The first sale of ACTOM MV Switchgear’s new SBV4XE switchgear was made by the division’s Carletonville branch in mid-2019 following the introduction into the market of the state-of-the-art air-insulated range at the reputable Electra Mining Africa exhibition in Johannesburg in September 2018.
The purchaser was Harmony Doorn-kop Gold Mine near Randfontein, which placed an order for an eight-panel 11kV SBV4XE board to replace an old eight-panel board comprising SBV2 switchgear originally manufactured and supplied several decades ago by ACTOM MV Switchgear for one of the mine’s ventilation shafts.
Members of MV Switchgear’s Carletonville branch installation team install cabling for the new SBV4XE switchgear board for a ventilation shaft at Harmony Doornkop Gold Mine.
“MV Switchgear’s introduction of the new SBV4XE switchgear provided the mine with the opportunity it was looking for to upgrade the switchgear serving the ventilation shaft,” explained Jacques Smith, Manager of the Carletonville branch.
“Not only had the mine already been experiencing difficulties finding spare parts for the old switchboard since the discontinuation of production of SBV2 switchgear several years ago, but it had also made a decision recently to install an extra feature in the ventilation shaft that made it essential to have a completely reliable switchgear board in place.
“The new feature is an emergency escape route in the vent shaft to permit mine personnel to exit the mine quickly and easily in the event of a system failure or accident underground,” Jacques said.
Upon completion of production, senior technical personnel from the mine visited MV Switchgear’s factory at Knights at the end of July to witness factory acceptance tests of the panels, which were delivered in early-August and installed and commissioned in October.
“The mine also ordered additional circuit breakers and a spare protection relay as backup to ensure that if any of the existing units failed they could be replaced without delay,” Jacques pointed out.