INTERNATIONAL COAL NEWS

Longwall Associates

LONGWALL Associates Australia will exhibit its exclusive before and after line pan at AIMEX 2007....

Staff Reporter

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The company, founded in 2000, is the sister company of US-based Longwall Associates, Inc. and has gained over 25% of the face conveyor market share. With offices in Mackay, Queensland, Australia as well as Utah, USA and Chilhowie, USA, the company is rapidly gaining international acclaim for its technically superior longwall face conveyor and stage loader systems.

During this year’s AIMEX show, the company decided to exhibit a radical process that has enabled many clients to extended the life of their current operating equipment.

Longwall Associates Australia (LWAA) routinely performs rebuilds for new and existing clients, often adding years of life to the equipment. Since their beginnings, LWAA rebuild programs have achieved national and international recognition in publications and with their growing client base.

Whether utilising the manufacture process to pre-hose equipment for mines saving valuable set-up underground or by extending the life of the equipment, often beyond what is considered possible, the company knows how to perform successful rebuilds.

For the AIMEX trade show, Longwall Associates Australia will be exhibiting a “before and after” line pan. The line pan was for an existing US customer operating in extremely difficult and abrasive mining conditions. The mine considered this pan BER – Beyond Economical Repair – and was prepared to retire the equipment.

Although not the OEM for this particular line pan, LWA assessed the equipment and was able to rebuild the pan line, effectively increasing the original life of the pan and thereby saving the client significant capital investments on premature OEM pan line purchase.

The term “rebuild” is often an understatement for the process LWAA utilises to add years and panels in its programs. Hence, Longwall Associates penned the process as “Extended Life Rebuild”. The term is meant to capture the unique process LWAA uses to rebuild equipment for mines.

The process significantly improves the equipment’s resistance to wear while maximising the performance. At no time is the longevity of equipment more important than in the last several years with steel prices and lead times at a premium.

The pan to be exhibited demonstrates excessive wear after mining out 8 million tons, with significant wear on the deck, the sigma sections and in other critical areas.

After Longwall Associates assessed the pan, sales and engineering staff at LWA deemed the pan to have millions of tons of life left and began designing an Extended Life Rebuild program specifically for this particular mine’s equipment.

The Extended Life Rebuild pan exhibited at AIMEX is meant to educate customers about the process that can be performed on their equipment to fully utilise equipment life and avoid premature retirement of equipment.

The Extended Life Rebuild combined with the use of the appropriate matching equipment can in most cases double the life of equipment that most OEMs consider BER.

During the AIMEX show, Longwall Associates Australia will also be exhibiting a Fleity ventilation stopping. Additionally the company, as an exclusive agent, will exhibit a state-of-the-art hand-held compressed air roof bolter, hydraulic prop and a submersible compressed air operated pump.

Longwall Associates Australia offers custom face conveyor, stage loader and ventilation solutions built to outperform and exceed anticipated equipment life. Its OEM and rebuilt longwall conveyors utilise proven technology and offer no-risk guaranteed performance, resulting in optimised production and maximised equipment life.

Equipped with the best warranty and performance records in the industry, Longwall Associates Australia is your strategic partner for success.

You can view this line pan at AIMEX and other upcoming trade shows. If you can’t wait that long, contact Longwall Associates Australia about its exclusive programs.

Contact:

Peter Van Iersel

Longwall Associates Australia Pty Ltd

PO Box 5918

Mackay Mail Centre 4741 QLD

Ph: 07 4952 3844

Email: pvi@longwall.com

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