Image: In-Mining
Swedish mining and rock excavation engineering group, Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, has announced that it will move its South African headquarters to a new, purpose-designed facility in Kempton Park, near Johannesburg, to enhance its commitment to the southern African region.
The state-of-the-art Khomanani facility will feature three large workshop areas and 62,000m2 of office space. The strategic relocation of the company’s headquarters is expected to strengthen its resources, improve customer services, and allow the company to efficiently reconfigure its equipment, such as safety systems, lighting, toe-hitches, and decals to customer specifications, for local use.
“Our remanufacturing facility allows us to completely rebuild machines to Original Equipment Manufacturer standards, including the sub-assembly refurbishments on transmissions, axles, differential and pump motors,” stated Simon Andrews, Managing Director at Sandvik South Africa, who added, “The technical synergies of the workshops add to our commitment and capacity for local production that meets global quality requirements.”
Two of the three workshops will facilitate the refurbishment and rebuilding of machinery and local equipment for the southern African region, specifically Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. The facilities will be equipped with 23 docking bays and a 100-ton flooring capacity for heavy-track equipment, such as underground continuous miners and surface drill rigs and will feature a combination of 5- to 30-ton cranes as well as a 50-ton forklift to allow safe and swift loading.
The third workshop is specifically designed to assemble equipment locally for both the southern African region and global markets. “Our investment in local manufacturing capacity is an important vote of confidence in South Africa and its mining sector,” Andrews said. “The quality of our work is also work class, allowing Sandvik to shift certain manufacturing duties from elsewhere in the world to our new facility.”
Andrews has noted the southern African region’s potential for mine automation, indicating that Sandvik is distinguished for applying state-of-the-art technologies on the sub-continent, with local skills supporting its success. The company’s regional jurisdiction encompasses South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Angola.
“As the Tsonga name, Khomanani, reflects – “hold each other together as a unit” – our new home unites us under one roof to collaborate, adapt, and learn as we strive towards higher standards.” Andrews stated during the announcement.
The design of the Khomanani facility is in line with Sandvik’s international energy and water efficiency guidelines, incorporating a shared solar photovoltaic system as well as the use of LED light bulbs to provide up to 48% of energy needed and fitting water-efficient systems that will improve consumption levels by 42%.
Energy Capital & Power – Africa’s leading energy event organizer – will host the Africa Energy & Mining 2022 Conference & Exhibition, which will be held in Johannesburg on March 29-31.To learn more about the Africa Energy & Mining series and the post-COVID-19 energy and mining landscape in Africa, please visit www.aem2022.com. For sponsorship or exhibition opportunities, please contact sales@18.198.47.39.
