Fires present a real and serious threat to mining operations and the use of effective design and operational procedures is essential, however, an effective fire suppression system ensures a further level of protection that helps to minimise fire risks.

All diesel-engine operated vehicles and machinery are susceptible to fires because of the presence of heat, rapid airflow and flammable fluids and a small fire in a mine can spread quickly, leading to catastrophic results including loss of life as well as exorbitant costs linked to damages and downtime.

FOGMAKER South Africa asserts that its smart, efficient and cost-effective fire-suppression solutions are ideally suited to mining environments, and it will be showcasing its range of existing and new products and technologies to the mining industry at Electra Mining Africa 2022.

“Alongside our proven Swedish-manufactured FOGMAKER water-mist fire suppression system, this year’s show will also see the unveiling of Q-TEC Fire’s foam fire suppression solution into our product portfolio,” says FOGMAKER South Africa MD John Russell.  

The company says that its low-weight, low-maintenance FOGMAKER system uses water in the form of high-pressure mist of 50-micron droplets to effectively suppress a fire in seconds. The system combines water with 3% aqueous film forming foam, or AFFF,  to quell the three components of the so-called ‘fire triangle’, namely heat, oxygen and fuel.  

The FOGMAKER system is designed to be compact and installed in any orientation, making it particularly suited for machines where space to mount a storage cylinder is limited, as is the case with most mobile mining equipment. FOGMAKER systems are manufactured according to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards and have been certified to meet global fire suppression standards.                                                                                                                                                                                                               

The company has recently expanded into providing solutions for very large mobile equipment and fixed plants with the introduction of the Q-TEC Fire Services foam fire suppression system, which uses F3 fluorine free foam agent that is compliant with all US Environmental Protection Agency laws and is said to offer the most advanced foam-spray fire suppression systems to the mining industry.  The FOGMAKER and Q-TEC fire suppression systems are engineered to be suitable for the military, marine, ports and harbour, airport, bus and coach and forestry sectors. “Our offering includes rent-own financing options to facilitate the protection of large fleets where the upfront costs are normally restrictive,” adds Russell.

FOGMAKER South Africa is a subsidiary of GiGi Investments and will be exhibiting at Electra Mining with sister companies Integrated Air Solutions, Integrated Pump Technology and Integrated Pump Rental.