In Australia, the company is in a partnership with four other suppliers that each offer key components of a longwall package. Called “The Longwall Alliance,” the grouping is made up of Fazos, German companies Tiefenbach and Eickhoff, UK company Repower Mining International (RMI), and Australian company Inbye Mining Services. Between them the five companies are able to offer the major components of a longwall system: roof supports, control system, shearer and pump station and AFC.
Inbye, in particular, is seen as important partners by Fazos, because they are well established in Australia and can provide all important aftermarket servicing across the range of products.
A lower price is, of course, one of the attractions of a smaller OEM, though it is unlikely mines will be willing to take a risk if the equipment is not perceived to be at least as good as competitive equipment.
Fazos technical director, Marek Mika expects to be able to be competitive at around 25% less than other support suppliers. According to Mika, about 70% of Fazos’ final price tag is attributable to materials delivery. Direct costs carried by Fazos, including a profit figure “which never exceeds 10%,” make up the remaining 30%.
Another attraction of the Polish supports is the leg design, which incorporates no blipper valve, allowing equal set and yield on both stages. Lower working pressures in the minor stage mean there is no intensification, offering a higher safety factor and better seal life.
“Since 1998 we have sold 3600 legs with the new design and not one of them has failed yet,” Mika said.
In the last two years Fazos sold eight new longwalls in Poland, based on the new design of the legs.
Fazos, as part of “The Longwall Alliance,” is currently bidding for a new longwall package in Australia for a new mine in NSW. ILN spoke to one of the mine operators involved in the tender and he said Fazos was seen to be technically up to scratch and were shaping up to be a really credible third player in the industry.
“Along with our partners we are able to offer a very credible, technically sound longwall system,” said managing director of Inbye Mining Services, Richard Eveleigh.
Another area in which Fazos hopes to offer expertise is in the area of longwall equipment modernisation. For the last five years Fazos has been one of the major providers in the upgrading of equipment and technology in Polish mines. Two years ago Fazos overhauled two sets of supports at South Africa’s New Denmark longwall mine and equipped the supports with Fazos hydraulics and Tiefenbach controls. It’s an area the OEM is keen to pursue globally.
The company got an important break recently when US company, Consol Energy’s Mine 84 longwall ordered six Fazos shields. The Polish company will supply the steel structure, legs, hydraulics and valves of the six shields. The control system will be fitted by the mine.
“I assure you there are no markets in the world where Fazos cannot compete,” Mika said.
