Spanish technology company TORSA has launched its pan-African business hub in South Africa with intentions to drastically reduce mining incidents, and most importantly fatalities.
“The launch of TORSA’s office in Johannesburg is another step in our goal of taking our technology to all the main mining markets in the world, particularly Africa,” says Gabino de Diego, Director of Business Development at TORSA.
“South Africa is a very interesting market, not only because of its mining potential, but also because of its strategic role within the African continent, as well as its current commitment to apply technologies and procedures focused on increasing safety and productivity in mining operations.”
De Diego says that in addition to its South African launch, TORSA has its sights set on the Copperbelt region and other important markets including Botswana, Mozambique and Morocco for future African expansion.
“Our target is to offer the South African and African mining market the same successes we have achieved for our clients throughout Latin America.”
Most accidents on mines involve heavy equipment, vehicles and workers. This prompted the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to bring into law the Chapter 8 clauses of the Mine Health and Safety Act Regulations relating to Level 9 vehicle intervention for collision avoidance in trackless mobile machinery, both surface and underground.
Under this law, mobile machines must be fitted with technologies that automatically detect the presence of any pedestrian or other machine within its vicinity. In the event where no action is taken to prevent potential collision, further means shall be provided for the mobile machine to return to a safe speed after the brakes are automatically applied.
The company’s award-winning solutions, such as its High Precision Collision Avoidance System with Lidar3D and GPS technology (among other technologies) that offers centimetre precision and its unique Monitor Vibration System, has reduced human injury reports by 80 percent in a year.
“The best technology is not always the best solution if it is not implemented in coordination with partners and customers. With 25 years’ experience of which a decade is mining-specific, and accolades by some of the world’s leading mining companies – such as Glencore and BHP, both present in South Africa – our technology is unrivalled and has provided millions of hours of uninterrupted work in all type of mines globally,” says de Diego.
“Our experience in other areas, including distribution and renewable energy, brings technological developments that can benefit South Africa. In the field of distribution, Torsa works for the world’s leading distributors of medicines, like Alliance HealthCare, and in the renewable industry we have set up wind farms in Spain and Chile to provide energy to the equivalent of a city of half a million inhabitants with an investment of more than 300 million euros.”
