A range of ball valves, manufactured by China-based manufacturer Teji, is being imported by fluid conveyance products and solutions provider Incledon for South Africa’s mining operations that deploy bulk fuel and lubrication facilities.

Incledon valves product manager Craig Thomson tells Mining Weekly that Teji’s range of advanced valves for industrial and petrochemicals applications conforms to global quality standards, such as API and ISO, and are TUV Rheinland- and CE-approved.

The company also imports flanges and piping products that are used at bulk fuel and lubrication facilities at South African opencast mines.

Incledon has supplied Teji’s ball valves to bulk storage projects overseen by bulk fuel and lubricant installations designer Atmei Construction, including the R24-million Atcom East bulk fuel and lubrication project and the R23-million Goedgevonden fuel and lubrication project, both in Mpumalanga. The valves have also been used at the R28-million Tweefontein fuel and lubrication facility, in Limpopo.

Thomson says Incledon is the only South African company importing and distributing these valves, adding that they are suitable for extensive use at lubrication facilities because they are durable and reliable , as well as easy to maintain and operate.

He says Incledon stocks more than 14 000 products and also provides a wide range of pipes, fittings, threading machines, pumps and associated plumbing products.

The company is working with Atmei Construc-tion on a three-year project that involves installing on-site bulk fuel and lubrication facilities, worth more than R70-million, at opencast mines in South Africa.

“Incledon has supplied Atmei with a range of Teji ball valves, flanges and piping products that form part of the bulk fuel and lubrication facilities of mines such as diversified mining major Exxaro, platinum miner Impala Platinum and Anglo American. These facilities include two 500 m3 diesel tanks and five 23 m3 lubrication tanks,” explains Thomson.

Atmei Construction project manager Adriaan Jacobs explains that a bulk fuel and lubrication facility operates similarly to a petrol station, but on a larger scale. “The scope of work for a project of this nature includes civil works for bulk diesel infrastructure, lubrication facilities, heavy-duty vehicle refuelling areas and fire-suppression infrastructure.”

He adds that additional civil and structural steelwork is erected for the forecourt canopy, in addition to the building work for the flag office. The project also involves mechanical and electrical work on the bulk tanks. “A project of this nature is intricate and complicated, and typically takes eight months to complete,” he says.