South Africa-based drilling equipment supplier Schwalbe Import & Export has obtained three significant contracts with Africa-based mining companies in Botswana, Schwalbe MD Jonathan Betsalel tells Mining Weekly, adding that the company aims to start supplying the products in March or April.

“The first contract, secured at the end of last year for the copper/nickel sector, entails the monthly supply of Schwalbe’s Orange range of medium-sized, down-the-hole (DTH) drill bits.”

While the contract mostly requires the supply of DTH drill bits, there is potential for the supply of DTH hammers in the future, Betsalel notes, adding that the contract can be renewed yearly.

The other two contracts involve the supply of medium-sized and small Orange DTH drill bits, and hammers for the diamond sector, he adds.

“The products that Schwalbe currently supplies to the Botswana market, which include its DTH range, have been tried and tested for the past four years. The product is designed specifically for the harsh mining conditions in Southern Africa, he emphasises, adding that the products have been designed for hard and abrasive ground conditions.

Schwalbe’s product range for surface and underground mining includes knock-off and threaded bits, rubber and forged collar- taper rods, threaded rods, hammers, moils and chisels, as well as ground-support, internal combustion and pneumatic tools. Products have been supplied to and tested, with favourable results, by mining companies such as AngloGold Ashanti, Anglo American and others.

Further, Schwalbe intends to introduce another newly designed drill bit onto the market later this year.

“The product’s design, which incorporates additional tungsten carbide buttons in a new drill bit configuration, will hopefully extend the wear life, increase drilling speed, prevent premature wearing and mitigate breakages such as chunking and shanking,” Betsalel says.

Schwalbe will test the new design during one of the contracts, he adds, noting that the company should have the preliminary controlled testing results by midyear.

“Preliminary indications suggest a benefit on a cost-for-each-metre-drilled basis for the new bit, but only on-site testing will prove this,” Betsalel points out.

In addition to continuously innovating and trying to improve its product offering, Schwalbe’s key goal is to reduce the cost for each metre drilled, he says, emphasising the company’s ethos of supplying reliable, consistent and quality- assured products.

The company’s DTH equipment is used by mines, water-well drill operators and industrial private contractors in Southern Africa, Betsalel reaffirms, pointing out that the company’s products are manufactured in accordance with ISO 9001:2008 standards.

Looking Forward
Schwalbe expected more activity in the Botswana mining sector in the past year, and Betsalel acknowledges that 2014 was “a trying and dampened year”, following reduced mining and exploration activity and lower global commodity prices.

“Further, with Botswana being a strategic trading partner of South Africa, the influences of the South African market, such as a deflated currency, a stagnating or declining sector, reduced gold and platinum prices and spiralling wage agreements, sometimes tend to spill into the neighbouring industry. Added to this, many South African mining companies and their subsidiaries operate in Botswana.”

Amid these challenges, Schwalbe has noticed a general negativity and caution from the mining industry, as not all mining companies are in a healthy state of operation, Betsalel adds.

Nevertheless, having noted a slight upturn in the industry at the end of 2014, Betsalel hopes that companies will come to terms with the state of play of the industry this year and that the sector will slowly start to build itself up.