SOUTH AFRICAN SUPPLIERS
With over 17,000 vibratory units installed across the globe and references in almost 50 countries , in all key commodities , Kwatani represents a homegrown success story
applications across the globe ,” Schoepflin said . The company also recently developed a custom vibrating screen feeder for a leading supplier of mineral sorting solutions , where the client had specific functional and dimensional requirements coupled with space constraints for the installation .
“ Our custom design and build met our client ’ s dimensional , efficiency and throughput needs first time around , reflecting Kwatani ’ s standards of excellence ,” Schoepflin said . “ After successful testing locally , our vibratory equipment now forms part of the company ’ s global standard supply kit .”
Kwatani can react to specific customer demands such as this thanks to many years of on-site experience and dedicated R & D that leverages technology such as specially designed test rigs . It also uses mechanical and material flow test data collated from customer sites and from its laboratory to confirm its expectations .
And the company continues to evolve with the times , with an R & D pipeline focused on customer needs and future plant requirements , especially as more “ mega mines ” are operating at higher capacities and demanding even larger mineral processing equipment , according to Schoepflin .
“ This results in a smaller number of modules requiring single-line screens to accurately classify material at a high capacity of thousands of tonnes per hour ,” she said .
Kwatani ’ s engineering team focuses a portion of its R & D spend on developing alternative solutions for mines needing to upgrade their mineral processes or vibrating equipment , as these mines face significant costs if upgrades negatively impact on plant infrastructure .
“ Our team finds ways to reduce the impact of transferring a screen ’ s dynamic force into the plant ’ s support structures ,” Schoepflin said .
And when it comes to providing cost-effective and optimal maintenance and condition monitoring solutions , Kwatani is looking at a
bespoke solution aimed at maximising benefits for the end user .
“ Future R & D will include integrating such tools into other processing equipment , to add further value by allowing mine operators to optimise processes on a systems level ,” Schoepflin said .
Out of the box thinking
Zest WEG , a subsidiary of the WEG Group , is also allocating part of its R & D budget to digital equipment monitoring infrastructure .
Juliano Vargas , CEO of Zest WEG , said the company ’ s focus is on improving the quality of its solutions , making them more operationally efficient and providing products that operate at the lowest possible cost .
Digital technology such as its Motor Scan solution , which monitors the running condition of motors and transmits and analyses data in real time to enable plant operators to apply predictive maintenance strategies “ more efficiently ” is just one example of this R & D work . This is coming to
One of Zest WEG ' s four local manufacturing plants in South Africa
fruition on a commercial scale , according to Vargas .
Similarly , Zest WEG ’ s Pump Genius monitors flow and adjusts pumping rates , saving up to 50 % of energy use , he said .
“ Our role as an OEM , with four local manufacturing facilities in South Africa , and solution provider is to give our customers the tools to make better decisions and to fully optimise their operations ,” he explained . “ This means applying the power of technology in a practical way that is relevant to their priorities .
“ The way we conduct R & D is not just about science – it is about listening to the customer and generating customised solutions .”
These innovations may have been deployed on a global scale , but the South African mining sector inspired many of them .
“ Among these was our mining motor , which evolved its robust design from the demands of our local mining customers ,” Vargas said . “ When we started out , there were not many motors that could withstand the harsh conditions and applications in mining . We improved the design steadily until motor operational reliability was transformed from as little as two-to-threemonths to years .”
Once proven in South Africa with Zest WEG , the WEG Group was able to provide the product to mining customers in other countries such as Chile .
“ Africa ’ s limited infrastructure also encouraged us to think ‘ outside the box ’ in our product innovation and development ,” Vargas said . “ Constrained energy supply in many countries highlighted the importance of energy efficiency – as many mines were generating much of their own electricity . Any savings in energy consumption by motors on a mine site is a direct bottom-line benefit .
“ South Africa ’ s energy challenges over the past decade have made this innovation particularly relevant – and when Zest WEG brought its WEG IE3 motors to the market at the
18 International Mining | JANUARY 2022