Environmental management firm I-CAT will display its diverse range of dust and fire-suppression solutions at this year’s Electra Mining Africa, which the company sees as an important gathering place for industry participants.

“Electra Mining is a great platform for I-CAT, as it showcases all role-players in sub-Saharan Africa, and enables us not only to display our products and solutions, but to be exposed to new technology and methods from other participants.

“The expo gives us access to the people we most want to reach, including engineers, safety personnel, and a number of other organisations that provide best-practice, top-end solutions in environmental management,” says I-CAT Environmental Solutions fire division head Andro Gibhard.

Developments in the mining space include recent tests conducted by petrochemicals company Sasol and I-CAT, proving conclusively that dry chemical powder extinguishers are ineffective against rubber, conveyor belt and tyre fires, both encountered in underground mining. This means that many underground mines have little or no fire protection, posing a major health and safety risk to mineworkers.

In terms of its ongoing contribution to improved firefighting methodologies for the mining industry, the I-CAT fire division has compiled a new protection protocol for underground conveyor belt protection, including redundancy protection. The protocol has been tested against various test scenarios identified in a risk assessment.

Products to be showcased at this year’s expo include I-CAT’s water- and foam-mist fire extinguishers, based on its T-Rotor technology. This not only has South African Bureau of Standards approval, but also European and major international accreditation.

In Africa’s highly stressed freshwater resources environment, water-saving is another area of great concern, with I-CAT having developed an effective “green” evaporation system that can be applied to reduce wastewater at mining operations.

“Water-effluent management is vital, not to mention financially viable. Legislation will enforce the recycling and reuse of effluent water in industries in future, and our solutions can put mining in particular ahead of the curve.”

Gibhard adds that Electra Mining Africa 2018 will also allow I-CAT to generate leads for future projects, and to foster broader awareness about its solutions and technology. “With mining budgets in Africa increasingly under pressure, it is important for us to use the expo as a platform to showcase the value add and cost savings that we can offer the mining industry,” he concludes.

Hall 5 Stand A03