raw materials resulting in oil degradation, water shortages, biodiversity loss, damage to ecosystem functions, and an increase in global warming.

The Innovation Platform takes a look at why lithium extraction is bad for the environment and how companies are ensuring their extraction methods are eco-friendly so that we can meet the ever-growing demand for lithium.

The increasing demand for lithium

 Lithium demand is higher than ever, with calls for at least $42bn in lithium investment over the next six years in order to meet 2030’s goal of 2.4 million tonnes of lithium production per year.¹

 The demand for lithium is so high due to its integral role in EV batteries. EVs are becoming increasingly common on our roads, with over two million vehicles sold in 2018 alone.

The growing interest in lithium has seen the world’s largest-known reserves increase significantly. According to the US Geological Survey, there are around 80 million tonnes of identified reserves globally.²

Lithium is irreplaceable for the high-energy batteries that power portable electronics and electric vehicles. It has a unique position on the periodic table, offering high voltage and high capacity that cannot be replicated by other metals. A select few battery technologies have shown potential to one day replace today’s lithium-ion batteries. These new batteries are based on lithium metal and lithium silicon anodes, which improve performance but also increase lithium usage per kilowatt-hour.

After South America – mainly Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina – the next biggest lithium-producing country is the US, followed closely by Australia and China. In 2019, lithium exports from Australia were reported to have totalled almost $1.6bn.

Lithium is mainly sourced from either spodumene or brine. Australia is home to the majority of hard rock (spodumene) mines, while brine production is concentrated in South America, mainly in Chile and Argentina.

Lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide are the two lithium compounds employed for battery cathode production, with carbonate currently making up the bulk of usage. In brine production, lithium chloride is extracted from alkaline brine lakes before being converted to carbonate.

With this in mind, it is crucial to explore how these different extraction methods impact our planet and ecosystems.

Why is lithium extraction bad for the environment?

 Despite its potential to power a net-zero future, lithium extraction methods can cause great damage to the environment, with the metal often described as the non-renewable mineral that makes renewable energy possible. Extraction of the product causes several environmental defects, including water contamination and increasing carbon dioxide emissions.

Judging from interactions with mining customers at Electra Mining Africa 2022, Weir Minerals Africa notes that there is a growing demand for digital integration, which provides mines with data to develop strategic improvements to their operations.

“Several customers spoke about the need for real time management of important operational parameters at their operations. Mines are moving away from human assumptions to using actual data points for tracking key indicators that make equipment reliable,” says Tiisetso Masekwameng, General Manager – Comminution at Weir Minerals Africa.

To respond to this growing need for digital solutions, Weir Minerals Africa showcased its Synertrex® intelligent platform which provides mines with insights into actual costs of running their plants, data to develop strategic improvements to mining operations and the opportunity to performance benchmark every part of their operations.

“Synertrex is a complete digital ecosystem that continually monitors equipment’s performance and integrates with customers’ distributed control systems. This means that advanced analytics are conveyed through a digital interface, making sure our customers have all the indicators delivered to their devices with accuracy and in real time, even if they aren’t at the mine” explains Masekwameng.

As part of Synertrex® condition monitoring, she adds, sensors are applied to processing equipment and the data they provide is captured and continuously analysed. Customers are therefore able to eliminate guesswork from their operations by having detailed real time insight into how their equipment is performing. Information is displayed on a simple, easy to understand dashboard which can be accessed via any device or integrated into existing operational systems. It will convey real time fact-based insights into machine performance and health, remaining useful life and other crucial operational indicators.

“As mining companies redefine their investment strategies, the Synertrex intelligent platform can help customers transform their operations. This is because it also assesses their machinery’s performance, including potential improvements, such as optimising the equipment’s energy efficiency or throughput. The Synertrex intelligent platform remotely manages maintenance from monitoring wear and tear, to scheduled servicing and repairs, to keep mining equipment at its most productive, thus ensuring maximum equipment uptime and profitable operations for mining companies,” concludes Masekwameng.

Dar Es Salaam Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (DAWASA) has awarded Metito, a leading provider of intelligent water management solutions, the contract to design, build and operate a new wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Dar es Salaam region, Tanzania

Construction is expected to commence in April 2023, with the commissioning date set for October 2024. (Image source: Metito)

Located in the Mbezi Beach area, the 16,000 cu/m per day wastewater treatment plant will have state-of-the-art engineering and technologies to enhance operational and maintenance costs, improve sludge quality, and minimise the overall carbon footprint. Additionally, the plant will be designed in almost half of the allocated area, optimising land usage and maximising savings.

Metito’s scope of work involves three years of operation and maintenance for the wastewater treatment plant with the full participation of DAWASA staff members in all operational sections of the treatment plant. Metito will utilise conventional activated sludge technology and implement anaerobic digestors to produce biogas followed by Combined Heat and Power (CHP) generation system which will reduce electric power consumption by almost 40% at ultimate plant capacity. Metito will also use the sludge anaerobic digestion process in the first treatment phase to ensure the sludge is stabilised and the quality of the sludge is maintained.

The Mbezi Wastewater Treatment project will contribute to Dar Es Salaam region’s sustainable economic and industrial development by creating skilled jobs and safeguarding the health and well-being of the community by providing efficient wastewater treatment.

Karim Madwar, Metito Africa managing director, said, “The project is a true milestone towards modernising Dar es Salaam’s wastewater system and bolstering the resilience of its water infrastructure, all while safeguarding its natural ecosystems. Metito’s founding principles are Impact, Sustainability, and Innovation, and this project ticks all the boxes. We are proud to be working with Dar Es Salaam Water Supply and Sanitation Authority on this project and are looking forward to making this a benchmark to similar projects in the region.”

LITEF has received ETSO certification from EASA for its LCR-110 GNSS-aided Inertial Reference System (GIRS).

The certification of the LCR-110 includes the ETSO-C201 for the AHRS functionality and – as an essential component and for the first time for LITEF – the ETSO-C196a. The latter allows the user to perform so-called RNP (Required Navigation Performance) procedures, for which the LCR-110 monitors the horizontal position and provides the user with information about the trustworthiness of the navigation data.

“We are very pleased that we have now received ETSO certification from EASA. This is a great achievement for the whole project team and for LITEF. Another milestone has been reached and we can now extend our product portfolio with a cost-effective inertial reference system”, says Klaus Blatter, Product Manager Commercial Aviation at LITEF.

LCR-110: The ideal solution for Performance Based Navigation

The LITEF LCR-110 is a low cost, small size, low weight inertial reference system based on MEMS accelerometers and fiber optic gyroscopes. In addition to heading, attitude and navigation data for use in fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, it provides a navigation solution based on Kalman filtering of raw inertial and satellite navigation data that facilitates improved integrity monitoring of the GNSS information (Aircraft Autonomous Integrity Monitoring – AAIM). Based on its high-class inertial sensors the LCR-110 continues navigation and integrity monitoring even after loss of GNSS information. It is therefore the ideal solution for executing cost and time-optimized flight paths as part of Performance Based Navigation (PBN) with enhanced reliability, worldwide and at any time.

With its low cost and weight saving design the LITEF LCR-110 is the ideal alternative to classic IRS/INS and it therefore facilitates more reliable NextGen and SESAR operations of aircraft that are usually not equipped with such systems.

The LCR-110 IRS satisfies the certification requirements defined in FAA AC 90-101A and EASA AMC 20-26 for performing RNP-AR flight procedures (RNP <0.3 nm) and has been certified according to ETSO/TSO-C201 and ETSO/TSO-C196a.