Company Announcement - Locally owned and operated vibrating equipment specialist Joest 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. Joest Kwatani has been at the development forefront of custom built vibrating screens, grizzlies and feeders in the South African and African mining industry for almost 40 years, especially in the coal sector when numerous Witbank and Middleburg mines operate its vibrating screens, grizzles and feeders.

Today, it continues to excel across all fronts – supplying durable equipment designed to withstand the harshest mine operating conditions. Of equal significance is its 30% black ownership and Level 3 BBBEE accreditation. “Joest Kwatani was the first company in its class to exceed the mining charter requirement,” says Kim Schoepflin, managing director of Joest Kwatani.

New to the coal industry is its 4.3 metre wide banana screen, which fulfils the industry’s need for more efficient, high throughput equipment. The new screen design, incorporating the latest technology and refinements, addresses the failure modes of existing 4.3 metre wide screens while also offering reduced downtime and ease of maintenance, a critical consideration owing to the large scale components involved. The new screen also focuses on critical issues such as lifespan and structural integrity.
As a household name in the coal sector, Joest Kwatani has become the preferred equipment supplier to one of South Africa’s largest coal preparation plants close to Lephalale in Limpopo. “Impressively, one of our 1 500 ton per hour single deck vibrating screens (3 metre wide by 9.8 metre long), installed in 2005, is still operational today and proof of our equipment longevity excellence.”

The company also has two of the longest single deck banana screens used in coal sizing installed at a colliery in Secunda measuring 3.66 metre wide and 10 metre long. More recently it replaced ageing competitors’ screens with two 650 tph double deck exciter driven ROM sizing screens at a Delmas, Mpumalanga-based colliery. “The fast turnaround time of less than six weeks from the date of order contributed to maximised uptime and productivity,” says Schoepflin.

The company has grown significantly over the past two decades. This is largely thanks to its 24/7 customer service and branch network located in all major mining areas with support from its Spartan headquarters. “We recently purchased another factory to increase our capacity which now extends over an area of almost 17 000 m2 in Kempton Park,” Schoepflin comments.

“It is the combination of our experience, specific problem analysis expertise and ability to offer cost-effective, technologically relevant solutions that contributes to our sustainability. We are confident that coal will remain critical to the world’s energy needs and we intend to provide ongoing support and innovation for our coal customers,” Schoepflin concludes