WORLD PROSPECTS
Wirtgen looks to more growth in Guinea
onsultancy Roskill recently reported that
Guinea’s Mining Minister has announced that
the country is aiming to expand bauxite output
to 60 Mt/y by 2020 to meet demand from China for
the aluminium raw material. Guinea possesses the
world’s largest known bauxite reserves and its
potential is being unlocked by investment from Asia
and the Middle East.
Global surface miner supplier Wirtgen will be
attending and presenting at the 5th Symposium
Mines Guinea event in the capital Conakry from May
9-11, and will be showcasing the company “as a
reliable mining partner to trade v isitors.” More than
500 successful surface mining projects around the
world demonstrate the company’s expert know-how
and applications experience – “two attributes which
round off Wirtgen's range of products and services
and enable customers to rely on all-round support,
provided in a spirit of partnership.”
Wirtgen has been active in the African market for
more than 30 years. “In addition to supplying
machines, the local Wirtgen Group sales and service
company Wirtgen South Africa and selected dealers
in the other African states ensure fast reaction times
with their dense service network. Technical support is
provided directly in the mine or in workshops that are
specially designed for the large machines. The
C
ingenious logistics concept ensures the continuous
provision of original spare parts. Wirtgen experts also
support customers at any time with customised, on-
site project planning which is specially tailored to
their needs.”
In this region specifically, Wirtgen surface miners
have been established in the West African Republic of
Guinea for more than 10 years. A fleet of around 20
machines operate primarily in bauxite mines, such as
the Rusal Friguia operation (2500 SM) and the
Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG) Sangaredi
operation (2500 SM). Customers are supported
directly from the Wirtgen brand headquarters in
Germany and a local facility in Conakry that provides
on-site services, ranging from technical assistance to
MARC (Maintenance and Repair Contracts), with
personnel from the brand headquarters as well as
local technicians.
With the surface miners 2200 SM/2200 SM 3.8,
2500 SM and the 4200 SM, Wirtgen offers machines
in three performance classes that can be configured
variably and specifically for each project. The surface
miners cut and crush the rock with a special cutting
drum and load it onto heavy-duty trucks with their
robust conveying systems, all in a single operation.
The material can also be deposited between the
crawler units as a windrow or sidecast alongside the
The 2500 SM creates clean, stable profiles as
here in Guinea, and loads the bauxite in one
operation. The high purity and quality of the
excavated raw materials are advantages of the
sophisticated technology and selective mining
method of the Wirtgen surface miners
machine. Featuring three different operating
methods, Wirtgen surface miners are very versatile,
with cutting widths ranging from 2.20 m to 4.20 m,
cutting depths of 0 cm to 83 cm and an unconfined
compressive strength of 120 MPa. Special machines
for rock operations even cut hard granite up to 260
MPa. Wirtgen is the only manufacturer to cover a
performance range that extends up to 3,000 t/h in
combination with direct loading via a loading belt.
www.wirtgen-group.com
JENNMAR deal with American Mine Door
ENNMAR Corporation has entered into an
agreement with American Mine Door (AMD) of
Cleveland, Ohio to be the sole and exclusive US
distributor of their EcoVent™ Equipment Doors for
underground mining applications. The agreement is
for a term of three years with a three year option.
This alliance with American Mine Door expands
JENNMAR’s mine ventilation offerings which now
include metal stoppings, man doors, foam packs
and equipment doors.
Tony Calandra, Executive Vice President of
JENNMAR, stated: “This was a logical next step in
our efforts to expand the range of our ventilation
products for the mining industry and we are very
pleased to be able to offer a safety-oriented, quality
product from such a reliable company as AMD.”
Traditional mine doors require miners to open
one wing at a time. The EcoVent Doors use a
J
patented opposing wing design for easy operation.
Door wings are connected so when one wing is
opening the other wing also opens simultaneously
in the opposite direction. This unique design utilises
equalised air pressure to assist the door in opening
and closing with little effort. Doors will not slam
closed, radically reducing the potential for injuries.
The air pressure is doing the work instead of the
miner, creating a safer work environment for the
mine employee.
In addition, a corrugated wing design is used to
minimise weight, maximise strength, and keep
pricing affordable. A superior hinge design is used
with each pivot point having a bearing surface. This
improved heavy-duty design will require minimal
maintenance with years of service. EcoVent
Equipment Doors are easy to install and move
around, and can be re-used repeatedly, providing
Hexagon Mining introduces GeoLogic
he block model is the foundation of all
planning tools, and the single source of truth
for how mines manage their resources.
Constructing one interpretative scenario using
classic geomodelling methods can take weeks or
months. But modern mines do not have the luxury
to wait on model updates to make decisions. The
trend is to update a model “live” to be streamlined
with the rest of the planning process.
In March 2017, Hexagon Mining introduced
GeoLogic as part of its MineSight Planning Suite.
Hundreds of sites and thousands of users manage
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4 International Mining | APRIL 2017
their mine modelling and mine planning with
MineSight. The software’s analytical, planning, and
design tools help streamline open pit and
underground operations worldwide. GeoLogic is
fully integrated with MineSight and empowers
geologists with smart, time-saving modelling.
GeoLogic leverages the power of implicit
modelling by sequencing surfaces and solids to
create an airtight geological model. The outcome is
an entirely reproducible, auditable geological model
that can be quickly updated with new information.
GeoLogic saves time by allowing geologists to
years of service. “Its lightweight design makes
disassembly just as simple as assembly. Customers
have the flexibility to incorporate a wide range of
options and customisation for greater safety and
efficiency.”
AMD has a long history of fabricating specialty
equipment and mine door products to the
underground mining industry across the globe and
says it shares JENNMAR’s dedication to building
safety into every product. www.jennmar.c om;
www.minedoor.com
explore multiple interpretative scenarios, and build
complex shapes directly from drillholes, rapidly and
accurately. It allows a geologist to build a timeline of
geological events to produce a series of
interconnected MineSight solids and surfaces, ready
to code the block model.
GeoLogic automatically manages fault blocks and
unconformities, and is powered by the industry-
standard radial basis function (RBF). It allows users
to improve the turnaround time in delivery
interpretative scenarios. The time savings are even
more significant when it comes to updating a model
with the latest field information.
The product also introduces the potent ability to