With West Africa’s mining industry undergoing significant transformation, Weir has established a robust presence of local expertise, capability, and capacity in the region to support customers’ growing needs for efficiency, sustainability, and technological integration.
According to Andrew Ayirebi, Weir’s Regional Manager for West Africa, “Weir has proactively invested in training and skills development to cultivate talent capable of meeting operational requirements in the region. This commitment guarantees seamless service delivery regardless of customer location.”
Developing local technical capabilities has become increasingly important as the region’s mining sector recognizes the necessity for local economic development and anticipates original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to operate in close proximity to their operations.
“In alignment with Weir’s global mindset and local execution philosophy, we prioritise workforce development, as our personnel are essential to delivering sustainable value,” Ayirebi says. “Our operations in Ghana and Senegal are managed entirely by local teams, with active operations in Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria.”
Weir delivers tailored solutions across a diverse range of commodities mined in West Africa, including gold, bauxite, iron ore, and lithium. The company is strategically moving towards configured-to-order (CTO) systems to further reduce lead times and enhance supply chain efficiency and stability.
“We work alongside customers throughout the mining lifecycle, supporting our sustainable mining and processing offerings with on-site services and rapid response times,” Ayirebi states. He highlights Weir’s value-add across various operational domains such as comminution, classification, slurry management, and dewatering.
“In comminution, grinding represents one of the most energy-intensive phases in mining,” he explains. “Our ENDURON® high-pressure grinding roll (HPGR) technology optimizes energy consumption in these applications, achieving up to 40% energy savings compared to conventional SAG mill technology.”
At Endeavour’s Lafigué open-pit gold mine in north-central Côte d’Ivoire, Weir deployed its HPGR technology to drive energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions while reducing grinding media usage. This implementation resulted in lower operating costs and consistent throughput, with the ENDURON HPGR attaining over 97% operational availability and enabling annual energy savings of $2.6 million, equating to the avoidance of 18,500 t/y of CO2 emissions.
Weir’s substantial investment in research and development further enhances its equipment portfolio. Technologies such as WRT® reduce energy consumption in WARMAN® pumping systems, while the GEHO® range of positive displacement pumps facilitates the transport of high-density slurries over long distances with minimal energy usage.
The company’s classification solutions promote optimal particle size distribution, maximizing downstream process efficiency. In addition, Weir leverages digital technologies—such as NEXT intelligent solutions—to provide real-time insights into equipment condition and performance.
“The acquisition of digital mining solutions leader Micromine earlier this year further bolsters our capacity to optimize customers’ operations,” Ayirebi adds.
Weir underscores a vision for mining that extends beyond mineral extraction to encompass safety, responsibility, and environmental sustainability. This approach remains particularly relevant in West Africa, where assisting customers in the efficient and sustainable delivery of natural resources is a strategic priority.
