A joint venture between special and custom-made mobile equipment engineering, manufacturing and servicing firm Hencon and tunnel support liner materials manufacturer and specialist Altecrete has led to the launch of a self-propelled, underground articulated, all-wheel-drive, volumetric concrete-mixing vehicle.

The Hencon Altecreter, used for the application of a super-strong wetcrete called Minecrete S³, was the outcome of the successful collaboration between the companies to bring the mining industry a solution for high-volume, on-demand, mechanised batch mixing and the delivery of sprayed concrete for structural tunnel support.

South African Mining and Smelting Solutions will be providing full after-sales support, training and maintenance in South Africa for the machine, which is used for the application of the super-strong Minecrete.

“The new Hencon Altecreter heralds a new era of efficiency in the mining industry. It boasts a revolutionary, innovative design for high-volume concrete underground batch mixing in the mechanised mining industry,” Hencon Mining CEO Karel Gerretsen and Altecrete CEO Gavin Borejszo outlined during the launch of the machine in August.

“The Hencon Altecreter’s cost saving on-demand batch-mixing and pumping is a mining industry first, thanks to the innovative design and equipment allowing for reliable and cost-effective operations.”

According to the companies, using the Hencon Altecreter may reduce material handling and logistics underground by up to 64% and delivers, on average, a 23% to 29% saving on operating expenditure.

It offers a 50% cost saving on secondary structural support material requirement, owing to the high bond, compressive, shear and tensile mechanical strengths.

The Hencon Altecreter delivers an output of zero to 12 m3 per hour and can operate at a use of 80% with an availability of over 89%, depending on the level of maintenance.

Further, it has a life cycle of 15 000 hours of operation on engine axles, gearbox, propshafts and brakes.

Faster Advances Minecrete’s fast application and setting times provide production opportunities for faster advances, with blasting able to start two hours after spraying, depending on conditions and temperatures, as well as increased blasting cycles or removing any support backlog that might exist.

Minecrete S3 reaches 70% of its full strength within 24 hours.

The vehicle, which is fully compliant with the Mine Health and Safety Act, features, as standard, fire suppression, pedestrian detection and oncoming vehicle detection systems, with extra focus placed on safety with protected rotating and pinch point parts, added emergency stops in-cabin and at the rear, and approved rollover protection system and falling object protection structures.

It is also equipped with failsafe brakes, as well as a hydrostatic and automatic hydrodynamic brake system for additional safety.

The companies aim to start manufacturing the Hencon Altecreter in South Africa, with preparations under way to extend existing facilities to incorporate the new machine.