Mining giant Anglo American Platinum’s (Amplats’) Rustenburg Platinum Mines has placed an order with DCD Rolling Stock for 20 side-discharge hopper wagons, which will be used to transport platinum ore from the mine’s various shafts to the processing plant.

Manufacturing of the wagons is under way at DCD Rolling Stock’s facility in Boksburg and delivery will take place from April to June, notes DCD Rolling Stock technical manager Daryl Leggitt.

DCD Rolling Stock has a long-standing relationship with Amplats’ Rustenburg Mines, spanning about 20 years. This has seen the company supply a number of hopper wagons to the mine.

“The company has also worked along- side the mine’s engineers over the past decade to adjust the design of certain hoppers to suit changing mechanical and safety requirements and to refurbish existing hopper wagons,” says Leggitt.

He adds that the design of the units in the latest order features a unique safety mechanism on the bottom discharge doors that prevents the doors from opening accidentally in transit and creating spillage, which presents a major safety risk.

“We call this a ‘central shaft over top dead centre locking device’ and it has been designed specifically for Rustenburg Platinum Mines,” states Leggitt, who adds that this is a significant order from the mining industry.

“The device comprises three offset levers connected to the doors with three links on every door. The levers have two end stops to ensure that they rotate over the centre position, ensuring that the doors cannot open accidentally. As an additional safety feature, a pneumatically operated interlock is included, featuring a cam and hook that lock into place once the doors are fully closed.”

The discharge hopper wagons, with a gross mass of 85 t, have payload volumes of 26 m2, with 5 m2 volume reducers. The hopper’s body and underframe comprise an all-welded construction using S355JR steel and deliver an increase in strength of about 18%, compared with the previous hopper wagons supplied. The body ends, centre gable and volume reducer are angled to avoid any hang-up of ore during unloading operations.

The wagons will be fitted with high- impact and wear-resistant body liners manufactured from Tivar GR12 material, 20 mm thick on the body ends and volume reducer and 12 mm thick on the lower half of the centre gable. The braking system combines vacuum and air brakes, with each system capable of operating independently, explains Leggitt.

He adds that the wagons will also be equipped with two self-steer HS Mk VII bogies manufactured from new components to comply with State-owned transport enterprise Transnet’s specifications.

International Systems House
DCD Rolling Stock, part of the DCD conglomerate – previously DCD-Dorbyl – operates as an international systems house with an in-house capability that allows it to offer a total rolling stock package, from design and manufacture to refurbishing and modernising bogies and supporting the after-sales market for bogies, including supply of renewal parts, notes Leggitt.

He adds that DCD Rolling Stock has its own accredited quality, environmental and health and safety systems in place – SABS ISO 9001:2008, Moody International BS EN ISO 14001:2004 and Moody International BSI OHSAS 18001 – which ensure that manufacturing processes are carried out under controlled conditions to mitigate their impact on the environment and comply with international quality standards.

“DCD Rolling Stock has been conducting business for more than 100 years, having designed and manufactured more than 130 000 wagons on Cape Gauge lines, 1 000 electric and GE diesel electric locomotives, and 4 000 underground locomotives.

“The Boksburg-based DCD Rolling Stock site, of which 40 000 m2 is under cover, incorporates state-of-the-art technology and equipment. The company holds the intellectual property rights on most of its manufactured products and has been granted licences for affiliated products from American companies such as McConway & Torley/Naco, Keystone Railway Equipment Company, Columbus Steel Castings/Buckeye and, locally, Railway Dynamic Systems for HS self-steering bogies,” Leggitt highlights.