Straining wire for cables– gold-platinum underground

Sibanye platinum mine in North West province of South Africa owned by Sibanye Still Water have changed the traditional method of straining wire for cables in 2016 to the Hilti solution using Hilti cordless power tools, inserts & anchors; they still use this method even today. We have summarized the application description, the challenge, the solution and the customer benefit below.

Application description “Straining wire for cables”

All electrical cables underground need to be suspended on the roof to keep them away from moving machinery to prevent damage

This is done by suspending a straining wire (steel rope) first, after which cables are attached to the straining wire

Eyebolt type anchors are used to suspend the straining wire from the roof

Depending on the mine standard, these anchors must be installed every 3-5 metres

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The “challenge”

Traditional methods of using mining eyebolts or roof-bolt-dome washers

Lack of technical information (load values) and quality control over standard anchors

Products used for these installations did not comply 100% with mining standards

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The “solution”

Complete Hilti cordless solution for drilling and bolting

Technical data sheets available with clear load capacity and testing procedures

On-site support

TE-CX drill bits and HSA anchor with eye-nut

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Customer “benefits”

Ease of installations for non-skilled labor

Speed on installation reducing the time of installation up to 50%

Smaller holes had to be drilled (35mm vs 10mm)

Reliable equipment inserts and consumables

No need to use rock drill operators for hole drilling

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