Can you give an overview of thyssenkrupp and the company’s history in the Southern Africa mining industry?  

Our office in South Africa serves the Middle East and Africa regions. thyssenkrupp started supplying equipment into South Africa almost a century ago. Mining is the biggest contributor to our business compared to the chemical and cement industries. Our services extend mainly from our product range, and over the past few years the company started to focus on its materials handling and crushing and grinding range. There is currently a big focus on battery minerals and projects related to this are progressing quite well. We also offer aftermarket field services, spare parts and refurbishments related to our product range. Most of the equipment we sold is still in operation today and we continue to service, maintain and upgrade this equipment.

Can you elaborate on the continuous mining systems thyssenkrupp offers?

thyssenkrupp is focused on increasing productivity, machine availability and lowering operational costs for clients through innovative mining technologies. We are leading the way in in-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) systems, where we offer clients a highly optimized crushing system in the pit and, in many cases, combined with an overland conveyor, transporting the raw material to the processing plant, optimizing productivity and OPEX, lowering the need for truck haulage down to zero. Additionally, we optimized our gyratory crushers which are designed for high performance and cost-effective primary crushing operations with lower servicing and maintenance costs. Our newly developed eccentric roll crusher (ERC®) with an integrated screen revolutionizes primary crushing and boosts efficiency in mining operations. This innovative and unique hard rock crusher has a low-wear design and durable components to enhance efficiency, lower energy consumption and cuts wasteful costs in mining operations. The ERC® is ideally suited for underground and surface operations.

For raw materials processing we supplied our first HPGR (High Pressure Grinding Roll) machine to the South African mining industry in the 1980s, and for decades it has been the machine of choice for efficient processing of diamonds and other ores. Over the years, we developed the HPGR Pro to achieve more significant optimization and cost savings, making it the best-performing machine in its class and more economical and reliable than ever.

What digital technologies does thyssenkrupp offer to the mining industry?  

Our digital solutions can be divided into two major product groups highlighting the value they add to operations: evaluate and predict; automate and optimize. We help our customers to determine and execute their plant as it is designed and to assess what measures must be taken to improve performance and to optimize processes. Our solutions include digital twins on conveyors, remote access to equipment, online monitoring and inspection, maintenance assistant systems, performance optimization, predictive analytics, and advanced condition monitoring. With our product group ‘automate and optimize’, we enable our customers to enhance the productivity and safety of their plants and machines while simultaneously reducing costs. A technology to highlight is our real-time stud monitoring system on our HPGR machines which monitors the condition of the rolls in real-time and allows clients to optimise their roll life.

What is hindering the digital mining revolution in Southern Africa?  

The digital mining revolution in South Africa started long before the pandemic but has now been accelerated. The driver behind digitization is reduced costs, increased productivity, and sustainability, and thyssenkrupp’s digital products focus on these drivers. By combining our technological know-how with digital competence, we deliver added value to our clients by offering an important lever for improving the efficiency of their processes and boosting the productivity of their plants and equipment.

Digital products of the future will significantly enhance productivity and reduce operating costs, which will invite the hesitant risk-averse players to adopt these technologies to be able to compete and survive in the market.

How would you characterize the current health of the Southern African mining industry?

Taking into account the forecast on the price of commodities, I believe that the industry’s future is bright. Many projects that were delayed over the past year seem to be fast-tracking their operations due to the commodity forecasts, which resonates to equipment and service providers such as ourselves.

There are still significant growth opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa due to the abundance of resources and ore bodies linked explicitly to the commodity forecasts and battery minerals. Critical mineral demands and the gold industry also allow for growth opportunities in Southern and West Africa.