Quarry Southern Africa July 2017 | Page 7

southern AFRICA news Australia’s HMA Group plans to establish a manufacturing facility to produce wear-solution products to service the metalliferous and coal sectors in sub-Saharan Africa, revealed HMA Group Australasia managing director Tony Rogers on a recent visit as part of the launch of HMA South Africa. The HMA Group has been appointed as sole international distributor, including South Africa, of local wear-solutions specialist Uretech. The HMA Group’s own broad product range will also be made available in Africa for the first time. The HMA Group manufactures, services and sells a range of capital plant equipment to diverse industries. The materials handling, wear solutions, instrumentation and geotechnical divisions of the group will be introduced into the local market, piggybacking on Uretech’s representation in the African mining industry. The sale of non-certified cement will be banned in Mozambique from 30 September, according to the Mozambique News Agency. All imported and locally produced cement will need to be certified by the country’s National Institute for Standardization and Quality (INNOQ), according to Institute director general, Alfredo Sitoe. This follows the introduction of Decree 28/2016, which took effect in January 2017, and is intended to guarantee that only high-quality cement is sold on the Mozambican market. The certification will also help the National Inspectorate of Economic Activities (INAE) to determine whether a specific bag or batch of cement is duly certified. Cement packaging should also provide an indication of the date of production and its validity as a way of protecting the consumer. Atlas Copco sells RCE to Fayat Group “This is an ownership change and not a change in business structure,” says Neville Marthinussen, Atlas Copco Construction Technique business line manager, Dynapac Road Construction Equipment. “Until closure, the RCE Division will remain part of Atlas Copco’s Construction Technique Business Area.” “As Dynapac South Africa we will continue to serve the market with our products and services. The current product portfolio remains unchanged and all scheduled product renewals will continue as planned,” he adds. The Atlas Copco name will gradually be phased out by the end of 2017 and the Dynapac brand will be prominently displayed on all products come 2018. The Atlas Copco Group has sold its global Road Construction Equipment (RCE) division, including the Dynapac brand name, to French construction company Fayat Group. Dynapac will transfer to Fayat on 1 July 2017 and be a company within the group operating under the Dynapac brand. Following the acquisition, road construction equipment – one of Fayat Group’s seven core businesses – will become its strongest division. Once all due diligences have been finalised, Dynapac SA will be a local legal company responsible for the southern Africa territory within the MEA region and the head office based in Dubai. The 19th Beltcon International Materials Handling Conference and Exhibition will take place in August at the St George’s Hotel and Conference Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. Now in its 36th year, the biennial conference is regarded as one of the foremost technical conferences of its kind, drawing delegates from all over the world. The two-day conference features papers from local and international experts in the field of materials handling and belt conveying, as well as interesting, controversial and up-to-the minute case studies, new data, products, cutting-edge technology and lively discussions. Delegates can claim credit points towards the ECSA continuous professional development (CPD) requirements. Liebherr-Africa (Liebherr) and Bell Equipment (Bell) have mutu ally agreed to dissolve the Supply and Distribution Agreement, through which Bell Equipment sells Bell-branded, Liebherr-manufactured equipment in southern Africa. The change will see Liebherr focus on providing and promoting excavators to a more diverse range of industries and customers. “Though our relationship with Bell has been very positive, we are excited about the opportunity this change brings about and look forward to increasing our presence in the bulk excavator market. Some new models, with increased customer value added, will be well received by the market,” says Tendayi Kudumba, general manager: Earthmoving Equipment at Liebherr Africa. “Bell will continue to support Liebherr machines that we have placed with our customers for as long as they are operational,” says Stephen Jones, group marketing director of Bell Equipment. The potential negative impacts of shift work on workers’ physical and mental wellbeing is of concern in the quarrying industry, where isolated working environments can offer little in the way of stimulus or human interaction, resulting in fatigue-related accidents. Opencast mining association Aspasa’s Nico Pienaar points out that health and safety protocols should include awareness of the effects of shift work, and have procedures in place to mitigate any potential problems. Both the Mine Health and Safety Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act have clear guidelines relating to healthy working practices in the quarrying (mining) sector, as well as stipulating hours that may be worked, rest intervals and rest between shifts. Contraventions of either act may have severe consequences in the form of fines or other penalties. Aspasa’s own Health and Safety programme also stipulates correct working procedures as well as its own best practices, and members are required to measure their compliance with these requirements in mandatory annual Health and Safety Audits. Sixth generation Dynapac large asphalt roller CC5200VI. QUARRY SA | JULY 2017 _ 5