CHINESE TECHNOLOGY inclined shaft and thus improve the work efficiency; by speeding up the formation of ore extraction tunnel and lay a solid foundation for mining; it will also effectively solve the ventilation problem at 490 m and create a more favourable working environment for underground construction.
Internationally, in June, the office building for Jimond Mining Management Company SARL( also referred to as JCHX Congo) was successfully established, located in DRC’ s largest commercial city- Lubumbashi. This represents JCHX’ s entry into the Congolese( DRC) mining engineering contract market.
In recent years, JCHX has also been pushing its development strategy in the overseas market, and the DRC mine construction market has been a big focus. Chairman Wang Xiancheng and other senior executives have visited DRC many times and developed a strategy for access into the market, requiring painstaking research on market changes. Growth in the DRC will help JCHX to achieve its ultimate strategic goal of having half the business coming from overseas markets. JCHX in 2016 purchased some land in the urban area of Lubumbashi for establishing office buildings, and Chairman Wang personally presided over the design scheme of the office building. In February 2016, Jimond Mining Management Company SARL was duly incorporated in the DRC and after 10 months, an office and dormitory building with an area of 1,000 m 3 was finally completed. JCHX states:“ It not only becomes a new attraction on the landscape of Lubumbashi, but also symbolises a better future for JCHX’ s business in the Congo( DRC).”
Jianzhong Zhang, Managing Director of JCHX operating subsidiary Jimond Mining, told IM:“ I have been involved in the DRC mining business for over a decade, and I have studied the mining construction market for many years and have realised that in the next five to ten years, many of the open pits in the country will convert into underground mines. Jimond Mining is coming into the DRC market right on time.”
And there of course was major news in April 2017, with the announcement that Normet Group and JCHX Mining Management Co Ltd had signed an agreement to form a joint venture to manufacture and sell underground mining equipment in the Chinese market. The joint venture will initially focus on manufacturing and sales of multipurpose mining vehicles and related accessories in the Chinese mining market. Normet said:“ This is an important milestone in our plans to expand in the growing Chinese mining market.” The joint venture company is based in Daye, Hubei Province. IM
Paul Moore spoke with Jianzhong Zhang, Managing Director of JCHX operating subsidiary Jimond Mining, about some of the key market issues
Q: Is it a challenge getting Chinese owned mines to accept the need for more advanced and higher performance equipment for mine development and operation as it comes at a higher cost? How do you convince them of the cost benefits over the long term?
A: Of course it was a big challenge for Chineseowned mines to see the need for this approach five or more years ago because the mine owners mainly considered profit rather than investment. But this situation has been changed quite a lot because they have realised that the introduction of advanced and higher performance equipment can bring them much better production results in terms of safety, quality and profit. Although the investment at the very beginning is higher than before, they get stability and sustained higher production as a result.
Q: Are Chinese mines becoming more willing to experiment with more effective mining methods and equipment? Can you give some examples?
A: Yes, more and more Chinese mine owners are willing to use the most effective methods and equipment for their mining production, such as at the Pulang Copper Mine, which has purchased quite a large number of new mining machines for its production, but there are also a number of other medium and small scale mines in China investing in modern mechanised equipment.
Q: Would you say you are the one of the only“ quality” providers of mining contracting services in China? What distinguishes you from other contractors working in the country in terms of performance and approach?
A: JCHX has showed great concern with regard to safety and quality control in our routine production both abroad and at home. We have acknowledged internally that only when JCHX becomes experienced and qualified in safety and quality control, will our enterprise have more opportunities to compete with the other premium providers in the market. We have now been invited by many mine owners to be the provider of contracting mining services after we completed an initial contract such as shaft sinking or decline development. We have now become the second but one quality provider of mining contracting services in China.
Q: How would you summarise the JCHX approach to safety in your mining operations? How important is training as part of this? Are your higher safety standards being adopted by Chinese mines you are operating at?
A: Many of the Chinese mines have taken on board our experience and training with safety control. And the Chinese government now shows great concern on safety control in the mining industry and many new regulations and laws have been published restricting unsafe production methods. JCHX as one of the quality providers of contract mining services has successfully introduced our best practices to other mine owners through the government system.
Q: As a major contractor, to what extent do you work with particular equipment OEMs and why? What are the strengths of different OEMs in China in terms of how their equipment has performed and their level of service support to JCHX at key projects?
A: JCHX has been appointed as one of the ten key account customers of Atlas Copco and Sandvik, and as you know we have formed a joint venture with Normet to produce utility and service equipment in China. JCHX has also made the decision to use trackless equipment at all of our projects and as a pioneer in this regard we have gained lots of experience. I don ' t think there is too much difference between the quality OEMs in performance and support.
Q: Are there certain Chinese equipment suppliers that you work with? Are standards of Chinese made equipment increasing?
A: Of course we have cooperated with many Chinese equipment producers over the years who have been able to provide us with their modern mining equipment at very reasonable prices. The standard of this equipment is quite suitable for mining development and Chinese technology has for some time caught up with or actually in some cases exceeded the international equipment performance.
Q: Aside from Chambishi what other non- Chinese projects are you involved with?
A: There are a number but I would highlight the Kakula Copper Mine Project and the Lubambe Copper Mine, both in Zambia. With Lubambe we just signed a new agreement worth up to $ 15.9 million.
SEPTEMBER 2017 | International Mining 49