Materials handling system provider DDL Equipment is currently installing extreme-condition doors at mines in the North West, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga and in Botswana.

These installations will increase the opening and closing speeds of door systems and reduce the amount of dust entering a workshop on a mining site. The company is also installing a number of heavy-duty doors at local platinum processing plants, smelters, foundries and refineries, DDL Equipment MD Andrew Stewart tells Mining Weekly.

Stewart, who is celebrating his fiftieth year in the materials handling industry, points out that DDL Equipment is the sole supplier of the France-manufactured Nergeco range of extreme doors in Africa.

The extreme-door range includes the Trekking Star 2, Enduro and Puissance, which are suitable for applications in the mining, milling, minerals and metals processing industries, as well as workshops and service bays.

One of the doors being installed is the largest door – 11 m wide and 9 m high – ever to be installed at a mine site.

He highlights that original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as Komatsu and Caterpillar, are insisting that mine workshops using their equipment do so in controlled environments, which includes the workshops having doors to prevent excess dust from entering, while allowing natural light in.

“This is why the extreme-condition doors are becoming increasingly sought after, as they last 25 years on average. They comply with these OEM manufacturers guidelines, require little maintenance and can be fitted with translucent rows of windows, thereby saving electricity by allowing natural light to shine through,” he enthuses.

In September 2012, Mining Weekly reported that DDL Equipment had com- pleted a R300 000 extreme-door installation at global diversified metals and mining company Vedanta Resources’ Skorpion zinc mine, in south-western Namibia.

DDL Equipment supplied, assembled and installed an 8-m-wide and 6-m-high Nergeco Enduro extreme door at the mine’s vehicle maintenance workshop.

The flexible motorised fold-up door, which is manufactured from high-performance, long-lasting and flexible polyvinyl chloride composite material, has a wind resistance of between 140 km/h and 200 km/h.

He says it is important to differentiate between the bulk handling of materials and materials handling.

Bulk handling refers to the transport of materials such as ore, air, grain, fluids and solids, using equipment such as conveyors, trucks, earthmoving and construction vehicles and materials handling. Bulk handling of materials usually takes place outdoors, he adds.

Meanwhile, he explains that materials handling usually refers to indoor operations such as smelting, refining and plant production using roller and belt conveyors, as well as power, hand and forklift pallet trucks.

Materials Handling Flow

Stewart says there is an ever-increasing flow of materials from oceans, mines and forests to key industrial areas.

“About 800-million tons of goods are transported using the South African transport network, of which about 80% is transported by road,” he explains.

Further, he highlights that 40% to 90% of the final costs of a product is attributable to the materials handling, transport and conveying of goods.

“This is why it is vitally important for mines to have efficient, planned and controlled materials handling to reduce production costs,” Stewart stresses.

He says that the materials handling process must be interlinked with a strong supply chain and logistics structures from farm-to-fork and mine-to-ring.

Containerisation

Stewart states that the inefficient use of the local rail transport system is having a negative effect on the containerised transport of goods in terms of congestion on South Africa’s national roads owing to more trucks being used instead of rail transport systems.

He adds that the correct use of the rail transport networks would reduce product handling costs.

Moreover, he highlights that the focus of the materials handling and logistics industries has shifted to information technology (IT), which has resulted in the fast-tracking of information, but he adds that it offers no real solution to road congestion and the inefficient use of rail infrastructure.

“Industry stakeholders should unite under the umbrella of materials handling and comply with international standards to create efficient distribution channels, from raw material to point of sale,” says Stewart.

He adds that materials handling and transport comprise the ‘hardware’, which drives the logistic and supply chain ‘software’.

‘No’ to Blind Mechanisation

Stewart says it is important for mines to streamline their materials handling process by finding agreement on standard practices between mine managers, plant engineers and distribution operators.

However, he cautions against the ‘blind mechanisation’ of the materials handling industry, which he believes can have negative impacts if undertaken incorrectly and unnecessarily.

Stewart notes that the company’s extreme doors are increasingly being installed in mine shafts, as their sealing pressure prevents loss of ventilation in the underground air shafts and helps to maintain a cool working environment for mineworkers.

“The Nergeco extreme-condition doors have multiple benefits, including being fabricated from high-performance, long-lasting, flexible material that is rustproof, waterproof and easy to maintain,” he concludes.