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May 2015
MODERN MINING
49
CRUSHING, SCREENING
AND MILLING
feature
competent ‘homegrown’ manufacturers of
screens, an interesting point is whether Aury
African can compete on delivery time. Houchin
is in no doubt that it can. “We can fulfil an order
within three months – from the time of receiv-
ing a signed order through to delivery to site,”
he maintains. “This is very fast and more than
competitive – in fact, I doubt that any South
African manufacturer can match this type of
turnaround.
“A major selling point for us incidentally is
that we can provide a customised solution. For
example, we can ensure that a screen fits an
existing ‘footprint’, an important consideration
given that the global recession in mining has
led to a situation where new projects are scarce
and most demand is for replacement screens at
existing mines.”
Houchin is quick to point out that the com-
petitive price of the new vibrating screen range
has not been achieved by compromising on
quality. “The same side plates, huck bolting
and 305 mm x 305 mm panels are being used
during manufacture and guarantee a very reli-
able and durable product. Economies have,
however, been achieved by providing an out of
balance drive motor as standard rather than the
more expensive exciter drive – though this is
available as an option – and by reducing the
polyurethane coating on the cross beams from
6 mm to 2 mm.” Elaborating on this last point,
he says the 6 mm coating is appropriate for the
larger volumes handled by bigger screens but
is an unnecessary ‘overkill’ on smaller screens.
Moving on to crushers, Houchin says that
Aury Africa is able to supply both jaw and cone
crushers. “Aury in China does not yet have any
crushers in its lineup so we are sourcing from
other Chinese manufacturers, all of whom sup-
ply Dadi Engineering,” he says. “We get a very
competitive price because of our association
with Dadi Engineering and we can, in turn,
pass this on to our customers. Our turnaround
time on orders is similar to what we are able to
offer on our vibrating screens.”
The PE jaw crusher range from Aury Africa
offers feed size openings varying between
150 x 250 mm to 1 000 mm x 1 200 mm while
the cone crusher range is available in diame-
ters from 2 ft (610 mm) to 5,5 ft (1 676 mm).
Other comminution equipment offered by Aury
Africa includes vertical impact crushers and
hammer mills.
Aury Africa has already achieved some
notable successes with its crushing equipment,
particularly in Zimbabwe where it has deliv-
ered cone and jaw crushers to – among others
– Maranatha Ferrochrome in Kadoma. In South
Africa it has supplied Samancor and – as this
article was being written – was on the point of
securing an order for a 3 ft cone crusher for a
new project in South Africa.
Summing up, Houchin says that since being
founded Aury Africa’s turnover has shown con-
sistent growth and is now in the region of R50
million a year. “We’ve done well considering
the downturn in mining,” he says. “We’re not
yet making significant profits but the opera-
tion is pretty much paying its way, with the
consumable sales alone covering the running
costs of the business. We want to at least double
this turnover over the next several years and
increased sales of our capital equipment will
be the key to achieving this goal.”
Report by Arthur Tassell, photos courtesy of Aury Africa
(unless otherwise acknowledged)
Above:
Centrifuge baskets
are offered for all centrifuge
makes and models (photo:
Arthur Tassell).
Left:
A PE 600 x 900 jaw
crusher from Aury Africa
undergoing a routine
inspection at a plant in
Kadoma, Zimbabwe.