Indisensable at the coalface

Citumi, a major supplier of specialty industrial consumables to the civil, tunnelling and mining industries, has come a long way since the days when industrial hose and fittings and basic mining consumables were its core products.

John Kelly, the operations manager at Citumi, points to a photograph illustrating the gold feature in the last issue of Q&M magazine.

The picture was taken at the face of Newmont’s Favona underground mine in Waihi. A jumbo sits at the ready in front of a freshly blasted face and Kelly’s finger moves rapidly over the photo pointing out how much equipment has been supplied by his company.

“You will find many of our products in the majority of the civil, tunnelling and mining projects around New Zealand”, he says.

“The ventilation ducting and fans, the caplamps, helmets and specialty lighting, the industrial hoses and fittings, pumps and service lines, the self rescuers, right down to the safety products including the guys overalls.”

Citumi even supplied the ice machine, not in the picture, to keep the guys cool down there. “We not only supply, but we install commission and service a wide range of the products we represent.”

The company’s list of clients covers the A to Z of civil, tunnelling and mining in New Zealand – from Auckland, Huntly and Waihi in the North Island, to Westport, Reefton and Greymouth on the West Coast and as far south as Dunedin, Gore and Ohai in the South Island. Kelly concedes that he has to do a lot of travelling to keep up.

“We are involved with most civil, tunnelling and mining companies and we pride ourselves on always being available, urgent orders and breakdowns are often the name of the game as much as the larger projects,” he says.

The parent company, Hose Supplies, has grown with the expansion of the mining industry over the past two decades from its base in Mount Maunganui.

Hose Supplies is a division of the BGH Group, which also incorporates Bay Engineers Supplies and Maud Kirk Machinery.

“We simply outgrew the name Hose Supplies. It didn’t convey the complexity and comprehensive products and services we now supply and the decision was made to set up a specialist division ‘Citumi’ – a reference to being a major supplier of a diverse range of products and services to the civil tunnelling and mining industries.”

As the company has expanded, so has its inventory of specialty consumables including drilling consumables and equipment, ventilation ducting and air movement systems, industrial hose and fittings, communication systems and specialty lighting products to name a few.

Listed among its key product partners are companies such as DSI Dywidag, Becker, Alminco, Plasticoat, Whyte-Hall, Dixon Minsup and iconic Australian caplamp supplier Gilbert Gray & Co, the manufacturer of the famous Oldham Caplamps. These lamps have come a long way in recent years, with the latest D series caplamp featuring LED technology and advanced tracking capabilities. The new lamp also features reduced weight in both the headpiece and the battery. With a three-watt rating, as opposed to the standard one-watt of many of its competitors, the LED life is up to 15 times longer than that of a standard halogen bulb lamp.

Kelly says he is excited about working with companies such as Alminco and Becker Mining systems. Alminco is an Australian OEM specializing in underground drilling, bolting and bracing solutions, with a heritage that extends over 30 years servicing the Australian mining industry, as well as international markets. Alminco’s quality brands include the Cub Borer, the Gopher and the Bull Ant – all reliable mining solutions.

Becker Mining systems offers advanced communication, automation, tagging and tracking systems and Citumi says it is proud to announce the release of Becker’s new UHF and VHF two-way radios that enable miners to communicate underground either directly (point-to-point), or over its already approved leaky feeder system. The radios provide voice communication and have a number of features, such as messaging, emergency calls, mandown and multiple channel support.

“This is an exciting time for us and the feedback from our customers has been very positive, our team is committed and they don’t mind getting their hands dirty.”