Ruichy Minova will supply Shanxi Asian American Daning Energy with more than 200 Te of Tekseal for the installation of explosion proof stoppings. In addition to Tekseal, the mine has ordered 10 Te of Tekflex for repairing and sealing existing ventilation structures.

Minova said many of the key employees at the mine are US based and, as such, are familiar with Minova’s suite of products and reputation and wish to use this expertise to improve their ventilation control and increase safety and productivity at the mine.

From February to October 2006, Ruichy Minova developed a customer base of 16 coal groups, which includes companies such as Yanzhou Coal, Shanxi Asian American Daning Energy, Kailuan Coal Group, Datong Coal Group, Xin Wen Coal Group and Huaibei Coal Group, and it is projected that first year sales will exceed £1 million ($US1.94 million).

The number of staff required to support these sales increased in 2006 to almost 100 and this is reflected in the recent move to new, larger offices in Beijing, as well as the continuous development of the factory site outside Beijing.

Silos have been erected to handle bulk raw materials and an extra unit has been added to handle both finished goods and raw materials.

Also planned for the next few months is the addition of a dedicated pre-weigh station for the powder plant, bunded areas in the resin blending plant and the creation of a workshop dedicated to the maintenance and upkeep of the application equipment.

“The Chinese market will remain an important part of the business development for Minova in the long term. The sheer size and scale of both China and the coal mining industry there requires further investment from Ruichy Minova in the development of regional distribution centres and sales offices,” the company said.

“It should be remembered that many of the products and processes sold by Ruichy Minova are new to market and development has been required from a grassroots level. Although the technology has been transferred from the established Minova companies around the world a great deal of work has been required to establish a quality supply of raw materials and hence a quality supply of finished goods to the mining industry,” business development director Peter Bell said.

Ruichy Minova supplies resin capsules for roof bolting, high volume output grouts and specialised coatings for strata support, resin injection materials for strata support and consolidation and seal construction systems for ventilation control into the Chinese market.