SME NZ Times May 2008 - Society of Manufacturing Engineers

Page 4 May 2008
SME NEW ZEALAND
Unusual Export – Stemming Bucket
We all know the convenience of e-mail and using the Internet to buy off
the shelf products but to supply customized product you need to talk to
someone that understands what you need and knows how to supply it. A
recent example of this resulted in a sale of a IT38H Stemming Bucket to
a Egyptian Company that contacted Goughs Engineering Production Engineer
Andrew Gallington. The story started September 2005 with a UK
base machinery consultant that operated in Africa looking for a supplier
of a 980G Stemming Bucket who found a picture of a IT62G Stemming
Bucket on the Gough Engineering Web Site. A year later they were still
talking to Andrew but the machine was now a 966H. In the end the deal
went cold and the consultant moved to another UK Based Cat Dealer that
also specialized in Africa and then left, but not before passing on Andrew's
contact details and Goughs Engineering capability. A few more
deals later we found ourselves in the running for a IT38H Stemming
Bucket. Stemming buckets are used to back fill drilled holes that have
been filled with explosives. This reduces the energy from the blast finding
the easy way out back up the drilled hole. By using a wheel loader the
stemming bucket is both self loading and mobile. Another advantage of
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the system is that the bucket can be used for general work around the mine site as well the machine is
being able to use other work tools.
Drawing on our experience with the IT62G Stemming Bucket and feedback from our staff at Macrac's
Mine Andrew was able to reformat the IT62G design to suit the IT38H and produce a design within a
few days. Our ability to provide a
customized solution was made
possible by using our 3D Solid
Modeling CAD programme which
is able to use existing relationships
between the model and
drawings. This mean that we are
able to copy an existing file modify
the original parts and tidy up
the new working drawings in a
short space of time. We were
then able to offer the product in
its original format or if required
customize it again to suit the
customers application. The
bucket was sea freighted to Alexandria
and will then be transported
overland to the Sukari
gold mine which is located 15 km
west of the Red Sea coast in the
southern central Eastern Desert
of Egypt. Gold workings in this
area date from Pharaonic and Roman times, and British concerns mined parts of the deposit in the early
20th century. Production is expected to start in early 2008, the machine will be used for ancillary work
when not required to load blast holes with stemming.
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