Mining contractor refocuses on after sales service offering

23rd October 2015 By: Nadine James - Features Deputy Editor

Mining contractor refocuses on after sales service offering

DK DRILL RIG DynaD service offering includes refurbishing the DK drill rig range

Environmental opencast mining contractor DynaD has renewed its focus on its after-sales services, partly owing to slow growth and development in a lacklustre coal sector, says DynaD drill and blasting director Chris Bester.

“Nothing much happened in the coal industry in the past year,” he says, adding that “it was slow regarding production, new contracts, projects and even technology”. He notes that the opencast mining industry as a whole mainly focused on attempting to keep on-going projects operational during 2015.

To that end, DynaD has improved its service offering to “try to keep current clients happy by achieving even better service and quality”, Bester adds.

The company offers a selection of parts for the Sandvick Drilltech D 25 and 40 KS series drill rigs, as well as refurbishing most drill rigs and HP compressors.

Bester says DynaD imports ground-engaging tools, and that sales of its 140-mm- to
171-mm-diameter DTH bits and hammers are rapidly increasing, owing mainly to equipment maintenance and repairs being done at its workshop, in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga.

He notes that normally, a client can wait at the workshop while equipment is being repaired or serviced, after which it can be taken back to site within a few hours.

DynaD manufactures a mobile travel pack – effectively a trailer towed by a light-duty vehicle – for moving machinery that have major breakdowns or superfluous machinery away from blasting areas.

Diversification
Bester notes that earlier this year, DynaD decided to expand into civil works, such as roadworks, and drilling and blasting of trenches and slurry dams. “We use our current employees for drilling and blasting, but [have] also employed an expert in the civil industry.”

He enthuses that Witbank-based company Dredging Solutions has introduced imported dredging rigs, manufactured in Finland, which specialise in using cutting-edge technology to clean slurry and sludge dams.

He boasts that the dredger can clean sludge and slurry as deep as 6.5 m and then pump it as far as 1.5 km away from the dam, stating that it also has various attachments for piling and other operations.

Training
While Bester does not rule out the possibility of offering more extensive apprenticeships in the future, he notes that DynaD offers on-the-job and in-house training for those who have little or no experience, and trains them to be a qualified drill rig operator or assistant to provide them with a chance to enter the industry.

The company also complies with Mining Qualification Authority training and certification requirements using authorised contractors. Although Bester notes that this has a significant cost implication of about R4 000 per person, it is necessary as it is a requirement for any drill and blast company.

About DynaD

Established in 2000, Mpumalanga-based DynaD is an experienced mining contractor offering expertise in opencast mining, civil drilling and blasting, as well as rig manufacturing, including the truck-mounted drill rig range, and the Rock 1 and Trax 1 000 models.

DynaD also supplies used parts for the Sandvik Tamrock DK range, including the D25K, D40K.