Rope access service and equipment provider Skyriders is, to a large extent, immune to the current commodities price slump, as inspection and maintenance is an essential part of keeping sites operational, notes marketing manager Mike Zinn.

However, he adds that “maintenance budgets are being trimmed to keep in line with the tough global economic times”, owing to the instability of commodities prices causing “major problems” in the mining industry.

In some cases, nonessential maintenance is put on the back burner for when the next set of maintenance instructions is scheduled for review, although essential and safety specific maintenance jobs continue to be carried out.

Zinn highlights that offering clients a more affordable means of completing essential maintenance ensures that the company keeps a strong mining client base, despite the cash flow issues in the industry.

In line with this, he enthuses that there is great potential, owing to the weakened value of the rand, for development in countries north of South Africa, where many mines are owned by Australian, Canadian or European companies. Skyriders is, therefore, aiming to increase its capacity in the mining sector in the long term and states that it will be able to supply maintenance services for a fraction of the cost of its US or Australian competitors.

Mine maintenance often requires skilled personnel to gain access to hard-to-reach spaces, and the cost of gaining access to these areas is often disproportionate to the scope of work being carried out, Zinn tells Mining Weekly.

He estimates that mines use a considerable percentage of their maintenance budget just to enable repair crews access to the components that need maintenance.

In addition, mines often have a very small window in which to complete maintenance and traditional means of access to problem areas can take far longer than the time available.

Zinn explains that the equipment employed by rope access technicians drastically reduces set-up time. Starting maintenance work using rope access equipment involves the completion of a risk assessment and rigging ropes and an access system. The technicians are then able to climb up or abseil down the installed rope system while undertaking maintenance tasks.

Skyriders’ service offering is not limited to the supply of rope access technicians; it also includes work-at-height safety equipment, such as harnesses, connectors, shock-absorbing lanyards, special helmets and permanent or temporary life lines, as well as standby emergency rescue services.

Zinn explains that, in cases where the required maintenance is above the skills level of the company’s rope access technicians, it provides safety equipment, rope and access rigging, as well as emergency rescue support, to enable technicians, who might not be rope access qualified, to perform the necessary maintenance safely and efficiently.

He elaborates that, for a project in which Skyriders was involved in December 2015, an engineer was required to access a 1-km-long incline shaft within a hydro pumped storage scheme. Skyriders set up an access system using work-at-height equipment to enable the engineer to access the shaft, thus negating the need to put the technician through rope access training.

In addition to the service contracts the company has established with mining houses, such as Australian-owned gold producer Resolute Mining, in West Africa, and the Phalaborwa Mining Company, in Limpopo, South Africa, Skyriders’ major clients are currently large power producers and petrochemicals plants. Zinn says the maintenance activities at such plants are ongoing and that their maintenance schedules are constantly being expanded.

The company’s medium-term goal is to continue offering clients a high-quality service that saves them time and money, with Zinn stressing that, during the current global economic downturn, remaining stable is the company’s primary objective.