16 / 44
CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS
NOVEMBER 2016
14
MINING NEWS
Mining operations experience difficulties
with their vehicles on a daily basis
due to the rigid landscape, operational
inefficiency and lack of safety within the
workplace. The new 40.00 R 57 and 53/80
R 63 Michelin XDR3 tyres have been
designed to improve these factors.
The new Michelin XDR3 is said to re-
spond to the needs of mine operators by
incorporating three key innovations, which
together increase tyre life by a minimum
of 10% compared with its predecessor, the
Michelin XDR 2.
Compared with its predecessor, the tyres’
new tread pattern offers multiple benefits.
It offers better endurance due to improved
heat dissipation capabilities – 8°C cooler
in the tread area. A greater volume of tread
rubber is in contact with the ground, which
improves wear and ensures better load dis-
tribution throughout the contact patch due to
a lower contact pressure. Interlocking shoul-
der blocks resist excessive movement during
cornering and further reduce tyre wear.
With four innovative rubber compounds –
the MB4, MB, MC4, MC – the exclusive new
mixing process ensures a more uniform com-
position of rubber compounds and a greater
level of carbon black dispersion that increas-
es wear resistance. Each unique compound
offers specific performance characteristics
adapted to site conditions and usage, from
high wear resistance to high thermal capac-
ity for speed.
The high-strength corrosion isolating steel
cables used in the tyre’s casing are 10%
stronger than in the previous XDR2 and are
encapsulated in rubber to prevent the spread
of corrosion within the casing, which extends
the life of the tyre. The 40.00 R 57 Michelin
XDR3 is available from September 2016,
while the 53/80 R 63 will roll into the market
in January 2017.
b
Improving operational
efficiency
Michelin XDR3 increases tyre life by a
minimum of 10%.
MBE Minerals is expanding its service
centre in Kathu, South Africa. Officially
launched in the second quarter of 2015,
the facility supports the company’s large
installed base of equipment in the Northern
Cape Province.
Johannes Kottmann, managing director
of MBE Minerals, explains the importance
of providing support on customers’
doorsteps. “It is imperative that we can
provide technical support and backup
services to customers in this region from a
local facility and the decision to expand our
existing service centre will see a sizeable
investment by the company.”
MBE Minerals is a leading supplier of
iron ore and coal beneficiation technology,
and is focussed on providing the greater
aftermarket support. Kottmann says that
this approach enables the company to
meet customer-specific requirements. He
says that mines need OEM suppliers that
are committed to work with them to ensure
the optimum efficiency of equipment.
“It is not sufficient to just provide qual-
ity OEM equipment that is engineered to
be fit-for-purpose, it is also essential that
technical support is readily available to en-
sure optimum uptime and productivity for
the mine,” he says.
The MBE Minerals Service Centre, which
is under the management of Rudi van
Deventer, will be doubled in size to allow
for the reconditioning and assembly of
bucket chains and jigging panels. The fully
equipped workshop will accommodate the
inspection, repair and assembly of various
other components as well. A comprehensive
spare parts stockholding matches with the
company’s equipment footprint, allowing
customers ready access without the need to
wait for these to be shipped from Gauteng.
b
MBE MINERALS EXPANDS KATHU SERVICE CENTRE
When it comes to breathalysers, there are
many misconceptions that exist (and persist)
about what these tests can and can’t do that
have led to the belief that it is possible to
beat the breathalyser, so says Rhys Evans,
MD of ALCO-Safe.
“This is something often attempted at
roadblocks where there is police presence
to monitor drunk drivers and it has even
been attempted where substance or
alcohol testing is implemented randomly
in a manufacturing, mining or construction
environments,” says Evans. “Such tricks
have evolved into an urban legend with
most people able to pass on a story of how a
friend or acquaintance fooled a breathalyser
test, but these tricks are nothing but myths.”
In short, there is no way to beat a
breathalyser test, unless the test subject has
not been drinking. Despite this, companies
and law enforcement agencies are having
to test more often, illustrating the fact
that employees and citizens are unfamiliar
and misinformed about the extent of
alcohol testing, whether for recreational or
professional purposes, which means it’s time
to demystify these urban legends, says Evans.
Designed to test for blood alcohol content
(BAC), breathalysers are used in industries
and scenarios where intoxication is
hazardous to health and life. South African
law has two levels for permissible BAC
percentages – the professional driver limit
is 0,10 mg/l. For obvious reasons, alcohol
consumption is banned by the OSH Act and
is predominantly enforced in the mining, civil
engineering, construction, manufacturing,
transportation and other industries with a
zero tolerance approach, given the serious
ramifications of operating dangerous
machinery under the influence. Testing for
alcohol is mandatory in certain industries,
and this is done using a breathalyser before
entering the workplace.
While there are a number of different
types of breathalysers, the good ones gen-
erally work the same, and they are all de-
signed to be used by an operator.
“It’s important to know upfront that if the
operator is using the test device correctly
by not handing it to the person to test him-
self, and if the device used is a good-quali-
ty breathalyser, there is no way to cheat it.
However, in order to ensure that the device
delivers accurate readings, it is important
to calibrate the breathalyser,” says Evans.
“Good breathalysers use something called
an electro-chemical fuel cell, which is the
heart of the instrument detecting alcohol.
This can go up in sensitivity or drift down in
sensitivity.”
b
Demystifying urban legends of beating the
breathalyser