SA NEWS
Kumba’s ‘life-changing’
healthcare investment High-quality screening, vibrating
solutions
Before 2015, people from
the communities around
Postmasburg in the Northern
Cape travelled 30km – often on
foot – to get access to primary
health care.
Thanks to a major investment
in the healthcare infrastructure
by Kumba Iron Ore, Anglo
American’s iron ore business
unit, over the past three
years, mobile clinics now take
healthcare to the communities.
A newly-upgraded
Postmasburg medical complex
boasts a high-tech trauma care
unit, which accommodates and
stabilises patients before they
are moved to more advanced
medical facilities.
The clinic is classified
as an ‘ideal facility’ by the
department of health and
provides a range of community
health services, including baby
immunisations, family planning
and chronic treatment such as
diabetic hypertension, cardiac,
ARVs and a TB programme. In
2017, 3 500 people visited the
primary healthcare clinic, with
more than 100 people treated in
the trauma unit.
The upgraded hospital
has six consulting rooms, a
pharmacy, a reception area
and a medication storage area.
Doctors are housed in living The African mining industry
needs high-quality screening
and vibrating equipment
solutions supported by rapid
turnaround around times and
expert technical back-up, which
is where Aury Africa stands to
play a key role on the continent.
This is according to Dadi
Engineering Development
Group (DDEDG), whose senior
management paid a visit to
group company Aury Africa
last year to reinforce ties, and
seek out new opportunities
in the sub-Saharan African
mining and mineral-processing
sectors. DDEDG has designed
more than 30 open-cut and
underground coalmine projects
to date, as well as more than
130 coal preparation plants and
three coal-water slurry plants. It
has completed over 100 turnkey
coal process plants to date.
This has included the
supply of a large quantity of
coal-processing equipment
such as vibrating banana
screens, horizontal screens,
high-frequency screens and
dewatering centrifuges,
in addition to complete
centralised control systems,
high- and low-voltage power
distribution, valves and pipes.
The group has high
expectations for Aury Africa,
DDEDG Group vice president,
Dongping Wang, says. It is
intended that the African
operation achieve a level
of success similar to sister
companies Aury Tianjin in
China and Aury Australia,
which have become leaders in
their respective markets.
“We value the African
minerals-processing industry
highly, as it forms an integral
part of the group’s global
expansion strategy,” Wang
comments. It is for this reason
that Aury Africa is looking to
introduce new technologies to
the African mining industry,
such as intelligent dry sorting
units on the premises, which
means four doctors are on
duty, where it previously only
had one or two doctors at any
given time. The next step in
the project is to upgrade the
paediatric ward, the theatre and
the casualty section.
Keaobaka Matilo of Kumba
Iron Ore’s Kolomela Mine says
the new medical facility has
made a significant difference to
the lives and wellbeing of local
communities. “It was critical
for us to provide all necessary
services in one central place.
The project has not only
brought huge relief to the
people in the villages around
Postmasburg, but also created
jobs for nurses and drivers for
the mobile clinics.”
The mine has invested more
than R40-million in this project
to date and has a long-standing
collaborative partnership with
the Department of Health in
the Northern Cape to address
all aspects of community
healthcare.
“We realised there are
many social problems in the
community, so we decided
to partner with two NGOs to
establish a trauma and drug
abuse centre and provide
counselling and support at the
centre,” says Matilo.
The mine has invested over R40-million in this project to date.
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systems and ‘smart’ plants, in
order to improve operational
efficiency and environmental
awareness.
By the end of 2018 it is
anticipated that there will be
over 60 DDEDG dry-sorting
systems in operation in China
alone, a highly successful
‘green’ innovation that does
not consume water and media,
and therefore offers significant
value-add benefits for mining
operations in Africa.
“We value the
African minerals-
processing
industry highly, as
it forms an integral
part of the group’s
global expansion
strategy.”
The group’s ‘smart’ plant
concept utilises automated
control and sensor technology
to monitor key parameters to
boost operational efficiency
on a proactive, real-time
basis. These range from
pump pressure to conveyor-
belt speeds. All software and
hardware in this regard is
proprietary, and has been
developed specifically by
DDEDG for the mining
industry.
The group’s first ‘smart’
plant system is currently being
commissioned as a retrofit
on a 30Mtpa Chinese coal-
handling process plant, proving
the technology’s suitability for
refurbishment, which is a key
criterion in the African mining
industry.
QUARRY SA | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019_5