From Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore Mine to the AMG Group’s manganese operations, Goscor Earth Moving (GEM) Kathu, a multi-franchise branch of Goscor Industrial & Construction Equipment, is making inroads in the important Northern Cape mining region with both the SANY and Bobcat brands.

GEM Kathu Acting Branch Manager Rudi Burger reveals that the branch recently supplied 15 Bobcat skidsteer loaders to three different contractors awarded a three-year contract at Kumba. It is currently negotiating with a fourth contractor.

“The Bobcat skidsteers are mainly being used for cleaning operations on the minerals-processing side, clearing debris and over-spillage from the conveyor belts,” Burger explains. The compact design and excellent manoeuvrability of the machines in confined spaces, in particular, makes them ideal for this application.

Following on from supplying the AMG Group with three SANY SY500H excavators in September, GEM Kathu continues to offer service and support to this important client, as well as supplying Ground Engaging Tool (GET) accessories in the form of bucket tips.

“We have essentially penetrated the mining industry in the Northern Cape with these two major clients, flying the flag high for both SANY and Bobcat. The benefit of a multi-franchise branch such as we have at Kathu, and also Nelspruit, is that we are able to offer our clients complete solutions for all their materials-handling and mining needs.”

With an existing SANY fleet of ten excavators, ten load-haul dump trucks, and six front-end loaders, Burger reveals that the AMG Group is also looking to acquire a SANY SY750 excavator. The SANY SY750 is ideal to load blasted material onto articulated dump trucks (ADTs), as well as for stripping top soil and free digging. For example, the 4.2 m3 bucket means that a 40 t ADT can be loaded in less than seven passes, making it ideal for the AMG Group’s extensive high-volume manganese mining operations.

CEO Scott Yuan comments that, to date, what sold the AMG Group on both SANY and GEM has been the superlative service support and technical back-up. While the SANY SY500 is a highly rugged machine, the extremely dusty conditions these excavators were operating under required some modifications on the filters to prevent them clogging up prematurely.

“We had to install a top-spin pre-filter on the air filtration system in order to alleviate the dust issue. This was carried out successfully and efficiently by our trained technicians, and the excavators have been operating without a hitch ever since,” Burger reveals.

AMG Group Site Foreman Dewalt Pitzer adds: “GEM Kathu has provided us with great service, and the machines have performed well. They are powerful, and get the job done perfectly. We have a great service history with SANY, and have had no issues with the machines to date.”

Yuan concludes: “We really have to commend both GEM and its Kathu management and technical personnel for their proactive, hands-on approach. Any downtime incurred is a major cost factor in mining operations of our scale, and the team has gone above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that our fleet is operational at all times.”