thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions is proud of its time-honoured history as a leading partner of engineering, equipment, technology, plant and service solutions to mining, cement, chemical, fertilizer and oil & gas industries across the African continent. 

In a bid to further strengthen its longstanding business partnerships and expanding its footprint in Africa, thyssenkrupp hosted four customer conferences during Mining Indaba 2018 which took place at the International Convention Centre in Cape Town from 5 to 8 February.

During the conferences, thyssenkrupp senior management unpacked the engineering group’s structure which enables the company to draw from five main business areas and combine local experience with global knowledge to offer single-source solutions across the entire value chain. thyssenkrupp’s sustainable engineering solutions and cutting-edge technological breakthroughs were also shared with more than 40 customers.

The conference was extremely successful with customers showing a keen interest in thyssenkrupp’s capabilities and solution offerings especially in the field of energy efficiencies and storage. Editors from South Africa’s leading mining journals were also invited to an open dialogue session where they were given the opportunity to engage with thyssenkrupp management.

“We are deeply rooted in Africa with a long presence in South Africa that spans eight decades and a large installed base on the continent,” says Philipp Nellessen, thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions South Africa CEO, Sub-Saharan Africa. “One of the largest concentrations of thyssenkrupp drum reclaimers is in operation at our customer of 45-year standing, an iron ore mine in Sishen, and we have supplied the largest drum reclaimers in the world to South Africa’s two new power plants.

This having been said, our capabilities as a world-leading single-source solutions supplier is not as well recognised in Africa as in the rest of the world,” notes Nellessen. ”We need to address this through heightening awareness around our engineering solutions that are focused on increasing mine and plant efficiencies.”

For thyssenkrupp it goes far beyond business to the development and delivering of technologies that assist mines and plants to be more profitable. Their success means growth, job creation and upskilling, the development of local communities and ultimately the stimulation of economies in the African countries where these industries operate. The growing trend of business–community collaboration will see outreach initiatives such as for example mines providing power or water to nearby communities. 

thyssenkrupp also recognises Africa’s untapped and unparalleled potential! Only a minuscule portion of the world’s global exploration and extraction budgets have been invested in Africa despite the fact that it holds over 30% of the world’s mineral resources. More and more countries in Africa are showing economic growth on the back of political stability which is positively impacting on mining and industry.

South Africa’s political landscape is also changing and the recent well-received budget speech has seen considerable strengthening of the Rand and an increase in business confidence which is attracting the interest of investors.  

With 40% of the world’s known resources, South Africa boasts diverse mineral riches; it is respectively the world’s fourth and fifth largest producer of diamonds and gold and the world’s largest producer of chrome, manganese, platinum, vanadium and vermiculite. A gold mine located south-west of Johannesburg is currently the deepest mine in the world pushing beyond the four kilometre mark. The South African Chamber of Mines reports that gold production has fallen due to depleting resources so mines are under tremendous pressure to go ever deeper to get to deposits. However, there is a direct correlation between increased depth and rising costs so mines are turning to technologies to assist them in reaching these depths as efficiently and productively as possible in order to remain profitable.

“We want to be part of Africa’s solution and we want to make a difference,” continues Nellessen. “To this end we are committed to focussing on increasing our presence on this continent, building on our long-term African partnerships as well as establishing new customer relationships and listening to customers to gain a better understanding of their individual requirements.

This multi-facetted strategy will better position our various business units to provide bespoke solutions, from a single piece of equipment to an entire plant (feasibility studies, systems, services), that combine local experience and 200 years of global knowledge to ensure sustainable productivity and profitability for customers and end-users.”

The often-remote locations of mining projects have promoted customers to look for suppliers who can provide an all-in-one turnkey service – from the source of extraction to the ports for export. Perfectly positioned to meet this requirement is thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions’ Materials Handling business unit with its offering of stackers, drum reclaimers, transfer cars, and train- and ship loading and unloading systems. From the Minerals Processing business unit comes comminution and grinding expertise.

Power and Energy brings turnkey biomass fired plant solutions, from boiler supply right through to building the complete plant around the boiler. Expertise and technology in the fields of electrolysis, polymers, base chemicals, fuel storage as well as modular solutions for chemical and fertilizer plants are the areas of expertise for business unit, Technologies and Polymers.

thyssenkrupp has cornered the market in the service and after-market space with its technologically advanced Service Centre, located in Chloorkop, Johannesburg. Originally established to refurbish and manufacture components for its High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGRs), significant expansion has resulted in the provision of a full servicing capability to OEM standards for all thyssenkrupp brands and equipment.

These competencies extend to customers in all major African countries and field service teams are dispatched to support equipment wherever and whenever needed, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. thyssenkrupp is also addressing the loss of skills with the roll out of purpose-designed technical training centres across Sub-Sahara Africa. The first training centre is currently under construction at thyssenkrupp’s Chloorkop facility which earmarked for completion in Q2 2018.

The recent opening of an office in Accra, Ghana, bears testament to thyssenkrupp’s commitment to position itself closer to its customers in the regions, bringing complete engineering solutions and rapid, reliable and flexible support and services to their doorstep.