MTE EXHIBITIONS •
Supplied by MTE
MTE’ s travelling expo concept offers outdoor tradeshow experiences, and Andrew Macnamara – now with MTE for 18 years – says,“ If one cannot see our trade-mark orange and yellow tents, then it’ s not MTE!”
TALKING WITH ANDREW MACNAMARA – MTE’ S PHILOSPHY AT PLAY IN ZIMBABWE( PART 1)
By Sharyn Macnamara
Mining and Technical Exhibitions( MTE) has been in business for more than 30 years offering the mining community and general industry expos with a difference.
Join Sharyn Macnamara( SM) in an interview with MTE’ s operations director, Andrew Macnamara( AM), focusing on what differentiates this travelling exhibition company in a niche market. With MTE, high impact, area focussed, customised, media affiliated trade shows with secured operational buy-in are the order of the day in SADC.
SM: What differentiates you from the rest of the expo organisers?
AM: Firstly, we take the expo to the mine, targeting popular mining areas. We host the exhibitions near the operations in the area, or even on the mine site itself, making it easier for the end users with busy schedules to attend.
Secondly, our marketing sets us apart. We canvas the area well ahead of the planned exhibition to get full buy in from the operations before the exhibition. We speak directly to mine management, and they are therefore happy to support the expo and encourage staff to attend.
Thirdly, our long-standing relationship with the mining community supports our business model. We encourage mine management to share their challenges and needs with us. We then customise our exhibition by sourcing suppliers with solutions to cater to those needs. This makes visiting the exhibition worthwhile and highly beneficial for staff at the operation. Because our expos are solutions-driven we attract the right kind of visitor – the decision makers. To accommodate busy mining schedules, we traditionally run our tradeshows for four hours, usually 1pm-5pm. This makes our shows‘ high-impact’, as many relevant solutions are showcased in this short space of time.
Our business model is a versatile one – we also service the cement, paper and pulp and power industries.
SM: How does your offering benefit the exhibitors?
AM: Our exhibitors share their marketing strategies with us, and we assist them in aligning our 26 expos with their objectives. Our expos enable exhibitors to network and build relationships with targeted audiences generating new leads in a defined space and time – whether it be a general industry expo, commodity-specific mining, a particular mining method in a particular geological area or solutions operations have specifically requested.
Our expos offer exhibitors an opportunity to brand build or launch and demo new products – reaching out to more decision-makers in one location than one could achieve in a single mine visit.
Our shows are small enough to allow for a more intimate, one-on-one, face-to-face solution delivery to end users. Exhibitors can spend more time having a decent conversation with a new lead, while the end users can experience live solution showcases and ask technical questions.
SM: On average, how many exhibitors would you have at a show?
AM: It all depends on the area and the type of expo we are running. When MTE started up, the expos were originally only hosted on site at the mine. We still run that kind of smaller, mine site event. Additionally, we have larger exhibitions, like our Rustenburg show, which predominantly focusses on the PGM and chrome sector, hosted in the South African town, where many operations in the area attend. For this kind of show – like our Steelpoort, Kathu and Richards Bay shows – we host from 60 to 150 exhibitors.
SM: Where does your Zimbabwe combo tour in August fit in?
AM: Our Zimbabwe combo tour is made up of two of our smaller, general industry focussed, over-border shows where we host around 30 suppliers at each location. This year, our Ngezi-area focussed expo will take place on 19 August, followed by the MTE Gweru-area focussed expo on 21 August. We have invited numerous operations within a 150km radius of the expo sites to the tradeshows. Karo Platinum is one of the youngest operations invited to attend, being the latest low-cost, openpit PGM asset under construction on the Great Dyke, while Zimplats is one of the stalwart operations that has frequented our expos in the Ngezi area in the past. Although last year was our first expo back in Zimbabwe after 15 years, management from every department at the operation made a turn at the event.
Recently, in an interview with Bernard Swanepoel at the London Indaba in June, Alex Mhembere, CEO at the company, spoke in depth about the amazing development at the operations over the past few years – and this is exactly why MTE has returned to the country. Despite challenges, Zimbabwe is moving and shaking in our industry. Mhembere noted that the geology and skills resource in the country was second to none. Despite being run 100 % by Zimbabweans, Zimplats still relies on OEM expertise in terms of training on new innovation and equipment brought into the country.
Among the more recent technological developments at its operations, Zimplats has established a 330KV substation to enable it to utilise imported power from anywhere in the world; it has invested in its own solar energy too and just last year this leading platinum group metals producer on the Great Dyke, commissioned a smelter which has capacity to process both its own mined ore and that of other players in the country – in line with the governments recent push on in-country beneficiation. It ' s wide, shallow ore body allows for full mechanisation and the company has introduced automated, digitalised equipment, where equipment is controled with remote mining from surface.
This is the direction mining companies in Zimbabwe are taking to improve efficiencies, productivity and safety – and it is MTE’ s objective, through the innovation showcased by our valued exhibitors, to share solutions that drive these end goals to support industry in SADC.
See part 2 in our August issue, focussed on Zambia. •
www. africanmining. co. za African Mining Publication African Mining African Mining • August 2025 • 21