By Sharyn Macnamara
Not only did Mining and Technical Exhibitions turn 30 this year, but the company also broke several of its own records for the number of exhibitors and visitors at some of the stand-out events that it has organised this year.
When you read this article, Mining and Technical Exhibitions (MTE) will have just returned from a trip over-border to Zambia – always an extremely popular trilogy tradeshow tour. This year the tour has auspiciously coincided with the company’s 30th birthday anniversary, which has added to the excitement. Throughout the year, however, 2023 has turned out to be one of the best years of
the company’s existence, according to Andrew Macnamara, operations director of MTE.
First quarter 2023
Andrew Macnamara, operations
director at MTE. Image supplied by ©Mining and Technical Exhibitions
The first two months of the 2023 MTE calendar indicated what was to lie ahead with both a ‘local is lekker’ flavour and schedule for the successful over-border tech tradeshows in February and March.
The Cullinan Expo – an intimate show focused on diamonds and held on site at the Cullinan Mine – exceeded exhibitor expectations when it saw a fantastic turnout by both exhibitors and visitors, with a 30% increase in visitors.
The Cullinan local experience was followed in February by the very popular MTE trilogy tour in Botswana: the first stop was Letlhakane, followed by Palapye visit and ending in Jwaneng where diamond, copper, coal and power solutions were the order of the day for the business-friendly African country. These expos saw high levels of attendance from between 260 to 300+ visitors per expo, catered to by 53 exhibitors selected for the needs of the area.
Q1 ended on a particular high when the first record of the year was smashed at the Rustenburg show, which was the second of the local April combo shows catering to the needs of the burgeoning Bushveld Complex, which hosts more than half the world’s PGMs – platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium formed some two billion years ago to create the world’s largest layered intrusion. Here in the western limb of South Africa – the chrome and platinum belt saw another high impact combo showcase where on 18 and 20 April 2023, in Mooinooi and Rustenburg respectively – MTE, through its valued suppliers, offered ‘platinum’ opportunities to the operations in the areas to access some of the latest tech and innovation. MTE hosted more suppliers and visitors over a three-day period than it has ever done in the history of its thirty years in business. A total of over 700 mining professionals were engaged by over 58 and 134 suppliers at the two shows respectively.
Second quarter 2023
In Q2 the company’s single expos at Royal Bafokeng and Zondereinde (the deepest PGMs mine in the world, currently sinking No3 shaft) ran in the same vein with similar results. A total of over 68 suppliers networked with over 372 mining decision makers.
Commenting on MTE’s recent milestone, Andrew Macnamara, MTE operations director said, “The number of professionals reached, and the number of experts showcasing their products and services to the PGMs operations in South Africa, have almost doubled in a year. This bares testament to the growth and development in this commodity sector in South Africa currently, with the importance of PGMs in the energy transition driving global demand and the country’s critical role in supplying this demand.”
The MTE success in May was extended to Mpumalanga with the company’s well-known Emalahleni expo, which was delivered on 24 May to the coal and power sector, engaging 355 visitors through 88 suppliers.
June then saw MTE dock in Richards Bay where its ability to create expos tailored to the specific needs of operations in the area is showcased annually. The target market of this particular tradeshow includes the mining industry and smelters, the agricultural sector and sugar milling in Empangeni in particular, the Richards Bay harbour and coal terminal (the largest coal export facility in Africa) and the paper and pulp sector.
MTE then moved on to Phalaborwa on 22 June in Limpopo, which is home to numerous open pit and underground mines. Again, MTE customised its travelling exhibition to cater to the iron, copper and phosphate ore needs of the area, and here the team saw 284 visitors come to see the innovations of 31 exhibitors. Although this was a small and intimate expo targeting the specific needs of the Palabora Mine Company (PMC), Macnamara said , “The day was powered by overwhelming support from the PMC and Foskor operations. Visitors ranged from general managers, chief engineers, maintenance managers, engineering managers and smelter managers to mining and production managers, with lots of supervisory staff from all the disciplines too.”
The MTE Kathu trade show saw 115 exhibitors and just under 500 visitors on 20 July, while the Northern Cape expo-trilogy – with the company’s first-ever back-to-back shows without the customary day in between – saw 300 exhibitors deliver solutions to just under 1 000 visitors. This was yet another milestone in the company’s historical timeline. With a team of just ten, MTE managed to pull off three consecutive shows.
An aerial shot of the MTE 2023 Kathu trade show that hosted 115 exhibitors
and just under 500 visitors, while the Northern Cape expo-trilogy – with
the company’s first-ever back-to-back shows without the customary day in
between – saw 300 exhibitors deliver solutions to just under 1 000 visitors.
The next stop was Mponeng and Kusasalethu, where gold – “the old faithful” – was the major focus, followed by a highly successful visit to SAPPI Ngodwana, where the paper and pulp industry is pumping. Soon thereafter, MTE hit Steelpoort where over the past +20 years the company has annually answered the call of operations like Eastern Chrome Mines (ECM), Tubatse Ferrochrome, Lion Ferrochrome, Dwarsrivier Chrome Mine; Two Rivers Platinum; Thorncliffe Chrome Mine, Helena Chrome Mine; Magaren Chrome Mine; Mototolo Platinum Mines; Booysendal Platinum Mine; Mototolo Concentrator; Modikwa Platinum Mine; Marula Platinum Mine and TAS Samancor Smelter for new innovative solutions to assist in driving efficiency and productivity in an energy, logistics and water constrained economy – with the addition of illegal mining and security woes in the region adding more complexity to the situation. While one of the team’s newest interests in the area is the Steelpoortdrift (SPD) vanadium project, which is an openpit mining development by Vanadium Resources (formerly Tando Resources) and one of the biggest and highest-grade vanadium deposits in the world, the importance of this area mainly lies in its rich chrome base.
The company is currently (at the time of writing) stretching its muscle over-border once again, where Zambia will see MTE’s trilogy of expos within a single week, starting with the Kalumbila Expo on 18 September, stopping off at Solwezi on 20 September and ending the tour on 22 September in Kitwe.
The company will complete another four expos this year, closing off in November. With 2023 being such an extraordinary year to remember, it will be a hard act to follow, says Macnamara. If you would like to be part of the MTE action, watch this space as MTE launches its calendar, with additional highlights for 2024 .