AFTER enduring poor demand for new chute installations due to Covid-19, Wadeville-based Weba Chute Systems has seen its order book recover strongly in recent months. While much of the new business is coming from South Africa’s mining sector, significant orders have also been received from mines in neighbouring states.
“When the pandemic hit, it was like crashing into a brick wall,” says Weba Chute Systems managing director, Mark Baller. “Many mining projects that were in the pipeline were either cancelled or deferred and – like most other companies – we went through a very testing time. With the revival of the mining sector this situation has now changed – to such an extent, in fact, that our financial year ending on 30 June 2022 was the best, in terms of revenue, in our nearly 40-year history.”
One of the biggest of the new orders has been placed by a Zimbabwean platinum producer and will see nine chutes of varying sizes being delivered by the end of October this year. They will form part of the materials handling infrastructure required for a new portal that is being developed by the mining company.
“We’ve been supplying this customer for many years and we’re delighted that they’ve once again opted for a bespoke engineered solution from Weba,” notes Baller. “The material to be handled is extremely abrasive which results in high wear – but this is an area where we excel, particularly if we can use our cascade chute system. Given the large rock sizes that are expected, we’re manufacturing the chutes to be extremely robust.”
In Botswana, Weba Chute Systems is busy with several orders placed by two diamond mines, both of them long-standing Weba customers. “Diamond mining was one of the mining sectors hit particularly hard by the pandemic so it’s good to see this renewed activity,” Baller observes. “Most of the new chutes are screen discharge chutes – which are our bread and butter – but one is a tripper-car chute. Designing chutes of this type is always challenging but they are nothing new for Weba and we’ve completed many highly successful installations in the past.”
In South Africa, Weba is finding the gold sector particularly active but is also fulfilling orders from both the coal and zinc sectors. The largest chute it currently has in its order book – of 3 500 tph capacity – is going to a gold project in Gauteng.
“This is a monster and ranks among the biggest we’ve ever produced,” says Baller. “It was recently despatched to the mine using two Superlink trucks, carrying between them 26 tonnes of components.”
