Hyspec Mining Services Starts Three New Workshops in Mali

In February, Hyspec Mining Services signed a three year contract with Segala Mining Company (Endeavour Mining Group) for the provision and operation of three hydraulic hose assembly workshops at the Tabakoto Mine in Mali.
All three workshops are consigned to the mine and operated by Hyspec. Each workshop is fully equipped with Manuli Hydraulics hose assembly and cleaning equipment, as well as storage racks, shelves, work benches and stocks of hoses, fittings and adaptors. The main workshop is located at the mine’s main maintenance bay. To cater for the underground mining equipment, two additional satellite workshops have been built next to the underground mines’ maintenance service points.
For the time being, the main workshop operates twelve hours a day, seven days a week, whilst the other two operate 24 /7.
“The workshops were set up in less than two months after the contract signature”, explains Marcel Rossat, Hyspec Mining Services Operations Manager for Mali and Guinea. “Being operational in such a short time frame was quite challenging, because of the logistical constraints in Mali, but we managed to meet the strict deadlines set to us by SEMICO. We are currently training eight technicians to assist with the operation of these new workshops.They will be deployed in the workshops shortly. The range of products and services we are providing through these workshops is very large: we are supporting open pit, underground, exploration, as well as special projects, and therefore need our guys to have a large spectrum of qualifications.”
“Hyspec used to have a small workshop at Tabakoto”, adds Pieter Nel, Segala Mining Company maintenance manager. “But in 2014 we decided to take over all operations previously carried out by subcontractors, in an attempt to save on costs. We therefore implemented our own hydraulic hose assembly workshop. We continued buying hoses and fittings in bulk from Hyspec, but managed the workshop ourselves. We soon found that we were not saving any money by operating this way. On the contrary our costs increased! We then had to support the cost of having a large amount of stock and the downtime on our mining equipment increased significantly. Our technicians did not have the same expertise in hose assembly as the Hyspec technicians did, resulting in improperly assembled hoses, blown fittings and leaks. We therefore decided to leave the maintenance and assembly of our hydraulic hoses to an industry recognized expert, and chose Hyspec who had a proven track record and reputation of excellence, for this task.”
For additional information on Hyspec Mining Services activities in the Mali, please contact: marcel.rossat@hyspec.com