Conveyor maintenance crucial in tough times

In difficult economic times when margins on mine operations are tight, securing the productivity and efficiency of key functions like conveyors is paramount.

Where mines are under financial pressure, conveyor specialists Tru-Trac says its solutions can help take the load off certain personnel, freeing them to focus on other critical areas of the mine. 

“Turmoil in the mining sector is leading to lay-offs and pressure on capital budgets,” notes Tru-Trac Rollers national sales manager Guy Fitt. “Both these factors can reduce the reliability of conveyor systems, at a time when the mine’s productivity levels can least afford it. As a leading original-equipment manufacturer (OEM) in this field, Tru-Trac provides flexible maintenance and support services to solve this dilemma.”

Fitt emphasises that it is critical to ensure adequate maintenance of conveyor systems or the whole operation’s productivity will suffer.

“We can assume responsibility for a range of tasks from checking and changing idlers to the cleaning of belt scrapers and maintaining belt trackers,” he says. “These are vital to avoid downtime, but can go ignored if mine staff are too thinly spread – with dire consequences for uptime and production.”

Tru-Trac technical product manager Gerhard Strydom says that the company’s support teams are trained in general maintenance of conveyor systems while also being familiar with the mining industry. 

Fitt explains that the work which on-site maintenance teams perform is not only limited to Tru-Trac's products, but focuses on overall conveyor maintenance, performance and safety.

“While some customers request that we train their staff in equipment maintenance if they have enough personnel, it is increasingly common for mines to keep us on site as the specialist OEM, allowing their artisans to concentrate on core mining activities,” notes Strydom.

“The advantage of a maintenance contract is that the mine has the comfort of knowing a specialist is on site, giving this essential system all the necessary attention,” he says. “We conduct regular surveys of belt tonnages, belt speeds and ground conditions, for instance, to check that the trackers and other equipment are performing to our standards.”