PRODUCT News
58
MODERN MINING
May 2014
Bell machines are playing an important
role at the historic Chemaf Etoile mine in
the DRC. ‘Etoile’ in French means ‘star’ and
the site where the mine is situated just to
the east of Lubambashi, capital of the min-
eral-rich Katanga Province, was reportedly
the first bit of land to be mined in what was
then the Belgian Congo. This happened as
long ago as 1909 and a shallow under-
ground mine was active until the 1960s,
after which the mine lay dormant for some
40 years.
In 2001, the Shalina Group, led by Shiraz
Virji, established a pilot plant on the site.
Bell machines deployed at Katanga’s Chemaf Etoile mine
When favourable results were obtained
with strong indicators to a sustainable
mining operation, the group established
a processing plant and has been mining
copper and cobalt from an opencast pit
since 2003. The construction of the plant
was undertaken by Dubai-based ACE Ltd,
which has ACE SPRL as its Lubumbashi
subsidiary.
Concentrates obtained from the
copper-oxide ore are sent to the group’s
nearby Usoke plant for further processing
into copper cathode products.
“We’re blessed with three solid orebod-
ies which should extend the life of our
mine into a long-term future,” says Georgy
Kimenwenze, Chemaf’s Mine Manager.
“We’re nearing the end of our copper oxide
orebody after which we’ll experience a
mixture of oxide and sulphide before hit-
ting a large sulphide orebody which dips
from east to west, deeper down.
“Until fairly recently, we had the
well-known DRC contract mining com-
pany, MCK Trucks, doing our mining and
when we decided to do the mining our-
selves, we had no hesitation in buying
similar equipment to that of MCK, which
was earthmoving equipment from Bell
Equipment,” Kimenwenze adds. “This was
as a direct result of seeing the equipment’s
performance and, equally important, the
technical back-up service MCK Trucks
enjoyed from Bell Equipment.”
Chemaf bought four Bell B40D articu-
lated dump trucks (ADTs), a Bell HX500E
excavator, two Bell L2706E front-end load-
ers and a Liebherr PR754 dozer.
The B40D ADTs and the HX500E exca-
vator are used in the mining pit and the
L2706E loaders are used to feed the plant
and load trucks taking the concentrate to
the Usoke plant. The Liebherr PR754 dozer
is used to maintain roads and stockpile ore
and discard.
“Although our pit is relatively dry due
to our dewatering system, we’ve been
impressed with the full bins our Bell ADTs
are able to haul over underfoot condi-
tions that do become a little unstable in
the DRC’s wet summers,” Kimenwenze
says. “We have Bell Equipment’s excellent
Fleetm@tic system monitoring our fleet
and on-board load indicators tell us exactly
what tonnages we’re moving.”
Chemaf’s Bell fleet was bought with
standard warrantees but the company
insisted on a maintenance contract which
would see all maintenance done by a site-
based technical team from Bell Equipment
totalling nine qualified mechanics and
assistants.
“Given the nature of mining, any earth-
moving equipment needs maintenance
and considering the strict service regimes
that the Bell Equipment service crews
follow, we’re enjoying high mechani-
cal availabilities of way over 90 %, which
translates into a constant feed of ore into
our plant,” states Kimenwenze. “Much can
be said for the benefits of having the Bell
service team on site and having them con-
sistently doing preventative maintenance
results in maximum uptime for our Bell
Equipment fleet of machines.”
Service kits and consumables are kept
on site but any larger parts can be quickly
sourced from Bell Equipment’s Customer
Service Centre in Lubumbashi.
With the mine planning to mine the
richer and deeper sulphide orebody in the
near future, Chemaf will have to expand its
mining fleet and, already, Kimenwenze is
planning the use of more Bell ADTs loaded
by bigger excavators such as the Liebherr
R974C machine with its massive 4,6 m
3
bucket.
“I’d like to see us match one Liebherr
R974C excavator with six Bell B40D ADTs
as I see this type of combination giving us
a lower cost per tonne of material moved,”
he says. “Our Bell B40D ADTs only burn 19
litres of diesel an hour and with stripping
ratios working in our favour, I believe this
is the sustainable way forward, supported
by Bell Equipment’s legendary back-up
service.”
Bell Equipment, tel (+27 11) 928-9700
Left:
Chemaf Etoile’s Bell B40Ds are all fitted with Bell Fleetm@tic to monitor the fleet.
Right:
The mine
has two Bell L2706E front-end loaders that are used to feed the plant and load trucks taking the concen-
trate to the Usoke plant.
Compact diesel fuel dispenser
Meter Systems has recently added the
innovative Piusi Pitstop dispenser to its
fluid handling equipment range. This com-
pact product can safely and conveniently
pump diesel fuel from a container through
a connection to a 12 V battery supply at a
guaranteed 45 litres per minute from the
automatic nozzle.
“Comprising two DC bypass fuel transfer
pumps, a water filter and an automatic noz-
zle, the Pitstop pump is versatile and easy to
install in both fixed and mobile tanks,” says
Warren Erasmus, MD of Meter Systems.
The company, which also supplies a range
of modern products and various fluid prod-
ucts, explains that this dispenser can be used
in various industries where diesel can be
pumped with a 12 V battery supply.
“There is no other product like this in the
market which offers customers convenience
and safety and we are pleased to have it
as part of our product range,” concludes
Erasmus.
Warren Erasmus, tel (+27 11) 451-7000,
email:
