AFRICAN BUZZ •
There has also been significant uptake of the company ’ s crushing solutions in Africa by mining companies based in Asia , says Warren . While many of these have used crushing equipment that comes at a lower capital cost , a growing number are turning to Pilot Crushtec for its equipment quality , uptime , spares availability , service backup and warranty .
Among the offerings that have attracted customers has been a five-year or 10 000 hour extended protection service ( EPS ) warranty on major Metso Outotec components – quite unusual for OEMs operating in this demanding environment , he notes .
The Lokotrack LT200HP mobile cone crusher is being used to crush historic dumps in Zambia .
“ In fact , the initial enquiry from this company was for mobile crushers – but the application was better suited to a modular format ,” he says . “ We were able to discuss the options with the customer , and they decided to follow our recommendations , which proved even more cost effective for them .”
He explains that the company had both the mobile and the modular options available in stock , so was able to supply without delay . It is not unusual for this kind of equipment to require a lead time of several months for manufacture , assembly , delivery and commissioning , he says .
“ Customers find that our equipment also retains its resale value very well – which considerably safeguards their upfront investment ,” he says . He notes that a Namibian customer has also recently leveraged the longevity of their Metso Outotec crushing equipment when converting from mobile to modular plants .
“ They simply moved the Metso Outotec equipment from the previous mobile configuration , and installed it on the new modular plant ,” he explains . “ This augmented the additional Metso Outotec crusher that was purchased for the new plant , saving considerably on capex while not compromising reliability .”
“ The company has been operating in Africa for more than two decades , so this operating terrain is very familiar to us ,” says Francois Marais , Sales and Marketing director at Pilot Crushtec . “ Our reputation is solid , and for the past seven years we have also marketed the highly regarded Metso Outotec brand . Known for being robust and reliable , these crushers have been the preferred choice for mines around Africa for many decades .” •
www . africanmining . co . za African Mining Publication African Mining African Mining • July 2023 • 7