October - November 2013
MODERN QUARRYING
27
Cornelius Kgope.
to present on the prestigious
Bauma Africa
show, as delegates were
bussed to the show the day after the conference. Talking about the
reasons for organising Bauma Africa, she says that sub-Saharan Africa
is a key market for the construction machinery industry.
Providing some key facts about the show, which was held at
Gallagher Estates from September 18-21, she says that there was
over 60 000 m
2
of exhibition space with 20 000 m
2
of hall space, and
over 40 000 m
2
outdoors. More than 700 exhibitors from 38 coun-
tries exhibited at the show, and over 15 000 visitors were expected.
Visitors from 101 countries had pre-registered, 41 of which were
African countries.
Talking to key exhibitors which included Atlas Copco, Osborn,
Sandvik, Pilot Crushtec and Terex/Finlay, it was clear that they were
extremely happy with the show. Product groups included the construc-
tion machinery industry; mining and rawmaterial processing industry;
formwork, component and service suppliers; and building material
machinery. There were nine country pavilions which included Austria,
Italy, Great Britain, Korea, Finland, Germany, Northern Ireland, Spain
and China.
“Bauma Africa 2013 is the gathering for the construction machin-
ery, building material machinery and mining machinery industry,”Crew
says. “It is the ideal platform to meet key players and decision makers,
and to meet existing and establish new contacts.”
The very last paper of the day was BME’s
Cornelius Kgope
, who spoke
on
Efficiency by Design and Application
. He dealt with time and cost
reduction in terms of mining practice and blast design, and the impact
of blasting on downstream activities.
Asking who is responsible for blast results, he says “no single
unit activity within the mining system can affect mining economics
like poor blast results.” Citing some of the reasons for variability in
blast performance, Kgope lists these as: rock strata, explosive distri-
bution; explosive performance; sequencing of the blast; and bench
preparation.
Concluding his paper, he says it is time to get back to basics. “Don’t
overlook facts and focus on assumptions. Effective execution of blast
design is required to realise the benefits. Ownership, accountability
and commitment are vital; and a team approach is the best strategy to
achieve optimum downstream results.”
The dinner held at the Kopanong Boma was enjoyed by all the del-
egates. Thanks must go to the sponsors, who include: Bell Equipment,
Afrimat, PPC, Lafarge, IQSA, Caldas Engineering, and Metso.
Report and photos by Dale Kelly
Elaine Crew.
