Despite globally depressed iron-ore prices, there are still opportunities for the supply of mineral processing solutions in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries like Russia, as well as China, says mining equipment specialist Osborn Engineered Products export director Martin Botha.

He explains that the decline in the iron-ore price and the reduction in consumption worldwide, especially in China, has resulted in few new operations opening, or existing operations expanding, at the moment. “The market is tough and this makes it hard to justify new investments.”

The Johannesburg-based company has, however, found that opportunities for the supply of its solutions in many CIS countries are growing. In the last 18 months, Osborn has supplied a double-toggle jaw crusher to Kazakhstan chrome exporter Kazchrome, a locally manufactured track-mounted primary jaw crusher to an aggregates mine in Azerbaijan and a modular plant, which was designed and built in South Africa, to diamond miner Alrosa, in Siberia.

Furthering its presence in Russia, Osborn also exhibited its solutions at the Mining World Russia exhibition, which ran from April 26 to 28 at the Crocus Expo International Exhibition Centre, in Krasnogorsk, in Russia’s Moscow Oblast. Botha notes that the event attracted visitors from all over Russia and former soviet republics that are now CIS countries.

In addition, Osborn supplied a modular plant for iron-ore operation Bayi Steel in China. Botha explains that modular plants are complete processing plants that can be shipped in containers to any place in the world. He highlights that they are easy to erect and move around, if needed, and can be designed according to a client’s specifications. The modular plant for Bayi Steel, for example, had to be designed to withstand temperatures of –40 °C.

“We are actively marketing Osborn’s range of high-quality machines in CIS countries. We have a very proactive agent representing us in Russia, and we also believe that shows like Mining World Russia offer a worthwhile platform to showcase our equipment,” says Botha.

Both China and Russia were among the top five iron-ore-producing countries in 2015. China produced 1.38-billion tons of the metal, while Russia produced 112-million tons.