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Mining services company expands service offerings to ensure growth

6th September 2013

By: Carina Borralho

  

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South African-owned mining, smelting and mineral processing service specialist Dickinson Group reports that while the core of its business will remain in the mining, metals smelting and mineral processing industry, it is diversifying into sub-Saharan Africa to ensure continued growth.

“As a result of the increased demand for commodities and the subsequent need for infrastructure development on the African continent, there has been massive growth in the cement industry,” says Dickinson Group CEO Trevor Dickinson.

Dickinson Group notes that the global financial crisis and South Africa’s local energy crisis have put the furnace and smelter indus- try under tremendous pressure. “Owing to capital constraints, the trend pervading the industry is that there is prolonged time between plant repairs,” he notes.

“Further, pressure on an already struggling industry was exacerbated by State-owned power producer Eskom’s plea to industry to shut down operations in a bid to save energy, which means that, in some instances, it is more profitable for furnace operations to remain shut than to be operational,” says Dickinson.

Projects in Progress
Despite this outlook, the company tells Mining Weekly that it is still active in the market and that it is implementing and maintaining 24 projects throughout the furnace, industrial and mining sectors in South Africa.

The company’s precast division has successfully secured and completed projects on a burner tube at Strategic Minerals-owned mine- ral company Vametco, in Brits, and a balancing zone in the sintering plant at commodity trading and mining company group Xstrata’s Bokamoso project, in the North West.

The company has also completed the gas cooling ductings at Xstrata’s Wonderkop operation, located in the Bushveld Complex, north of Pretoria; blaster nozzles at cement manufacturer Afrisam’s Ulco plant, in the Northern Cape; as well as various projects for French cement company Lafarge.

“In all these projects, the quality of the precast was of the highest standard and the turnaround time was kept to a minimum,” says Dickinson.

Meanwhile, the company’s anchor division is manufacturing anchors that will hold the monolithic refractories in place against the steel shell inside the rotary kiln of Glencore Xstrata’s Lion project, which is currently being constructed in Mpumalanga.

The anchors are manufactured in Vereeniging by a computer numerically controlled wire-bending machine. “The weight of the entire anchor supply is more than 10 t and is manufactured in grade 310 stainless steel,” adds Dickinson.

A team of eight welders is installing 30 000 Rotalock-designed anchors, which entails the welding of a block onto the first rotary kiln at the project. This will enable installation personnel to move easily and eliminate the risk of injuries. The anchors are inserted, rotated and locked into position when the area is prepared for the pouring of the refractory-cast table.

Meanwhile, Dickinson Group’s industrial services business unit provides specialist industrial services for the mining, metals smelting and mineral processing industries, and comprises the aluminium smelter, the rotary kiln and mill, and the silo services divisions.

The aluminium smelter services division offers sitewide refractory maintenance services on carbon-bake and casthouse furnaces, ladles and potline reduction services.

The rotary kiln and mill services division offers monitoring and hot-alignment services to the rotary kiln industries. These include iron, cement and lime, paper, pulp and ferrochrome, precision machining solutions and line-boring services for large items of stationary plant material requiring repair across a wide range of industries.

The silo services division includes industrial silo-cleaning services and the safe removal of compacted materials from all sizes and shapes of silos, bins, hoppers, tanks, reactors and chimneys.

Refractory Demolition
Meanwhile, for a six-in-line furnace project awarded in March by the Northam Platinum smelter, north of Johannesburg, Dickinson Group carried out a complete refractory demolition using its Brokk range of machines and its 14 t excavator.

“We are also breaking the leftover platinum material in the furnace into manageable pieces after smelting has taken place, after which it will be crushed and fed back into the furnace after start-up reverts,” Dickinson adds.

Dickinson Group performed a mechanical demolition to gain access into the furnace, and the mechanical erection after the demolition activities, when it had been closed for a rebuild. The refractory installation is expected to be completed by September.

The demolition entailed the removing of the product build-up, the furnace lining, the furnace walls and the hearth.

The heating of the furnace will start after the Northam Platinum smelter has loaded the precharge material and will continue for ten days until the furnace switches to electrical power in late September.

Kiln Division Projects
Dickinson Group reports that it is currently supplying mineral processing company Vesuvius with hot kiln alignment, shell profile measurements and comprehensive kiln inspection. It is also supervising the roller adjustment on a seven-pier kiln. The project started in August and was set to take 15 days to complete.

Engineering Division
Coal mining company Southern Coal Newcastle, in KwaZulu-Natal, has received support roller and kiln tyre grinding, as well as on-site machining for four support rollers and two kiln tyres from Dickinson Group.
The Dickinson plant is manufacturing one set of Brokk outriggers from a sample and is refurbishing outriggers, booms and turrets on Brokk machines as part of the maintenance done on machines used for demolition projects.
Meanwhile, Dickinson Group’s mining services business unit focuses on the supply of specialised equipment and services to the mining industry in Southern Africa, providing remote-controlled demolition robots, underground drilling and roof- bolting rigs, high-quality hydraulic drifters, underground concrete-mixing and spraying technology, as well as drilling attachments and conversions.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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