TFUCHS Lubricants South Africa’s Emalahleni branch in Mpumalanga offers a dedicated pumping service to major coal mine customers to keep essential equipment such as draglines and excavators running at all times.
Branch manager Stefan Venter explains that two FUCHS trucks are on standby to supply product to the lube tanks of a dragline with a capacity of 3,000 kg. “It’s a closed-loop system as we don’t have any contamination issues to open a drum. We simply use quick couplers to connect and pump the product, emptying a 1,200kg bulk container at a time. It’s a value-added service that we offer to the coal mining industry in the region,” says Venter.
“South Africa’s continued reliance on fossil fuels for power generation continues to present opportunities as new coal mines open.” Stefan Venter, Branch Manager, Emalahleni, FUCHS Lubricants South Africa
FUCHS also has field service technicians on site at most of its major mining customers, who monitor the mine’s lubrication system, test it and carry out fault finding, reporting and any necessary repairs. They are also responsible for ensuring the availability of lubricant at all times, as a non-operational dragline has a major impact on productivity.
Venter says the coal mining industry has seen a 10% to 15% decline over the past two years in line with the overall downturn in the global mining industry. However, South Africa’s continued reliance on fossil fuels for power generation continues to present opportunities as new coal mines are opened, particularly on the underground side. “In terms of overall production, I would say the coal mining industry is down from where it used to be.”
The Emalahleni branch also supplies the well-known FUCHS automotive lubricants and is involved in niche sectors such as foundries, machine tools, chrome mining and power generation. The main products supplied to the coal mining industry are specialist high performance products specifically formulated for large machines such as draglines, as well as greases for pins and bushings, open gears, bearings and rope dressings. “That’s 60% to 80% of our overall business,” says Venter. Smaller volume products include gearbox, hydraulic and compressor oils.
Venter joined FUCHS legacy company Lubritene in 1999 as a service technician and was appointed Emalahleni branch manager in 2005. Having been at the helm for an amazing 18 years, he has seen the branch grow from humble beginnings in Middelburg to a dedicated venue in Emalahleni.
In 2020, the branch moved to a prime location on Watermeyer Street in the Klipfontein area of Emalahleni, with a 650m2 warehouse and 100m2 of office space. Venter oversees a team of 20, including two key account managers and four to eight service technicians.
