Since mid-2012, pneumatic and hydraulic equipment supplier Ernest Lowe has been providing a substantial number of its electro-hydraulic actuator (EHA) systems for numerous African mining projects in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Sierre Leone, reports design and project engineer Adam Brown.
In June 2011, Ernest Lowe added the EHA system to its range of hydraulic products to provide existing and new clients with an alternative to the old-fashioned power pack and actuators, says Ernest Lowe products manager Ian Sinclair.
He says the EHAs have also been supplied to several local and Southern African mining and power projects, such as manganese ore and alloy supplier Assmang’s Khumani iron-ore mine expansion project (KEP) and the mine’s optimisation project, in the Northern Cape.
Creamer Media’s Research Channel Africa reports that the Khumani project involved the development of a greenfield iron-ore export mine on the Bruce, King and Mokaning farms near Kathu, in the Northern Cape.
The first phase of the project involved the development of a ten-million-ton-a-year iron-ore export mine.
The KEP entails the expansion of the mine from ten-million tons a year to
16-million tons a year, which will include the development of a new mining area to exploit additional orebodies. To service the new mining area, the primary and secondary crushers will be duplicated, while a new overland con- veyor will be constructed.
The existing washing, screening and beneficiation plant will be expanded to allow for increased capacity.
Storage areas for run-of-mine materials and product, as well as the primary thick- ener and paste plant, will also be expanded.
A new rail loop, load-out station and a direct rail link to the local line will be built.
The six-million-ton expansion will enable the export of four-million tons and the possible supply of two-million tons to the domestic market.
Assmang has received a commitment from State-owned transport group Transnet to extend the current iron-ore export allocation from ten-million tons a year to 14-million tons a year, increasing Assmang’s export capacity accordingly. This will dovetail with the iron-ore channel expansion from
47-million tons a year to 58-million tons a year.
State-owned power utility Eskom’s 4 800 MW Kusile coal-fired power station, in Mpumalanga, has also received some EHAs.
Additionally, Brown highlights that the EHAs are also used at platinum miner Impala Platinum’s subsidiary, Zimbabwe Platinum Mines, in Zimbabwe; at platinum miner Northam’s Booysendal platinum mine on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex, in Limpopo; and at platinum miner Aquarius Platinum’s Kroondal and Mimosa mines, in the North West and in the Wedza geological complex, 150 km east of Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe, respectively.
Brown highlights that Ernest Lowe EHAs are manufactured at its head office, in Boksburg, on the East Rand. However, he notes that the system’s hydraulic pumps, valves and motors are sourced from the company’s local suppliers.
Sinclair says that the EHAs are primarily used on chute systems and are rapidly gaining popularity in all sectors of the African mining market.
He believes that this trend is largely as a result of mining operations wanting to replace their pneumatic systems, which are sometimes regarded as a long-term expensive form of fluid power.
“EHAs can be used in many applications where space requirements are minimal and when pneumatic systems are unavailable or impractical,” says Sinclair, who adds that EHAs can be remotely controlled, with the system option of providing feedback for the control centre, which is available on request.
“Ernest Lowe has had great success with the introduction of EHAs, particularly with our existing customers. We have also had many new customers showing an interest in this product for a variety of applications.”
He points out that the company has developed a fail-to-close and fail-to-open version of EHAs using accumulator technology.
EHAs can be used for several applications, including pinch, globe and knife-gate valves, as well as radial and vent doors, and various chute systems.
Meanwhile, Sinclair says the EHA compact power packs, which encapsulate a hydraulic actuator in a contained unit, require no external pipework.
He says the main challenge for the com-pany during the introduction of the EHA’s was proving their product’s superior quality, compared with that of its competitors.
Sinclair says it was critically important to prove the reliability of the EHAs to the market, as “there are other suppliers of similar types of units who have had many years supplying their brand to the market and it is sometimes very difficult to change companies’ brand preference”.
Further, he notes that the company manufactures application-specific self-contained hydraulic actuators and hydraulic cylinders for industrial and mobile applications as well as piston pumps. It also designs and manufactures complete systems and power packs and imports a full range of hydraulic products.
Ernest Lowe has a gross stockholding of R40-million and has 13 other branches – in Carletonville, Durban, Klerksdorp, Mbombela (Nelspruit), Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Steelpoort, Thabazimbi, Vaal, Welkom, eMalahleni (Witbank), Rustenburg and Lephalale.
Ernest Lowe has 200 employees and is ISO 9001-accredited for quality, ISO 18001- accredited for health and safety and ISO 14001- accredited for environmental management. It is also a Level 4 black economic-empowerment company.