South African Mining Industry | A true drill tool sales expert does not sell drill tools, but makes plans!

South Africa, known as the "Diamond Kingdom", is rich in mineral resources and is one of the world's top five mineral resource countries. There are more than 70 kinds of minerals that have been proven and mined. The reserves of platinum group metals, fluorite, and chromium rank first in the world, gold, vanadium, manganese, and zirconium rank second, titanium ranks fourth, phosphate ore, uranium, lead, and antimony rank fifth, coal and zinc rank eighth, and copper ranks ninth.

On September 17, the third day after the South African Mining Exhibition, we drove from Bloemfotein through Kimberly (where diamond mines were first discovered) to Postmasburg, a famous iron ore area in South Africa, in less than 3 hours. The city is a huge mining area. As soon as we entered Postmasburg, we could see iron mines of all sizes. The road was full of heavy trucks transporting iron ore, coming and going, which was very lively. Jeff, who accompanied me, drove a Toyota four-wheel drive off-road vehicle and introduced the famous iron ore companies that flashed before our eyes, such as PMG Mining, Kumba Mining, Khunani mining, Sishen Mining, Sudibeng Iron Ore...

After entering the gate of the mining area, after more than an hour of physical examination, we finally entered the largest iron ore mining area of ​​Kumba Mining, which has a civil airport. The mine manager David warmly received us. After fully armed, we boarded his pickup truck full of brown-red iron powder. According to him, the local iron ore rock composition coefficient is very complex. According to the hardness and abrasiveness of the ore, there are three levels of ore, IRON, BIS, and SHALE. IRON is very hard, and the first drilling of 5-10 meters is to change the drill and grind it. This allows our drill tool supplier to propose scientific designs and efficient solutions for specific rock formations in terms of head shape, alloy tooth shape, alloy tooth number, alloy tooth size, and trouser drill steel selection. A true drill tool sales expert does not sell drill tools, but can propose a set of scientific, efficient, low-cost, and continuous mining and rock drilling solutions to serve customers and create value for customers.

Real strength, win people's hearts, definitely close deals, and you are the big winner! So some people say: The best marketing is to get customers to come to you, for a long time. The best sales is to get customers to come back, for a long time.

5-6 years ago, MINCON, ROBIT, ATLAS, SANDVIK dominated the market for drilling tools. In recent years, the variety and scale of rock drilling tools imported from China have gradually increased. According to David, the mine manager, Mincon 6-inch down-the-hole hammer is 1000-12000 meters, 165mm, 171mm down-the-hole drill bit BIS is 400-500 meters, SHALE is 700-800 meters, and the monthly demand for drilling tools is 300,000 meters. The main submersible drilling rigs on site are Atlas Copco, D65, D60, SmartRock series, and FlexiRoc series.

David was inside the car, pointing to a huge FlexiROC D60/65 outside, a down-the-hole (DTH) drill rig, and praised it with great enthusiasm. This drill rig is suitable for large-scale production operations, pre-splitting blasting operations, reverse circulation drilling (RC) for grade control in open-pit mining operations, and large-scale quarry operations. FlexiROC D60 can be equipped with a series of Epiroc down-the-hole (DTH) hammers, which are well-known for their high performance in terms of speed, reliability and service life. Now they like and are used to using Chinese-made down-the-hole drilling tools. Local brands have basically replaced European and American brands, with faster footage speed, more accurate straight holes, less fuel consumption and low operating costs, saving the mine owner nearly 20-30% in comprehensive costs. When David, the mine manager, said he was happy, he gave a thumbs up and praised with a smile.

Not far away, we saw 3 PowerROC D55, a reliable hydraulic down-the-hole drill rig, which can achieve higher performance when equipped with Epiroc drilling tools, and is suitable for applications such as mining, quarrying and construction. Drilling diameter: 90-165mm, power head/down-the-hole impactor size: COP34, COP44, COP54, maximum drilling depth 30 meters. FlexiROC D50 uses domestically produced drill bits to maximize the working efficiency of down-the-hole drills, improve production efficiency, and reduce drilling costs.

Driving a pickup truck, we went to another mine site. There were more than 10 FlexiROC T45, PowerROC T50, and multi-functional top hammer drills on site. The mine manager introduced that it is a high-performance drill specially developed and designed for harsh and complex construction environments. It can also be used efficiently in South African iron ore mining and limestone mining. Drilling hole diameter: 89mm-140mm Drilling tools: T51-115mm, 127mm, 140mm drill head, MF quick-change drill T51, 3660 MM, 4300MM, rock drill and drill tail.

The PowerROC T50 drill rig is designed and manufactured by Epiroc and is extremely suitable for iron ore, diamond mines, limestone, cement, quarries and open-pit mines. Equipped with a high-power rock drill COP 3060: High drilling speed and high productivity. The sturdy telescopic arm is suitable for various harsh working environments and can be positioned quickly and accurately. Drilling diameter: 102-152mm, rock drill and drill tail COP3060, GT60 quick-change drill 6100mm, 4300mm, maximum drilling depth 35 meters. T50 will become the main model in our Postmasburg iron ore area. Previously, we mainly used Sandvik, but now we are also trying Chinese drill tools, and the quantity is increasing every year.

South Africa has a long history of mining, with a complete modern mining system and advanced mining and smelting technology, and is the mainstay of South Africa's economy. In 2012, the output value accounted for about 5.5% of the gross domestic product. Mineral products are an important part of exports, and in 2012, the export value of mineral products accounted for about 38% of the total export value. This is the stage for Chinese drillers to compete and a platform for dreams.

Through this field trip, we learned about the market size and market potential of South African mining machinery and equipment, drilling and blasting drills, which can be said to be unlimited business opportunities for us Chinese drillers. A considerable part of the rock drilling tools currently used in South Africa are imported from China. Through field comparison tests, ProDrill specially designed down-the-hole drilling tools for iron ore, diamond, and coal mines, and PDC composite drill bits have achieved at least 20% advantages over well-known foreign brands in terms of meters, footage, fuel consumption, etc., and the price is also competitive.

At the same time, in recent years, the number of Chinese-made rock drilling tools entering the South African mining industry through various channels has continued to increase, and the South African drill tool market has great potential. In recent years, as the comprehensive performance of Chinese-made drill tools is very close to the level of well-known foreign brands, the brand awareness of Chinese-made drill tools is also gradually increasing, thereby increasing the sales share of Chinese drill tool products in the South African market.

my country is now the world's second largest economy (GBD74 trillion yuan in 2016), a mining power, and also a drill tool power. With the continuous growth of my country's comprehensive economic strength and the continuous improvement of my country's drill tool manufacturing level, its quality level has approached or reached the world's advanced level.

Therefore, in the future, with the development of the African economy and the increase in demand for drill tools, my country's drill tool companies will increase their development efforts in Africa, increase market share, increase sales scale, and improve brand awareness, which is in line with the general trend of market development. Only by truly participating in Africa's economic construction can China's dream of becoming a strong country and brand in drill tools be realized as soon as possible.