Company Announcement - Visitors to Electra Mining Botswana are expected to see a top line-up of industry speakers at the free-to-attend seminars taking place throughout the exhibition, which runs from 1-3 September at the Gaborone Fair Grounds in Gaborone.  

Kabo Molimi, Client Relationship Manager at Rand Merchant Bank Botswana, will be discussing the topic ‘Raising Finance for Mining Projects in Botswana’. He will be looking at the availability of finance and sourcing new partners, the legal and regulatory considerations for foreign investors, key factors to look for in potential mining investment, and strategies for mitigating risk.

Onthusitse Harold Melaetsa, Chief Minerals Officer at the Botswana Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, will be sharing his outlook for the Botswana minerals market including driving economic diversification, overcoming challenges and looking at new opportunities. He will be providing insight and views around development for 2015 through to 2018, mineral development as a vehicle of economic diversification, key challenges facing the future development of Botswana’s mineral industry and the outlook for domestic and export demand.

The role of private investors in power infrastructure and setting up an attractive environment for Botswana to become a power hub will be one of the discussion points in the presentation given by Neeraj Saxena, Project Manager at Power Jindal Botswana. He will be talking about bridging the energy capacity through Botswana power sector development, looking at the electricity demand forecast 2015 to 2020, and exploring the current outlook for Botswana and whether Botswana can cater to Southern Africa’s appetite for power.

Johny Smith, Chief Executive Officer of the Walvis Bay Corridor Group, will be speaking about working towards infrastructure synergy across the SADC Region. He will touch on the progress and future prospects of establishing connectivity through Botswana and Namibia, establishing a progressive regulatory environment to enable synergy across borders and harmonising Southern Africa’s corridor networks.

Developing community engagement will be the focus of the presentation that will be given by Charles Siwawa, Chief Executive Officer at Botswana Chamber of Mines. He will be discussing the role of developing training centres for improving technical capacity and investing in human capital, how to synergise the national upliftment strategy by navigating the complexities between all stakeholders, and the forming of alliances with communities and the mining industry. He will also cover aspects of effective generation of income transforming natural resources and localising business and developing the right skills and culture.

Other speakers include Neil Fitt of the Transport Hub, Ministry of Transport and Communications; Dr. Andre Nel, OHS Group Manager, Group Strategic Services Liberty; Mark McKee, Partner at Armstrongs Attorneys; Tobias Cossen, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); and speakers from the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Department of Customs and Excise and Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC). 

Visitors to Electra Mining Botswana will be able to view a wide range of products and services related to mining, industrial engineering and manufacturing, electrical engineering, power generation, materials handling, safety, health and environment, machines tools and construction, amongst others. It will be an opportunity to build valuable business connections, discover the latest in technology developments and find out about the latest new products, equipment and services.

“Visitors to Electra Mining Botswana will be able to engage with over 120 local and international exhibitors and experience live demonstrations of products and equipment whilst also benefiting from the free to attend seminars,” says Gary Corin, Managing Director at Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery, organisers of the show in partnership with local company, Soapbox Communications.

Leading exhibitors at Electra Mining Botswana include Beka Schreder, Becker Mining, BH Botswana, BMG, Bosch, Durma, Endress + Hauser, Franklin Electric, Schneider Electric, Seapro Botswana, Woodmead Group and Voltex.

As a leading stockist and reseller of a comprehensive range of electrical and lighting products, Voltex will be showcasing its product range and capabilities. As the largest electrical wholesaler in Southern Africa, with a national fleet of over 835 vehicles, an inventory in excess of R750-million and comprising more than 60,000 line items, Voltex is able to provide for all electrical product requirements with high levels of service. It caters for the infrastructural, commercial, industrial, residential developments and energy efficiency replacement/retrofit markets. Visitors will also hear about its product research and development which forms a significant part of Voltex’s responsibility, in particular the development and implementation of technologies that achieve energy efficiency and sustainable energy-use.

Having successfully exhibited at the Electra Mining Botswana expo in 2013, Aerzen Airgas will be returning to the 2015 event to highlight the importance of using original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts that are backed-up by after-sales support. Aerzen Airgas is the Sub-Saharan branch of German-based Aerzener Maschinenfabrik (Aerzen), one of the world’s leading specialists in the design and manufacture of roots blowers, turbo blowers, screw compressors, rotary lobe compressors and gas meters. Marketing co-ordinator Andreas Stubel notes that Electra Mining Botswana is the perfect stage to convey this important message.  “Electra Mining Botswana provides companies with a platform to network directly with existing and potential customers from across Africa. Our product range is well-established in the local mining and milling industries, and our main theme this year is promoting the importance of OEM parts in effective productivity,” he says. “We will be exhibiting and displaying OEM-compliant spare parts such as air filters, bearings and v-belts, with the aim of educating the market that authentic OEM parts ensure long-term cost savings by preventing avoidable malfunctions and consequent downtime.”

Tubestone is looking forward to engaging with visitors from the mining, industrial and agricultural sectors. As the exclusive agent of BKT, JK and Nankang tyres in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, Tubestone imports and distributes high quality tyres which include mining, industrial, agricultural, truck and passenger tyres and will be showcasing its product range.

Stone Three Mining Solutions will be showcasing its offerings in optimising mineral processing plants through machine vision based smart censor technology, consultative data analysis and advanced process control services. The company will be highlighting the benefits of developing custom solutions, the support provided to customers and the wide range of sensors available.

There will be lots of interest and interactive displays on the Jachris Hose and Couplings stand with live demonstrations of Sentry services - an innovative hose tracking and monitoring device built on radio frequency identification technology. Also on display will be Sentry RFID tags and handheld data capturing device with a live link to its data repository system in addition to its Container Hose Workshop with on-site services and new product innovations from Gates such as LifeGuard, iLok and Sentry Services.

Airtrax will be launching a new range of H2O Air Conditioning Mobile Evaporative Cooling Equipment at Electra Mining Botswana, offering a more comfortable working environment by reducing summer heat load on staff members. A live demo will demonstrate the effective cooling capacity of the units and will be fully operational to demonstrate the new Electronic Control Panel.

Continuing Education at University of Pretoria (CE at UP) will be promoting the newly launched Project Management for the Mining Industry. The programme is designed and presented to address the specific requirements and unique attributes related to mining projects.  Covering the mining project life-cycle of concept, pre-feasibility, implementation and operational handover, the course is built on proven and internationally accepted project management practices such as ISO 201500 and PMBoK. “This new course is part of a complement of short courses and comprehensive year programmes within the fields of Project Management, Mining and Engineering that will empower individuals to make rapid, yet informed, business and operational decisions,” says Marié van Niekerk, Senior Course Coordinator.

The Vansan brand with its objective of “bringing water to the people”, will be offering products ranging from submersible pumps and motors, vertical turbine, axial flow, end suction, vertical multi stage and surface pumps. These are distributed throughout South Africa and neighbouring countries.

The Master Lock Company stand will focus on the broad Master Lock range including the Lockout and Tagout devices which are designed to prevent accidents that could occur during servicing and repairing of equipment.

Charnaud, a leading global manufacturer of personal protective clothing for protection against radiant heat, electric arc flash, acid, flames, fire, cold and molten metal splash, will be displaying the Survive-Arc which is advanced protective wear against the thermal effects of electric arc flash and Aci-Flam protective wear which guards against the dual hazards of flames and liquid acid splash.

Other exhibitors include Filtration Africa, Air Liquide Botswana, AC/DC Dynamics, Multotec and Verder Pumps, amongst many others.

“As an international mining, industrial, power generation and machine tools event we have received excellent support from the Botswana Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources and from the Botswana Chamber of Mines, both of whom fully endorse the show,” says Vuyiswa Mojela, Director, Soapbox Communications. “We are delighted that Vincent T. Seretse, the Minister of Trade and Industry, and Onkokame Kitso Mokaila, the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, will be attending the show.”