When earth comes into contact with metal, material loss through wear is inevitable. Owing to its operating conditions, the global mining industry is affected by wear like very few other industries, annually costing the industry a fortune in replacement parts and downtime, affecting production.

Welding Alloys Group has been involved in wear protection for over 50 years in all major industries. As a subsidiary of global Welding Alloys Group, Welding Alloys South Africa (WASA) has been providing wear solutions to customers for over 40 years. “Our expertise, products and solutions have solved many wear problems where others failed. Our products, which are being manufactured in South Africa conform to the highest international standards, making us the only manufacturer of high-end welded chromium-carbide overlay material on the continent,” enthuses the company.

Very often, the solution to combat wear in the mining industry goes hand-in-hand with thicker, heavier liners. In transport equipment, such as truck trays, liner weight plays a vital role in total cost of ownership. Saving a few tons on the total liner weight of a haul truck has a direct impact on the operating cost of the truck in terms of fuel consumption, structural loading and tyre wear, for example.

By using WASA’s range of Hardplate™ liners, wear life is substantially increased through technically superior welded overlays and, in the majority of cases, the total liner weight can be reduced.

As a result of the high volume of chromium and complex carbides present in the wear lining of WASA’s materials, they typically outlast BHN 500 quenched and tempered material by between five to seven times. This extended wear life alone has a huge impact on cost by prolonging the time between maintenance cycles, indirectly increasing production, resulting in less downtime with a subsequent reduction in the cost per ton produced.

“Cost effectiveness and customer satisfaction are key to our success as a business and we strive to develop and build lasting customer relationships through innovative thinking and solutions with a direct focus on cost reduction and extending wear life to enable our customers to reap the financial benefits,” states WASA.