Botswana Mining Review (April -June 2022)

GHH a Total Solution Offering Provider

GHH Group is a total solution provider to the Mining and Tunnelling Industries. GHH Group is comprised of GHH Mining Machines (South Africa), GHH Fahrzeuge GmbH (Germany) and Mine Master (Poland), including various strategic partner companies. GHH Group provides loaders, trucks, scalers, drills, bolters, long-hole production drill rigs and rock tools. GHH has various partners, in geographical locations, that have ranges of products that all add to the “total solution provider” approach. Through deep cooperation with partner companies like Overprime from Peru, Titan from Turkey, UVB from Botswana and Tembo from Netherlands, GHH Group has added a significant number of products to their portfolio including low profile utility vehicles, and narrow vein loaders, spray concrete units, general utility vehicles, passenger transporters, light cranes, scissor lifts, mini dumpers, lifting platforms and ANFO loading trucks as well as light duty full electric vehicles. GHH Group not only provides new, used and rental equipment but they also provide aftermarket parts and service support through the entire life of the machine.

GHH Mining Machines, based in the East Rand in South Africa, designs and manufactures low profile and narrow vein underground mining machines. GHH also specialises in rebuilding machines and repairing components and providing field support to all operating machines of GHH, Mine Master, Fletcher and UVB.

GHH’s low profile and narrow vein mining diesel loader offering includes, but is not limited to, the LF3, narrow vein loader, as well as the key SLP5.1, SLP6.2, SLP8 and SLP14 low profile loaders. The LF3 is a 3.5t machine, with an engine power of 67 kW, and an operational altitude of up to 4,500m above sea level. The 5 t SLP5.1, meanwhile, has a well-established footprint and great track record of low running costs and excellent performance in the Southern African Market the company said.

GHH also has the SLP 6.2, a 104 kW, 6t machine that provides customers with an application specific, middle sized low profile option, in addition to the newest addition to the low profile family, the SLP 8. The SLP 8 has the largest carrying capacity in its class, excellent ground clearance and unsurpassed visibility and ergonomic comfort in the operators’ compartment, GHH said. “The modular designed 178 kW SLP8 loader will certainly be a trendsetter in the low profile market,” the company said. This GHH loader offering provides customers with the benefit of having an interface ready for Level 9 Collision Avoidance System retrofit, as well as driver access control, product monitoring, partial or full speed brake interlock, anti-roll back, black box recorder, engine protection, operational monitoring and a communications router (connected machine). “This visibility into the daily ‘heath and performance’ of the machine gives end users the ability to better manage their underground mining operations, significantly improve safety and efficiently manage performance,” GHH said.

Most recently GHH has launched the LF7, a true 7 ton LHD, designed for the large narrow vein applications and the small mass mining operations. With the first machine already in operation at a customer in South Africa and a second on its way to a customer in India, where it will debut at the IME in India in April 2022. The learnings from the custom designed, modular, low profile SLP8 were used as a blue print for the LF-7 design based on the same concept.

“We pride ourselves in the ability to constantly develop safe products that are moulded to the ever changing customer needs, incorporating custom designed end user specific options, to make each of our underground mining products more fit-for purpose than before, to suit specific mining operations”, The company concluded. “GHH machines enable the lowest cost per
tonne production with highest performance capabilities,” the company said. Its machines are robust, reliable, easy to maintain, simple to operate, and designed with safety in mind, GHH added.

Utility vehicles on your doorstep

UV Botswana (Pty) Ltd is a 100% Botswana owned Company, which was established in 2005, to design and manufacture robust, reliable, and cost effective underground utility vehicles for the mining and quarrying industry. Set up in Francistown, in the North East of the country, the Company is ideally situated geographically, to service the Southern and Central African region. By setting up in Botswana, the Company has reaped the benefits of working with a stable currency, labour force and a Government committed to good governance.

UV Botswana (Pty) Ltd is backed up by appointed service agents, regionally and internationally, who carry a full range of backup spares for our various models. These agents employ technicians who are OEM certified, which ensures a timeous and dependable backup to not only the UVB machines working in their area of operation, but also all other GHH Group products providing for a
complete support solution.

With UVB being based in Southern Africa, closest to the low profile mining centre of the world, it has allowed them to develop the best fit-for-purpose products for the Southern African market and beyond. The utility vehicle range boasts one of the largest, comprehensive utility portfolios in this size class. One of the latest product launches in the UVB range is the Road Preparation Vehicle, which has been successfully trialled in Zimbabwe. Customers are showing great interest because this underground, purpose-built vehicle, can be used as a Mechanical Scaler, Rock Breaker and Road Preparation vehicle. The end user can buy a complete new unit or make use of their
‘end of life’ loaders that can be adapted to accept the boom and related mechanisms.

Initially the Company produced a low profile 4 tonne range of vehicles, specifically designed for the low profile mines in the region. This range of vehicles have proven themselves to be the market leader in their class, and over the interim years, the Company has been able to supply a large population of them to mines throughout the region. Using the experience gained on the
4 tonne range, the Company designed and manufactured a larger, 8 tonne range of vehicles, more suited for conventional mining operations. Using the existing products as the baseline a new range of MV U60D utility vehicles and cassettes has also been developed, which is based on a 6ton capacity.

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