Longwall Associates, which specialises in the design and manufacture of face conveyor and stageloader systems, claims to have won about 40% of orders placed for AFCs in the US since its inception in 1996. Products supplied include face conveyor pans, drives, power units, hydraulic chain tensioners, sprocket assemblies, stageloader, chain and connectors, and crushers.
An Australian incorporated company, Longwall Associates Australia, has been formed with Peter van Iersel as managing director. van Iersel, previously involved with the Australian venture as Queensland manager, has 20 years of experience in the longwall equipment manufacturing industry. He set up the Queensland division of Dowty in 1989 (subsequently bought by what is now Joy Mining Machinery).
Longwall Associates will invest about $1.5 million to establish the Mackay facility, which will occupy 1200sq.m of space. Construction is scheduled for completion in November this year. Up to 10 people will staff the facility initially, and numbers are expected to increase within six months.
Longwall Associates’ chief executive officer, Tony Campbell, said adding a manufacturing facility in Australia would enable the company to better serve its customers.
“It will allow us to significantly reduce both delivery times and costs,” he said. “In addition, Longwall Associates stands behind all its longwall equipment, both new and rebuilt, 100%. By having a manufacturing facility located in Australia, we will also be able to improve customer service after the sale. We believe that responsiveness is crucial to success.”
Initially some parts of the equipment will continue to be made in the US, but eventually the company hopes to produce the AFCs in Australia — a first for the local industry (its main competitors Joy and DBT manufacture their AFCs in the UK and Germany, respectively.) Local Australian firms would be given the opportunity to produce castings comparable in price and quality to the US product, van Iersel said.
“We see it as commercially advantageous for us to do it here with the weak dollar and save a significant amount in transport. There are several thousand tonnes of steel in one of these,” he said.
To date, a complete pan-line manufactured in Virginia has been sold to CapCoal’s Southern colliery in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. The pans are 1.5m long with a 1000mm raceway, designed to be both sigma and toe riding. Five maingate driveframes made by Inbye and designed by Longwall Associates were also sold to Powercoal operations in NSW.
Such is the confidence in the locally made AFC that Longwall Associates has put “significant warranties” on the equipment. CapCoal’s pan-line, for instance, is warranted for 12 million tonnes, van Iersel said.
One of the main advantages of the equipment is the relative simplicity of assembly. “We focus on the ease and safety in changing out AFCs at the end of the block,” van Iersel said. “We’ve put some features in which we’ve heard about from customers to make it easier and safer to move. We tried to minimise the number of bolts and there are only a few permanently fixed bolts.
“Everything else that has to be removed is pinned. For example, it is easier to dismantle the dogbone joints.”
Importantly, because Longwall Associates did not compete with shearer and roof support manufacturers, it was able to ensure compatibility with other manufacturer’s components, van Iersel added.
He said the Mackay workshop would undertake other maintenance work such as refurbishing shearer drums to keep the workshop busy during slow periods. The American parent would be sending manufacturing personnel to assist with setting up manufacturing and overhaul procedures.
* This article originally appeared in the September 2000 edition of Australia's Longwalls.
