Mine travel in South Africa｜ A real excellent drilling tools sales does not only focus on the drilling tools itself, But how to make the scheme!

(No.141 articles wrote by Simon on Oct.20th,2018)

South Africa, which is known as “the Kingdom of Diamonds” of the world, is rich in mineral resources and is one of the five largest mineral resources in the world. There are more than 70 minerals that have been discovered and mined. The reserves of the platinum group metals, fluor and chromium are the first place in the world, gold, vanadium, manganese listed on the second place in the world,titanium in the fourth, phosphate ore, uranium, lead, antimony in the fifth, coal, zinc is in the eighth, and the ninth belongs to the copper.

On September 17, the third day after the South African Mining Exhibition, I drove less than 3 hours from bloemfotein through Kimberly (the place where the diamond mine was first found) to postmasburg, a famous iron ore area in South Africa. Here a city is a mining area.  For there are many large and small iron mines in postmasburg that i cant almost see the end. On the road, Iron ore transportation heavy duty truck going up and down the street. The street was bustling, Jeff, who accompanied me, drove a Toyota four-wheel drive SUV at a high speed. At the same time, he introduced the famous iron ore companies passing by in a flash as if he were enumerating the heirlooms of his own family, PMG mining, Kumba mining, khunani mining, Sishen mining, sudibeng iron ore…..

More than 1hours after entering ore area, We finally entered the largest iron ore mining area which has its civil airport, Kumba Mining. The mine chief, David, gave us a warm welcome. We got in his truck, the truck was full of brown red iron powder, According to his introduction, This area’s iron ore rock configuaration is very complex, and it is divided according to the hardness of the ore and the abrasion resistance. There are three grades of ore, IRON, BIS, and SHALE. The IRON is very hard, The first open drill is 5-10 m to change the drill. In this way, we have put forward the scientific design and efficient solution to the specific rock formation conditions from the head shape, the alloy tooth shape, the alloy tooth number, the alloy tooth size, the skirt body and the steel selection. It is not selling tool, but a set of scientific, efficient, low-cost, continuous mining and drilling solutions to serve customers and create value for customers.

Five to six years ago, drilling tools dominated the market with MINCON, ROBIT, ATLAS, SANDVIK, and in recent years the scale of drilling tools imported from China has gradually increased, according to mining manager David’s introduction, Mincon 6 inches DTH drilling bit BIS 400-500 meters, SHALE 700-800 meters, 300000 meters per month, drilling tool demand is considerable. Field DTH drilling rigs are mainly Atlas Copco, D65,D60,SmartRock series, FlexiRoc series.

David in the car pointing to a large object outside：the FlexiROC， D60 D60 65 is a DTH drilling rig, which is suitable for large production operations, pre-split blasting operations, taste-controlled reverse circulation drilling (RC) in open-pit mining operations and large quarry operations. FlexiROC D60 can be equipped with Amberto DTH hammers which is known for their high performance in terms of reliability and service life. Now they like and are used to using Chinese DTH drilling tools very much. They are basically completely replacing European and American brands with faster feed speed, more accurate straight holes, smaller fuel consumption and lower operating costs, and the comprehensive cost saves nearly 20% to 30% for the mine owners. David, the mine manager, gave his thumbs up and praised with a smile when he said happily.

Not far away from here, we have seen three PowerROC, D55 is a reliable and stable hydraulic DTH drilling rig, If equipped with Amberto drilling rig, It can achieve higher performance and can be suitable for usage in mining, quarries and buildings. Drilling diameter:90-165 mm, power head/ DTH hammer size: COP34, COP44, COP54, maximum drilling depth: 30 m. FlexiROC D50 has the advantages of higher working efficiency, higher production efficiency and lower drilling cost.

Driving the pickup truck to another mining point, There were more than 10sets of FlexiROC T45, powerROC T50, multifunctional top hammer drilling rigs, The mine manager said that high performance drilling rig specially developed and designed for harsh and complex construction environment. It can also be used efficiently in iron ore mining and limestone mines in South Africa. Hole diameter: 89mm-140mm drilling tools: T51 ≤ 115mm, 127mm, 140mm bit, MF extension rod T51, 3660 MM,4300MM, rock drilling tools and shank adapter.

The PowerROC T50 drilling machine is designed and manufactured by Amberto, is highly suitable for iron ore, diamond ore, limestone, cement, quarries, and open-pit mines. With high-power rock drilling rig COP 3060: high perforation speed and high-yield and robust telescopic boom can be used to adapt to various harsh working conditions, and can be quickly and accurately positioned. The drilling diameter:102-152 mm, rock drilling rig and shank adapter COP3060, GT60 extension rod 6100 mm,4300 mm, maximum drilling depth of 35 m. T50 will become the main model of our Postmaster iron ore area. Sandvik has been used in the past, We are now trying to use Chinese drilling tools, and the annual volume is gradually increasing.

South Africa’s mining industry has a long history, with a complete modern mining system and advanced mining and smelting technology, is the pillar of South Africa’s economy. In 2012, the output value accounted for about 5.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Mineral products are an important part of exports, accounting for about 38% of total exports in 2012. This is an arena for Chinese drilling tools and the platform for dreams.

Through this field visit, we can understand the market scale and market potential of South African mining machinery and equipment, drilling and blasting drilling tools, which full of business opportunities for our Chinese drilling tools. Much of the drilling tools currently used in South Africa are imported from China. Through field comparison and test, ProDrill obtain at least 20% advantages over foreign well known brands, is especially designed for iron ore, diamond, coal mine design DTH drilling tool, PDC composite bit in meters, driving speed. fuel consumption and other index, in addition, its price is also competitive.

At the same time, in recent years, The number of China-made drilling tools in the mining industry of South Africa has increased continuously in recent years, and the market of South Africa is of great potential. Comprehensive performance of Chinese drilling tools is close to the level of well-known brands abroad, China’s brand awareness is also increasing result in the increasing market share of China’s products in the South African.

China is now the second largest economy in the world (GBD74 trillion RMB in 2016). It is also a big mining country and a big drilling tools country. With the continuous growth of China’s comprehensive economic strength, with the continuous improvement of the manufacturing level of drilling tools in China, its quality level has approached or reached the advanced level of the world.

Therefore, with the development of African economy and the increase of demand for drilling tools in the future, Our country’s drilling tools enterprises will enhance their development in Africa, increase market share and the scale of business and brand awareness, which is a big trend in line with the market development. Only if China’s drilling tools are truly involved in the economic construction of Africa, can the dream of China’s strong power and brand dream be realized as soon as possible.