SEW-EURODRIVE powers ahead as a driving force in African mining
Powering Africa’s mining operations with engineered drive train solutions, local expertise, and long-term commitment
SEW-EURODRIVE continues to strengthen its position as a leading partner to Africa’s mining industry, delivering robust, commodity-specific power pack and drive train solutions that support some of the continent’s most demanding mining operations.
With a deliberate, customer-centric strategy and decades of on-the-ground experience, the company has become synonymous with reliability, innovation, and long-term support in mining environments.
According to National Sales and Marketing Manager Jonathan McKey, the company’s mining journey began more than two decades ago and has since evolved into a continent-wide footprint spanning multiple mineral commodities.
“Twenty years ago, we secured our first major power pack contract for a platinum mine in Limpopo,” McKey recalls. “That project marked the beginning of our deep involvement in mining and today our gearboxes, motors and coupling combinations are operating in almost every mining environment across the continent.”
From platinum and gold to coal, copper, and chrome, SEW-EURODRIVE’s engineered drive train systems have become integral to mission-critical applications. This success is rooted not only in technical excellence, but in a systematic approach that prioritises understanding customer needs and building sustainable support ecosystems around every solution.
“As in every industry we serve, the success of our power packs lies in a systematic responsible approach that begins with a clear understanding of what the customer really needs,” McKey explains. “We don’t just develop application-specific solutions – we take it a step further by building a sustainable cost-effective supply chain and long-term support ecosystem to back those solutions well into the future.”
A step-by-step strategy built for long-term mining success
SEW-EURODRIVE’s expansion into mining has been anything but accidental. Each new commodity segment has been approached with careful planning, technical evaluation, and a commitment to long-term sustainability.
“We prioritise focus,” says McKey. “It is about understanding the landscape before we enter – not just from a technical standpoint, but also from a long-term support and capacity perspective.”
The company’s early work in platinum mining laid the foundation for this strategy, requiring detailed insight into gear ratios, power demands, and operating velocities.
“It was vital to understand the gear ratios, power requirements and velocities commonly used in platinum operations,” explains McKey. “That insight allowed us to rapidly grow our footprint in that segment expanding into neighbouring operations and quickly growing our customer base. From there, we moved into chrome mining.”
As SEW-EURODRIVE expanded into chrome and later coal mining, it adapted its designs to suit each environment, from standardised gear ratios in chrome to lighter materials and faster conveyor speeds in coal. This adaptability has positioned the company as a dominant supplier of industrial gearbox solutions across Africa.
“Today, we are arguably the dominant force in mining across Africa when it comes to industrial gearbox solutions,” McKey says. “That position wasn’t built overnight.”
A key enabler of this growth has been sustained local investment. Beginning with local assembly in Nelspruit in 2006, SEW-EURODRIVE expanded production and warehousing at its Aeroton headquarters in Johannesburg, where a Phase 2 expansion is now nearing completion.
Equally important has been the company’s emphasis on aftersales service and technical support.
“We knew early on that delivering quality products wasn’t enough – we had to match that with world class aftersales service,” McKey says.
Today, SEW-EURODRIVE is also helping mining customers transition toward smarter, more flexible operations through automation and digital control technologies.
“The traditional combination of motor, gearbox and fluid coupling for controlled start-up is evolving,” McKey notes. “Now, customers want flexible drive systems with precise speed control and the ability to adjust production rates on demand – and our technology is delivering that.”
Beyond gearmotors, the company also supplies full open gearing solutions for mills and other critical mining applications, offering fast, reliable drop-in replacements that minimise downtime and enhance operational continuity.
