SMT Scharf sees application for monorail technology in hard rock mines
An SMT Scharf monorail system allows for declines or ramps to be built using steeper gradients and smaller openings.
The recent $8 million acquisition of mobile equipment manufacturer RDH Mining of Alban, Ontario, 45 kilometres south of Sudbury, by SMT Scharf of Germany, creates a company with a broad range of rail and rubber tire transportation solutions.
Based in Hamm, Germany, 40 kilometres northeast of Dortmund, SMT Scharf was founded in 1941 to serve the underground transportation needs of the country’s coal mining industry.
At the time, Germany had hundreds of coal mines, said CEO Joachim Theiss in an interview with Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal. “We developed a monorail solution suspended from the ceiling to make it independent of floor conditions.”
The mines were quite deep and were….. read full article