ThyssenKrupp Materials Handling (TKMH), a division of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions South Africa, has been a turnkey supplier of bulk materials handling equipment and systems to Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen Mine since 1971. Following the supply of two off stackers and two off TAS27.5 drum reclaimers to Sishen in 1971, TKMH supplied two off stackers, two off TAS40 drum reclaimers with a 40m rail centre, and one transfer car for the drum reclaimers in 1973. In 1979, the company handed over a semi-mobile crusher and crawler mounted spreader for the calcrete overburden handling system at the mine. During the late 1980s TKMH retrofitted the double shell drums on the two TAS40s to single shell drums. Between 2005 and 2008, an additional four off TAS40s, three off stackers and one transfer car was supplied.

Sishen, located in the Northern Cape Province, is the largest open pit mine in Africa, producing over 28 million tons of high-grade (>65% Fe) hermatite iron ore per annum, mainly for export. Sishen uses 75% of rail capacity to Saldanha and it is South Africa’s largest and heaviest train delivery of 68 640 tons of iron ore which is transported 861km to Saldanha in a 7.5km long train consisting of 660 wagons. As the mine expands, greater demands are placed on equipment which is expected to deliver ever higher capacities to cope with increasing volumes of material. The objectives of one of the mine’s more recent expansion projects, Bed E, are to increase the mine’s overall stacking, reclaiming and storage capacities. TKMH was awarded the full turnkey Bed E expansion project which included all civil, mechanical and electrical work.

“The Bed ‘E’ Expansion Project necessitated the widening of the area to accommodate a larger stockpile,” explains TKMH Marketing Manager, Willie Agenbag. “We removed the small stacker, its feed conveyor as well as two small 27.5m rail width drum reclaimers that we supplied in 1971 when the Sishen-Saldanha Bay iron ore export project was first opened. In order to accommodate the larger volumes, we extended the bed to a width of 40m and a length of 365m.  We replaced the two 27.5m drum reclaimers with a large TAS40 unit with its associated conveyors which feeds into the existing system via a new transfer house and link conveyor.” With a 40m rail width, the uni-directional TAS40, with a total drum weight of 100 tons, is equipped with 64 buckets and has a handling capacity of up to 5 500 tons of iron ore per hour.                

“The expansion project also called on us to upgrade and install new conveyors as well as supply and commission a larger 4000 tph luffing and slewing stacker,” continues Agenbag. We also extended the transfer car runway to reach Bed E so that Kumba is able to use any of its three TAS40 drum reclaimers across its multiple reclaim beds using the existing TKMH transfer car.” TKMH completed the Bed E project in July 2012. This brings the total number of TKMH drum reclaimers supplied to the Sishen mine to nine, which according to Agenbag is the largest concentration of TKMH drum reclaimers in the world.
 
Discussing the merits of drum reclaimers, TKMH Sales Manager, Matthias Göing says that, compared to other reclaimer types, drum reclaimers deliver the best blending results at constant high throughputs. “The drum reclaimer’s mechanical simplicity and gentle reclaim action enables these rugged machines to perform reliably and deliver high throughputs even under the harshest of conditions such as temperature extremes, high dust levels and abrasive materials, typically experienced on the Sishen mine.” 

Göing also emphasises the fact that TKMH is an engineering driven company that delivers modern, world class, turnkey service solutions. “This is the backbone of our company and central to our customers’ equipment reliability and plant availability. Our systems are sophisticated and, from initial design and development phase to final commissioning, require the highest levels of engineering expertise and attention to detail. For example, in order to ensure seamless mobility between the reclaim beds, it was paramount that the new TAS40 would fit any of the mine’s beds. This necessitated interface checks with other equipment and structures, as well as modifications to TKMH’s latest, more operator-friendly designs.”    

Göing adds that customers also benefit from the support of TKMH’s highly trained, well qualified Service Engineers and Technicians.  “We always endeavour to build and maintain long-term customer relationships and our solid relationship with Kumba’s flagship Sishen Mine is based on a number of factors: The capability of our high quality, robust equipment to reliably handle the mine’s aggressive iron ore, backed by our highly skilled engineers who provide ongoing after sales and product support, including upgrades, maintenance, repairs and spares supply,” concludes Göing.