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Locally owned and operated vibrating equipment specialist Kwatani remains focused on delivering sustainable, engineered-for-tonnage mining solutions to one of the mining industry’s most significant sectors – coal - which will remain the primary source of energy across the globe for decades to come.

South African-based, custom-build equipment supplier Kwatani has established operations in Botswana to better supply the country’s mining industry with vibrating screens and feeders.

Kwatani partnered with local mechanical engineering company Lucient Engineering and Construction Services to establish the operations in Jwaneng, to achieve growth in Africa, says Kwatani managing director Kim Schoepflin.

Underlining its philosophy of actively partnering with its customers, Kwatani strives to be situated strategically close to customer operations. In order to render the best possible support to its footprint of vibrating screens and feeders in the Botswana mining industry, this South African company has now established Kwatani Botswana (Pty) Ltd in Jwaneng.

Specialist vibrating equipment supplier Kwatani South Africa launched its exclusive range of Kwatani Unbalanced Drives in March, states company service GM Theresa Walton.

The new range of unbalanced motors will be available in four-, six- and eight-pole configurations, with a working moment ranging from 100 kg/cm to 2 050 kg/cm for voltages from 380 V up to 690 V.

Coal remains the backbone of the world energy system, providing more than 40% of the world’s electricity, and it is predicted that coal will soon overtake oil as the largest source of primary energy. With this emphasis there is a demand from the coal industry for more sustainable modern mining practices, and locally owned and operated Kwatani continues to partner with customers to provide solutions that are engineered for tonnage.

In addition to importing a range of electromagnetic drives exclusively from Aviteq of Germany, specialist vibrating equipment supplier Kwatani also supports its range of locally, in-house manufactured SFH electromagnetic super feeder drives.

Kim Schoepflin, managing director, Kwatani, says that the company has built its reputation on developing an in-depth understanding of its customers’ specific application needs, and this has ensured that customised solutions which reduce downtime are provided.

Specialist vibrating equipment manufacturer and supplier Kwatani continues to demonstrate its capacity to provide turnkey screening solutions to the mining sector. A recent contract saw the company providing design, engineering, fabrication and delivery of a range of vibrating screens and feeders to a manganese mine in the Northern Cape.

Screening is a dynamic application and requires a machine that has been engineered to provide the throughput tonnage required for a given process application within a plant. Due to the very wide range of materials and need to handle high tonnages, scalping screens must be extremely robust and protected against intensive wear. Large drop heights, very heavy R.O.M. ore boulders and large cut sizes all mean that the screen and its component parts must be specifically designed for the loads and stresses normally not experienced in dry screening processes.

A significant, strategic move has resulted in local vibrating equipment manufacturer Kwatani entering into an agreement with black-owned consortium Vhatsila Holdings to form Kwatani. The agreement sees Vhatsila Holdings acquiring a 30% stakeholding in the company, making Kwatani the first in its class to exceed the requirements of the Mining Charter.

Engineering vibrating screens and feeders requires an in-depth understanding of the nature of the application. Gunter Vogel, chairman of Kwatani South Africa, says that it is critical with screens and feeders to ensure that forces are directed through sections of the structure and components that can handle those forces.

“In addition, it is important to ensure that for screens and feeders the centrifugal forces generated are directed evenly along the designed drive angle, near or through the centre of gravity. This ensures that the machines run symmetrically along the longitudinal axis. In...