Oil and fuel analysis expert WearCheck has shown considerable growth in Africa in 2016 establishing three new laboratories around the continent’s mining hot spots, a move largely driven by demand from mining operations looking to cut operational costs.

As a result of this expansion, the company has introduced condition monitoring for machinery in areas where this service was previously unavailable or where the quality and service of existing providers was not up to standard.

“While the mining industry in Africa has always been strong, the need for more cost- efficient mining practices has grown in the past 15 years in line with international mining trends,” states WearCheck MD Neil Robinson, noting that, as mining in Africa has become more sophisticated, so have the needs of the miners.

He adds that when economies are tight, any unnecessary spending is curbed and WearCheck’s primary goal is to save its customers money by helping them avoid costly, unscheduled downtime, owing to machinery components failing because of a poor maintenance plan.

WearCheck has developed planned maintenance tools, such as an oil analysis programme and other reliability solutions services, which it says has proven to provide an excellent return on investment.

Robinson expresses that these services have become increasingly popular throughout Africa, leading to WearCheck’s expansion across the continent.

Further, it is the only oil and fuel analysis company in Africa to have received ISO 9001 quality certification, ISO 14001 environmental management programme certification and ISO 17025 laboratory-centric quality management accreditation, the company tells Mining Weekly.

WearCheck opened an on-site laboratory at the Husab uranium mine, owned by Australian uranium explorer Swakop Uranium, in Namibia; and laboratories in Harare, Zimbabwe, and at the Democratic Republic of Congo-based Kibali gold mine, owned by exploration company Randgold Resources.

The company also opened a laboratory in Tete, Mozambique, in 2013; in Tarkwa, Ghana, in 2013; and a second laboratory in February 2012 in Kitwe, Zambia, where it has another laboratory at Canadian mining company Barrick Gold’s Lumwana mine. These additional facilities increased the number of laboratories in the company’s network to 13, which include four laboratories in South Africa, and laboratories in Dubai, in the UAE, and in Chennai, India.

WearCheck’s laboratory network in South Africa covers Isando, in Gauteng, Pinetown, in KwaZulu-Natal, Middelburg, in Mpumalanga, and its Speciality Laboratory which is also located in Gauteng. The company also has additional offices or representation in Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Rustenburg, Steelpoort and Port Elizabeth.

The company has agents in other countries, such as Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritius and Egypt, its reliability solutions staff members travel to other countries, where necessary, with Burkina Faso and Madagascar being the two most recent destinations.

WearCheck is investigating the establishment of further laboratories at potential sites in East or North Africa. The company explains that East Africa is an area which is starting to show signs of economic growth and countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya have exhibited development in industry, while the Sudanese mining industry is developing. WearCheck does not currently have a presence in the region and is looking to offer its services there. In North Africa, mines and other industries currently send their oil samples to France for analysis. WearCheck has previously not had access to this market; however, the company now has developed sample kits and reports in French and is looking to create a presence in this previously untapped market.

The company’s laboratories contribute to achieving financial savings by predicting when components of machinery used in mines need to be taken out of production for servicing or repairs. This helps to maintain the best possible output for machinery.

If this downtime can be planned, the negative impact on a mining operation can be limited in terms of the replacement cost of damaged components while ensuring that the production line keeps flowing.

Condition-Monitoring Techniques

The data gained as a result of using WearCheck’s other condition-monitoring techniques – which include vibration monitoring, laser alignment and balancing – can be used to extend the life of oil or components, which Robinson notes is a major cost-saving factor.

The scientific data generated by the company’s laboratories replaces guesswork with facts when deciding whether to extend the use of a component, he adds.

WearCheck is effectively one laboratory, however, says Robinson, explaining that, regardless of a facility’s location, all the laboratories are linked by a common information management system developed by WearCheck. This is helpful, particularly for clients that have representation in more than one country, he adds.

“ . . . it means that a client can buy sample bottles, into which an oil sample is placed and transported to the laboratory, from WearCheck in South Africa, sample machines in the DRC and return the samples to our laboratory in Zambia for analysis, with everyone in the loop receiving a report from the laboratory in Durban.”

All WearCheck laboratories are equipped with the full complement of laboratory equipment.

WearCheck Zimbabwe just took delivery of a large consignment of new technology, including a number of instruments, collectively valued at R2-million. In addition, the company’s Dubai laboratory is about to receive one of the latest inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectrometry units from global products and services provider Perkin Elmer. The ICP is in South Africa undergoing stress testing and being tweaked in the main laboratory to meet WearCheck’s specifications before being sent to Dubai early this year.

However, these sensitive instruments are susceptible to power fluctuations and, with Africa’s electricity supply being poor and unreliable, WearCheck has noted increased maintenance costs.

Robinson points out that, in terms of installation and setup, it is “absolutely critical” to have representatives from WearCheck’s head office on site to oversee the project, often for periods of up to six months or more.