SOUTH AFRICAN SUPPLIERS
company are likely to rise over the coming year as business grows, and a full bursary is being provided for a local university student in the field of teaching education.
The largest AC electric motor operating in Zimbabwe drives a reduction mill, and this synchronous motor was recently refurbished by leading rotating machinery repairer, Marthinusen & Coutts, a division of ACTOM.
Estimated to be around 30 years old, the 2,150 kW synchronous mill motor, which was in operation at Freda Rebecca gold mine, suffered a catastrophic failure caused by its age and metal fatigue. The main hub of the electrical rotor component had sheared off. Following preliminary repair work undertaken by the mine, Marthinusen & Coutts was called to site by the mine to investigate further and to provide a long term world class solution. A full assessment undertaken by the team resulted in the motor being brought back to the division’ s facility in South Africa.
It was decided, following negotiations with the mine, to do a design modification instead of replacing the hub. Richard Botton, Divisional CEO of Marthinusen & Coutts, explains that this option was chosen as it would save costs and reduce the lead time without sacrificing the performance of the refurbished motor.
“ Our team’ s extensive experience and understanding of large rotating machinery enabled us to offer an alternative to the mine that would ensure optimum reliability going forward. One of the solutions was to use the existing rotor superstructure with a bolt-on hub on the motor,” Botton says.
In addition, 18 main pole coils were replaced; these were manufactured by the company at its ISO 9001 accredited facility in Cleveland, Gauteng.
A complete rewind of the stator was necessary due to the extensive damage caused during the failure at the mine. Fortunately, the mine store had a spare set of coils, manufactured 20 years ago, and these were rewound at Marthinusen & Coutts in South Africa. A compete upgrade and modification to the sleeve bearings also brought these back to OEM specifications.
“ The ability to implement enhancements during
Freda Rebecca’ s 2,150 kW synchronous mill motor which was refurbished by Marthinusen & Coutts the repair of critical electrical rotating machinery such as this motor is a major advantage to the mine as it allows for the latest technology and enhancements to be included in the final product solution,” Botton says.
The scope of work included the on-site commissioning of the motor which was facilitated by the Marthinusen & Coutts Zimbabwe operation with technical support from the division’ s centre of excellence in Johannesburg.
Simulators and training
The Canadian Collège Communautaire du Nouveau- Brunswick( CCNB) has a new Mine Training Centre and has chosen South Africa’ s ThoroughTec Simulation to equip it with the latest high-fidelity operator training simulators. The college will be receiving six CYBERMINE simulators to facilitate the training of both surface and underground heavy equipment operators.
“ The CCNB is a francophone, modern, globally focused college, centred on its student population that provides high quality educational services and training programmes to meet the needs of an emerging economy. CCNB values the importance of developing a skilled, well-trained workforce to meet the demands of the labour market including customised training programmes in French and English, tailored to meet the specific needs of industry,” says Liane Roy, CEO.“ On our five campuses, the CCNB contributes to the development of the New Brunswick communities with more than 85 regular programs in technical and professional training. As an entrepreneurial and innovative college, the CCNB adapts to the rapidly changing economy, supports applied research activities and encourages innovation,” adds Roy.
The centre, which will be located at CCNB’ s Bathurst Campus, will service the rapidly expanding mining industry in the region.“ The facility will offer training in different aspects of the industry, including equipment operator training,” says Alain Gauvin, Head of Development at CCNB’ s Bathurst Campus.“ We currently have another program where we use simulators as part of training and we are convinced that it’ s a must in training students coming through the mining programme.” Gauvin goes on to say that CCNB is also interested in conducting on-site training with the CYBERMINE simulators in addition to the training offered at Bathurst. Simulator training will be offered in both French and English and so the CYBERMINE system was designed from the outset to support training in both French and English.
CYBERMINE simulator for CAT AD55 underground mining truck operators
“ We love working with training institutions and are delighted to be adding CCNB to our family of CYBERMINE clients in North America,” says Adam Smallman, VP of Sales for the region at ThoroughTec.“ This project stands as testimony to the strength of our simulator portfolio, really highlighting our ability to deliver a large number of simulators, across a wide range of equipment classes, in an incredibly short timeframe. We are proud to lead the market in this respect and work hard to maintain that position.” Over the last two decades ThoroughTec has developed the widest range of surface and underground heavy equipment training simulators in the industry.
The simulator cabs that CCNB will be receiving shall cater for the training of trainee operators of Komatsu 930E haul trucks and PC5500 shovels; Caterpillar 992G wheel loaders, DT10 dozers, R2900G LHDs and AD55 ADTs.
“ We see these simulators and the Mine Training Centre playing an important role in New
Brunswick’ s mining industry,” says Gauvin. He estimates that around 50 students will go through the program in the first year.
“ We’ re confident that these military-grade simulators will provide years and years of reliable service and assist in the training of safe and productive operators in the region,” concludes Smallman.
In more CYBERMINE news and a first for Madagascar, Sherritt International’ s Ambatovy operation has recently commissioned its CYBERMINE heavy equipment, operator training simulators. Ambatovy is a world class nickel and cobalt mine situated 80 km from the country’ s capital, Antananarivo. The surface operation represents the biggest ever foreign investment in Madagascar and ranks as one of the largest nickel mines in the world.
“ Most worl dclass mines globally have added simulators to their training and development programs and we can now add ourselves to that list,” says Mason Blum, Mine Training Superintendent at Ambatovy.“ Investing in this technology will reduce the cost of training over time, especially when it comes to the fuel cost when training operators on the actual equipment.” Blum also believes these simulators will entrench safety procedures. IM
56 International Mining | JANUARY 2018