South Africa-based oil analysis company WearCheck Africa will promote its recently formed reliability solutions division, which offers vibration monitoring and thermal imaging, as well as laser alignment and balancing, at the 2014 Investing in African Mining Indaba.

The indaba will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from February 3 to 6.

WearCheck MD Neil Robinson tells Mining Weekly that the new division, established in 2012, has made WearCheck “a one-stop shop for condition monitoring across all industries”. He adds that the company’s management team would like to keep customers informed about the range of services that the company offers and that the Mining Indaba provides an ideal platform to do so.

“One of the key messages that we’d like to deliver at the Mining Indaba is the concept that analysing an oil sample from a machine or component is similar to that of analysing a blood sample from a person, as the results determine the health status of the unit,” he states.

Robinson says WearCheck would also like to ensure that consumers know what oil analysis is, how it works, what it entails and how it can add value to the bottom line of the various industries, such as mining, automotive and construction, that it services.

He adds that the company also aims to create awareness among indaba attendees that the information gained through oil analysis can result in cost savings, because catastrophic, unscheduled machine failures can be avoided.

Robinson adds that WearCheck’s highly skilled diagnostics team can analyse the results of an oil sample and advise the customer on ways to rectify any abnormal findings.

Moreover, he says the company will also exhibit educational material on its condition monitoring services at the indaba.

“Additionally, we hope that people will gain insight into what a good investment in predictive maintenance is and how businesses cannot afford not to invest in condition monitoring,” he emphasises.

“This is the second time we are attending the Mining Indaba, as it is the ideal platform to interact with new and existing customers and gain valuable insight into trends and developments within the mining industry.”

WearCheck will also use the indaba to highlight that, for the past 39 years, the company has been providing oil analysis services for major role-players in the mining industry, supported by decades of historical data.

Robinson is looking forward to attending the presentations of leading mining industry stake- holders at the indaba, as he believes that the insight gained from the speakers and the opportunity to interact with delegates provides WearCheck with an indication of future African mining hot spots.

“It is critically important for us to keep abreast of Africa’s growing demand for world-class condition monitoring services in the near future, as this information is considered when WearCheck determines which new geographical markets it will penetrate.

“Mining Indaba offers us an important opportunity to gather the latest news about these general mining trends in Africa,” Robinson concludes.