Forgings and machining manufacturing company Frankwen Forge has been supplying components to Joy Mining Machinery and P&H Mining services for about 25 years.
The company, which is able to provide forgings, heat-treatment, machining, destructive testing and non-destructive testing, supplies all forgings to Joy Mining Machinery and P&H Mining Services.

Frankwen Forge sales and marketing manager Toni Da Matta says that the company provides finished, fully machined components to P&H Mining Services and semifinished, or unmachined, components to Joy Mining Machinery. This, he says, is to allow for nondestruc- tive testing of the components to eliminate rejects and to improve the aesthetics.

With the demand for coal expected to grow as power utility Escom increases the number of its power stations, there is a marked growth in the demand and supply of continuous miners and shuttle cars for coal-mining operations.

Da Matta says that the forgings division is the engine room of the company, able to manufacture forgings from 10 kg to 12 t. The forge is able to produce a wide range of forgings in carbon, low to medium alloy steel, copper, aluminium, and stainless steels, notably austenitic, martensitic or duplex stainless steels.

The special steels division of Frankwen Forge contains a wide range of bars in most of the standard grades and sizes. The division also has a peeling facility, which means that Frankwen Forge is able to supply peeled bar ranges from 70 mm to 200 mm in diameter.

The machining division of Frankwen Forge allows the company to supply fully machined components to the industry. These components range from a one-inch flange to the drilling of a two-metre tube sheet. The machining division also allows Frankwen Forge to add value to a forged component by reducing the supply chain.

“Frankwen Forge’s in-house inspectorate ensures that quality is kept at a high level,” Da Matta concludes.

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