JMS Mining Services Pvt Ltd, formerly known as Joy Mining Services India Pvt Ltd, originated as the mining services arm of Joy Global in India. JMS is a Simplex Infrastructures Ltd Group company, headquartered in Kolkata. Joy Global is a renowned manufacturer of mining equipment and has proven record on productivity, safety, operating costless downtime, easy availability of spares, with over 6,000 continuous miners shipped since 1948. Here, Satya Narayan Ghosh, Chief Engineer at JMS shares his views on the driving factors in the procurement of mining equipment.

Continuous miner technology for coal production
According to Ghosh, for underground coal mining, equipment are being marketed from China in the areas of Mining infrastructure development, shaft sinking road header for tunnel or incline drivage, and high capacity long wall systems.

He observed that the cost of mining equipment from China is cheaper than equipment of other western countries that were playing major role in the past.

In the case of mining equipment, the technology depends on the mining operations prevailing in a country. In India, open cast mining is much more popular than underground mining. Hence for the equipment required for open cast mining like dumpers, dozers, shovels, draglines and excavators. Talking about the expertise of Indian mining equipment manufacturers, Ghosh said, “The level of technology of the equipment manufactured (in India) is at par with international standards except with respect to usage of electronic and programmable logic controls, hydraulic systems and engines adhering to the latest emission norms.”

He added, “Long wall mining technology was introduced with the help of the UK and Russia in some of the coalfields. During that period some of the PSUs like MAMC and Jessop had imported technology from the UK to manufacture this equipment. However, long wall mining was not given importance by the major coal  companies and due to lack of demand, both the companies suffered losses and today there are no companies in India who have the technology for long wall mining equipment.”

As far as underground mining is concerned, in India the production technology is not yet fully mechanised, observed Ghosh. There are three methodologies of production namely bord and pillar mining by load haul dumper and side discharge loader; long wall mining; and  development and depillaring by continuous miner technology.

The equipment required for bord and pillar mining namely load haul dumpers and side discharge loaders are being manufactured in India.

“Introduction of continuous miner technology for coal production by Indian coal companies as risk-gain sharing model and hiring mode is the current trend,” said Ghosh while commenting on the current trends in procurement of mining equipment.

Major factors in decision making
Before making decision on buying of mining equipment, a buyer need to consider the basic factors such as product quality or reliability, capital cost and operating cost, easy availability of replacement spares, ease of operation, and safety features. However, Ghosh feels, “Capital and operation cost for the total period of operation per tonne of coal production is the main factor in decision making.”

Driving factors in procurement decision making
According to Ghosh, apart from pricing, productivity, durability, following are driving the procurement decision making:
• Easy availability of replacement spares
• Safety features
• Operational advantages and acceptability
• Past performance of the suppliers for each equipment type.

Compare cost of hiring with capital cost
When asked about the factors a buyer should consider while determining whether to rent or buy mining equipment, Ghosh recommended, a buyer need to compare cost of hiring for the operating period with the capital cost of the said equipment. How extensively he is planning to use the mining equipment. “If a company is involved in several mining projects and needs the equipment every day, buying mining equipment might be the right decision since the operating costs will be lower. However, if a buyer is involved in small mining projects, renting is the best thing for him,” he said.

Mining equipment from JMS
Stating on why a buyer should go for mining equipment offered by JMS, Ghosh said, “Joy leads the mining industry with innovations that increase productivity and improve operator safety, innovations such as air scrubbers, wet head, cutter head drums, AC traction motors, noise reducing conveyor systems, and hydraulics. All are industry firsts from Joy mining machinery; the world leader in underground mining innovations. It incorporates the latest sound abatement technologies to reduce sound output while improving maintainability. Underground results show a 45 per cent and 65 per cent noise exposure reduction for the operator when compared to a standard machine. It has lower repair costs also.”
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Capital and operation cost for the total period of operation per tonne of coal production is the main factor in decision making.

Satya Narayan Ghosh, Chief Engineer, JMS Mining Services Pvt Ltd