With massive growth prospects and investment opportunities in Africa, supplier of steel products to mining companies Vital Engineering believes that a major mining investment shift is currently taking place on the continent, and it has strategically positioned itself to meet strong demand for a wide variety of stockholding by offering improved service delivery.

“On-time delivery is a must where safety is a priority in the mining industry,” says Vital Engineering export executive Chris Spacey. “Our dedicated in-house export division has the necessary experience when it comes to accommodating our clients’ delivery requirements.”

With ever-intensifying competition from other markets, such as China, Vital Engineer-ing focuses on continually seeking the most cost-effective solutions for its clients in developing mining countries.

“We work closely with a wide spectrum of consultants and engineering, procurement and construction management companies to find the most economical best-of-breed solution to meet budgets and performance requirements without compromising on safety and quality,” says Vital Engineering MD Dodds Pringle.

He adds that Vital Engineering’s cost of installation is extremely economical, with little or no downtime on site as a result of pretrial layouts before shipping, no rework at high day work costs and first-time fitment.

Pringle says all these factors, as well as reduced shipping time, in-house inspections and easier communications make for afford-able products, enabling Vital Engineering to continue to be a competitive market leader.

“We believe that our vast experience on the continent will continue to help us find new and better ways in which to service our clients,” says Pringle.

Meanwhile, with numerous growth oppor-tunities in Africa, Vital Engineering says it constantly monitors current and new mining projects on a daily basis by performing field trips to these sites, which keep the company abreast of developments in the mining industry.
“Meeting the challenge of harsh mining conditions on the African continent puts product quality to the test,” says Spacey.

The company is constantly developing new products for challenging mining environments and has supplied in excess of 10 000 t of product over the last five years alone to the African mining industry, including gold, coal, uranium, copper and cobalt.

Vital Engineering manufactures high-quality nonslip floor gratings, stair treads, expanded metals and hand railings in galvan-ised steel, fibreglass, stainless steel and aluminium. In addition to the petrochemicals, power generation and structural engineering industries, the company supplies its products to a number of Australian and Canadian mining companies operating in Africa.

“Our products are supplied to gold mines in Burkino Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Namibia and Tanzania; copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Namibia and Uganda; nickel mines in Madagascar and Tanzania; and coal mines in Mozambique. “We also supply uranium mines in Namibia and Malawi, as well as a kimberlite mine in Sierra Leone,” says Spacey.

The Vital Engineering group has supplied power plants, petrochemicals plants, materials handling projects, mining operations, process plants, the food and beverage industry, as well as most areas of the civil and structural engineering industries, both locally and internationally.
A variety of products and materials for numerous applications, which suit both budget and corrosion conditions, are supplied by the company.

The range includes bitumen-dipped and galvanised 610 g/m2 and mild steel. Other grades of materials such as SS304, SS316, structural grade aluminium and 3CR12 can also be manufactured.
Vital Engineering is a Johannesburg-based company with over 70 years’ experience in the supply of products to the mining industry in over 20 countries throughout the African continent.