AFRICA NEWS
Volvo Financial Services( VFS), the global captive finance arm of the Volvo Group, has announced the launch of its operation in South Africa through the newly established Volvo Financial Services Southern Africa. VFS will provide financial services to the customers of the Volvo Group’ s truck and bus industry brands currently operating as part of Volvo Group Southern Africa, including UD Trucks, Volvo Bus, Volvo Trucks, and Volvo CE. VFS was formed in 2001 and is headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, US, with regional headquarters offices in Singapore and in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company manages a nett credit portfolio of over SEK126-billion, employs over 1 400 people worldwide, and provides customer financing in over 45 countries. According to Volvo Group Southern Africa president Torbjörn Christensson, VFS will initially only be present in South Africa, although there are plans to make it available to customers across southern and eastern Africa as the markets develop.
Blasting and explosives company BME, in conjunction with its client Kansanshi Mining, has broken the world record for the most electronic detonators fired in a single blast at the Kansanshi Copper Mine in North- Western Zambia. The Kansanshi mine, which is 80 % owned by First Quantum Minerals, is the largest copper mine in Africa by production. The blast was conducted in the Kansanshi mine main pit on 29 September 2017 and involved 6 690 electronic delay detonators( EDDs), successfully initiated using BME’ s AXXIS digital initiation system. According to Wayde de Bruin, area manager for BME Zambia, all the holes were single-primed, with a set-up that included nine different shots, 18 slave blasting boxes, and one master box.“ The blast moved approximately 455 000 bank cubic metres( BCMs) and consumed a total of 400 tonnes of emulsion explosives, yielding an overall average powder factor of 0.9 kilograms per cubic metre,” said De Bruin.
Chamber of Mines hosts launch of Urban Agriculture Initiative
On 11 October 2017, the Chamber of Mines hosted the launch of the Urban Agriculture Initiative, established by the Johannesburg Inner City Partnership with the aim of creating a vibrant urban agricultural ecosystem. The Initiative innovatively repurposes disused rooftops, using hydroponics and aquaponics to produce agricultural produce for Johannesburg’ s inner city communities.
As a key stakeholder in the Johannesburg Inner City Partnership, the Chamber funded a pilot project to assess the feasibility of growing herbs and vegetables on the rooftops of inner city buildings, including the Chamber. The first crop was planted on the rooftop of the Chamber building for the benefit of an‘ agripreneur’.
Should the pilot project be successful, it will be rolled out to other sites, resulting in sustainable employment for other agripreneurs.
The use of hydroponics and aquaponics means that crops will be grown in special water solutions without the need for soil or large open spaces, with only a very small area required to produce a sustainable crop.
This approach also significantly reduces water consumption, given that 95 % of the water used is circulated and therefore reused. Production can be increased by extending the gardens upward, and soil erosion and pest control issues are completely eliminated. Hydroponic plants also mature much faster than crops in other mediums, resulting in a faster turnaround. ■
Chamber of Mines
The first basil crop grown on the rooftop of the Chamber of Mines building.
Remote solution mitigates risk when operating elevated platform
RCT
The remote control solution offered by smart technology company RCT is safeguarding mobile elevated work platform operators after a near fatality at a mine site, highlighting the need to reform the process.
The operation of mobile elevated work platforms currently requires two people: one in
RCT’ s ControlMaster MTX1000 pendant remote helps to mitigate the risk of work at height by giving control to the person in the basket. the basket and one controlling the movement from the ground. RCT’ s ControlMaster MTX1000 pendant remote is mitigating the risk by giving control to the person in the basket. This enables the person working at a hazardous height to control the lifting, lowering, crowning, and tilting functions. Further safeguarding this procedure is the MTX1000’ s safety interlock feature.
This popular solution has already been sought after by one mining contractor who required a simple and cost-effective solution to ensure operator safety, which would not require extensive machine modifications or ongoing service and maintenance.“ The MTX disparity checks all proportional outputs, making it safer than a conventional hardwired solution. If an incident were to occur, our remote control will shut down straight away rather than move the basket back to its original position,” said RCT’ s automation and control product manager, Brendon Cullen.
In addition, the solution provides a master control in the operator station cabin for a second operator to be able to resume control if required, further safeguarding operators.
“ With ultimate control moved to the operator in the basket, the risk of crushing and pinching incidents is vastly reduced,” he said.
The MTX1000 is the latest addition to the ControlMaster radio remote control range. It is designed with the same operating platform as RCT’ s leading ATX2200, but conveniently packaged into an even lighter remote control. The remote control includes a graphical display, proportional joysticks, and dead-man and control buttons. It can be operated continuously for more than 16 hours before it requires recharging. ■
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JANUARY 2018