Post by John on Feb 19, 2010 11:57:43 GMT -5
This is interesting, check the depths of the shafts too!!!!
Winder system engineers involved in large platinum shaft project
By: Jacqueline Holman
Published: 26th June 2009
Mine winder system engineering com- pany DRA Tech-nical Services (DRATS) is involved in platinum pro- ducer Impala Platinum’s Shaft 17 project, which is one of the largest projects currently taking place in the platinum industry, says DRATS MD Graham du Plessis.
The project involves the simultaneous sinking of three shafts – the production, ventilation and refrigeration shafts. Du Plessis says that the main shaft is currently being sunk to a depth slightly less than 2 000 m, a new venture for a platinum mine.
The project will require some extremely large winding equipment and has to be completed in record time. It was started in late 2006, but as winder lead times were then 36 months, DRATS used its contacts and knowledge of winders throughout South Africa and the world to procure suitable second-hand machines. These can be refurbished and installed in far less time than new machines require to be manufactured.
The project includes some of the largest winders in the platinum industry. The rock winder will be a 7-m-diameter Koepe winder with an 8-MW drive, which was procured as a second-hand machine from Germany. The winder has been upgraded, modernised and installed.
The second winder is also a large Koepe 6-m-diameter machine, but this was purchased new and will become the per- sonnel/material winder. Two stage-winders, which are required for sinking the large main and ventilation shafts are special Blair-type friction winders, which DRATS was able to procure second hand from local mines that had these as surplus to their requirements. These have been refurbished, modernised and installed in a fraction of the time of new machines and this was also carried out at a tremendous cost saving.
Du Plessis explains that DRATS determines all the mechanical and electrical requirements for the refurbishment of a winder, carries out the basic design profile and compiles a detailed mechanical and electrical design, refurbishment and operating specification. It then issues the profile and specifications on behalf of a client to different winder supply companies, inviting them to tender for the refurbishment, supply, installation and commissioning of the machines.
The company also manages the whole project for the client and offers additional technical backup services. It also provides winder engineering expertise on a consultancy basis.
“Typically, DRATS is able to save a mine anything up to 40% of the cost and half the delivery time of a new machine by using a refurbished winder,” says Du Plessis.
The company is also involved in a project for exploration and mining company Wesizwe Platinum. DRATS located four second-hand winders for the client, which were procured locally and overseas. The winders are in different stages of refurbishment and will be installed at a considerable cost saving to Wesizwe.
Further, Du Plessis says the global financial crisis has affected DRATS in that some of its projects have been put on hold or cancelled entirely. He adds that some will pick up later again, but the company has been fortunate to have been awarded a contract for the complete turnkey supply of two refurbished winders for gold- miner Great Basin Gold’s Burnstone mine, near Balfour.
The multimillion-rand turnkey contract includes the design of a winder house and civil works. He explains that the company is not only acting as the winder consultant and design engineer, but also as the principal supply contractor that will subcontract winder supply companies.
Services offered are not restricted to old winders that require modernisation but also new winder installations. DRATS will then determine the design and technical requirements, issue the appropriate specifications and manage the process through manufacture, installation and commissioning to final handover and licensing.
Additional Services
Du Plessis says that DRATS has just completed, together with a winder manufacturer, an incline friction winder for platinum-miner Northam Platinum. He explains that the incline friction winder principle is also a Koepe winder that is applied to incline shafts where conventional drum-type winders are not suitable.
This machine will be used for the transport of people and materials up and down the incline shaft. It is the third incline friction winder that DRATS has designed and supplied, having previously supplied two for gold-miner Harmony Gold, one of which has been running at its Evander mine for nine years.
“These winders have been a successful idea and currently seem to be gathering increased interest from mines and operators,” says Du Plessis.
The company is also busy at gold-miner Goldfield’s Beatrix mine, where it is designing a fully-automated winder loading system. DRATS also carries out programmable logic controller software development and provides training for mine personnel, as well as provides expertise in the selection of winder drive systems, winding rope selection and the design of headgears and shaft conveyances.
DRATS provides technical audits of winding installations, where it will carry out detailed and high engineering level audits. The company audits winder installations for suitability for purpose, obsolescence, the mechanical and electrical state of the equipment, its safety devices and the level and quality of maintenance. The overall safety of the winder is also audited in compliance with the appropriate regulations, as well as to industry norms of operating philosophies.
Du Plessis says that DRATS has been offering this service, commonly termed a level-two winder audit, for many years. The company also carries out level one audits at technician level and six-monthly dynamic testing on winders to meet legal requirements.
It also carries out investigations to determine the cause of an accident, as well as remedies if a weakness or defect is found. The company will also specify and manage the implementation of any rectification work that must take place if a defect is found.
Training
DRATS provides winder training courses at artisan and engineer levels. One of the courses is specifically aimed at junior engineers, or engineers in training, and the company has been contracted for the third time by petrochemicals giant Sasol’s mining division to provide such training.
Du Plessis says that the course places emphasis on theory with a large amount of winder design and maintenance procedures, as well as the required technical knowledge and knowledge of the regulations and legal requirements pertaining specifically to winders and winder installations.
Training consists of a 15-day course given to young engineers who will be writing their government examination for the certificate of competency, but emphasises winder engineering. Training takes place on a client’s premises and tests are written by the candidates daily.
“So far this training has been very popular. DRATS also carries out other more specific courses in winder mechanical and electrical engineering at the request of a client,” says Du Plessis.
Meanwhile, he comments that this is the only company specialising in winder engineering and provision of these services that is not directly affiliated with any winder suppliers or manufacturers. The company believes that because of its experience and its exposure to a vast number of different winder installations in the industry, DRATS can immediately identify good designs, weak points and winder operating philosophies that should be implemented or avoided.
The result is designs and specifications that allow for an unbiased and better technical solution that is not focused on a particular product.
“DRATS ensures that the client gets the best from a technical and operational perspective, adding value for money, especially when winder installations can cost more than R100-million. “The company ensures that the client is getting a quality product that will provide reliable and safe service for at least 30 years. “The equipment has to be designed and built correctly from the start,” says Du Plessis.
Although the majority of the company’s clients are situated in South Africa, it has provided consulting services internationally, as far as Tasmania, where it has carried out an audit of the copper mine’s existing infrastructure with a view to upgrading these to improve production. Other clients are situated in Zambia, Tanzania and, pre- viously, Zimbabwe, where the company hopes to work again.
DRATS is currently expanding its expertise to offer a complete design service of the winder installation, incorporating the whole shaft infrastructure and underground ore-handling facilities, including the conveyor systems and headgear.
“DRATS is able to provide a client with a complete one-stop solution to the vertical transport of personnel, materials and ore, as well as the underground and surface handling of the materials and ore,” concludes Du Plessis.
Winder system engineers involved in large platinum shaft project
By: Jacqueline Holman
Published: 26th June 2009
Mine winder system engineering com- pany DRA Tech-nical Services (DRATS) is involved in platinum pro- ducer Impala Platinum’s Shaft 17 project, which is one of the largest projects currently taking place in the platinum industry, says DRATS MD Graham du Plessis.
The project involves the simultaneous sinking of three shafts – the production, ventilation and refrigeration shafts. Du Plessis says that the main shaft is currently being sunk to a depth slightly less than 2 000 m, a new venture for a platinum mine.
The project will require some extremely large winding equipment and has to be completed in record time. It was started in late 2006, but as winder lead times were then 36 months, DRATS used its contacts and knowledge of winders throughout South Africa and the world to procure suitable second-hand machines. These can be refurbished and installed in far less time than new machines require to be manufactured.
The project includes some of the largest winders in the platinum industry. The rock winder will be a 7-m-diameter Koepe winder with an 8-MW drive, which was procured as a second-hand machine from Germany. The winder has been upgraded, modernised and installed.
The second winder is also a large Koepe 6-m-diameter machine, but this was purchased new and will become the per- sonnel/material winder. Two stage-winders, which are required for sinking the large main and ventilation shafts are special Blair-type friction winders, which DRATS was able to procure second hand from local mines that had these as surplus to their requirements. These have been refurbished, modernised and installed in a fraction of the time of new machines and this was also carried out at a tremendous cost saving.
Du Plessis explains that DRATS determines all the mechanical and electrical requirements for the refurbishment of a winder, carries out the basic design profile and compiles a detailed mechanical and electrical design, refurbishment and operating specification. It then issues the profile and specifications on behalf of a client to different winder supply companies, inviting them to tender for the refurbishment, supply, installation and commissioning of the machines.
The company also manages the whole project for the client and offers additional technical backup services. It also provides winder engineering expertise on a consultancy basis.
“Typically, DRATS is able to save a mine anything up to 40% of the cost and half the delivery time of a new machine by using a refurbished winder,” says Du Plessis.
The company is also involved in a project for exploration and mining company Wesizwe Platinum. DRATS located four second-hand winders for the client, which were procured locally and overseas. The winders are in different stages of refurbishment and will be installed at a considerable cost saving to Wesizwe.
Further, Du Plessis says the global financial crisis has affected DRATS in that some of its projects have been put on hold or cancelled entirely. He adds that some will pick up later again, but the company has been fortunate to have been awarded a contract for the complete turnkey supply of two refurbished winders for gold- miner Great Basin Gold’s Burnstone mine, near Balfour.
The multimillion-rand turnkey contract includes the design of a winder house and civil works. He explains that the company is not only acting as the winder consultant and design engineer, but also as the principal supply contractor that will subcontract winder supply companies.
Services offered are not restricted to old winders that require modernisation but also new winder installations. DRATS will then determine the design and technical requirements, issue the appropriate specifications and manage the process through manufacture, installation and commissioning to final handover and licensing.
Additional Services
Du Plessis says that DRATS has just completed, together with a winder manufacturer, an incline friction winder for platinum-miner Northam Platinum. He explains that the incline friction winder principle is also a Koepe winder that is applied to incline shafts where conventional drum-type winders are not suitable.
This machine will be used for the transport of people and materials up and down the incline shaft. It is the third incline friction winder that DRATS has designed and supplied, having previously supplied two for gold-miner Harmony Gold, one of which has been running at its Evander mine for nine years.
“These winders have been a successful idea and currently seem to be gathering increased interest from mines and operators,” says Du Plessis.
The company is also busy at gold-miner Goldfield’s Beatrix mine, where it is designing a fully-automated winder loading system. DRATS also carries out programmable logic controller software development and provides training for mine personnel, as well as provides expertise in the selection of winder drive systems, winding rope selection and the design of headgears and shaft conveyances.
DRATS provides technical audits of winding installations, where it will carry out detailed and high engineering level audits. The company audits winder installations for suitability for purpose, obsolescence, the mechanical and electrical state of the equipment, its safety devices and the level and quality of maintenance. The overall safety of the winder is also audited in compliance with the appropriate regulations, as well as to industry norms of operating philosophies.
Du Plessis says that DRATS has been offering this service, commonly termed a level-two winder audit, for many years. The company also carries out level one audits at technician level and six-monthly dynamic testing on winders to meet legal requirements.
It also carries out investigations to determine the cause of an accident, as well as remedies if a weakness or defect is found. The company will also specify and manage the implementation of any rectification work that must take place if a defect is found.
Training
DRATS provides winder training courses at artisan and engineer levels. One of the courses is specifically aimed at junior engineers, or engineers in training, and the company has been contracted for the third time by petrochemicals giant Sasol’s mining division to provide such training.
Du Plessis says that the course places emphasis on theory with a large amount of winder design and maintenance procedures, as well as the required technical knowledge and knowledge of the regulations and legal requirements pertaining specifically to winders and winder installations.
Training consists of a 15-day course given to young engineers who will be writing their government examination for the certificate of competency, but emphasises winder engineering. Training takes place on a client’s premises and tests are written by the candidates daily.
“So far this training has been very popular. DRATS also carries out other more specific courses in winder mechanical and electrical engineering at the request of a client,” says Du Plessis.
Meanwhile, he comments that this is the only company specialising in winder engineering and provision of these services that is not directly affiliated with any winder suppliers or manufacturers. The company believes that because of its experience and its exposure to a vast number of different winder installations in the industry, DRATS can immediately identify good designs, weak points and winder operating philosophies that should be implemented or avoided.
The result is designs and specifications that allow for an unbiased and better technical solution that is not focused on a particular product.
“DRATS ensures that the client gets the best from a technical and operational perspective, adding value for money, especially when winder installations can cost more than R100-million. “The company ensures that the client is getting a quality product that will provide reliable and safe service for at least 30 years. “The equipment has to be designed and built correctly from the start,” says Du Plessis.
Although the majority of the company’s clients are situated in South Africa, it has provided consulting services internationally, as far as Tasmania, where it has carried out an audit of the copper mine’s existing infrastructure with a view to upgrading these to improve production. Other clients are situated in Zambia, Tanzania and, pre- viously, Zimbabwe, where the company hopes to work again.
DRATS is currently expanding its expertise to offer a complete design service of the winder installation, incorporating the whole shaft infrastructure and underground ore-handling facilities, including the conveyor systems and headgear.
“DRATS is able to provide a client with a complete one-stop solution to the vertical transport of personnel, materials and ore, as well as the underground and surface handling of the materials and ore,” concludes Du Plessis.
