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MODERN MINING
April 2016
COMPANIES
Tenova TAKRAF Africa has
consolidated operations in
these modern premises in
Spartan.
material flow test work to determine the flow
of solid material through chutes and into stor-
age vessels.
Commenting on the current business envi-
ronment, Späth says conditions are extremely
tight but notes that Tenova TAKRAF Africa
still has considerable forward momentum from
ongoing projects, one of them being Eskom’s
Kusile Power Station. “Our work at Kusile
comprises three separate materials handling
work packages covering the terrace handling
system, the stockyard handling system and the
limestone handling facility,” he states. “The
scope of the three packages is considerable and
includes 79 conveyors adding up to distance
of more than 16 km, as well as the supply and
installation of stackers, reclaimers and feeders.”
Other current contracts include a boiler
emissions abatement plant at Impala Platinum’s
Springs refinery – reportedly the first of its type
in Africa – and also a load out station for a coal
mine in Mozambique presently undergoing
commissioning. This is the second installation
of this type for the client and the order was
secured on the basis of the excellent perfor-
mance of the system supplied for the first phase
of the project. Tenova TAKRAF Africa’s rapid
rail loading systems feature a flask-loading
design and can load particulate material into
moving trains at rates of up to 8 000 t/h.
A recently completed project of which
Tenova TAKRAF Africa is particularly proud
is the materials handling portion of Sasol
Mining’s Tweedraai expansion near Secunda.
This involved the design and installation (on
an LSTK basis) of three conveyors totalling
3 km to convey coal at a rate of up to 4 800 t/h.
The system comprises a 1 000 m long incline
conveyor with a lift of 83 m, a 1 518 m over-
land conveyor with a lift of minus 9,3 m and
a 434 m tripper conveyor with a lift of 30,3 m.
The scope included the bulk earthworks and
civils foundations for the conveyors, as well as
the transfer towers and the E&I system.
Späth says that with the current dearth of
large-scale mining projects, the demand for
Tenova TAKRAF Africa’s ultra-heavy materials
handling equipment – bucket wheel excavators,
for example, or ship loading and unloading sys-
tems – is limited. “This market will return but
in the meantime we are putting additional focus
on the junior mining market, where there is still
a reasonable level of activity,” he observes. “We
have developed a number of solutions for the
juniors and are also offering some attractive
financing packages.”
One development Späth points to is an
ingenious modular overland conveyor consist-
ing of concrete modules precast at the project
site and fitted with idler frames and brackets.
The system – which reduces on-site work by
as much as 80 % and is also relocatable – is
easily and quickly installed after the conveyor
line has been surveyed, with only a prepared
terrace required and no concrete footings.
“The beauty of the system is not only its cost
effectiveness but also the fact that it can maxi-
mise local community involvement – which is