Schlam, a company renowned for making mining equipment more productive, is celebrating a year of growth and milestones.
Schlam is a highly regarded name in the mining industry, and for good reason.
The company’s Hercules dump bodies and Barracuda mining buckets are providing miners all over the country with production advantages, including asset longevity, greater payload efficiencies, and reduced emissions.
Schlam seems to go from strength to strength each year, but 2024 has been a particular highlight for the company.
In April, Schlam produced its 2000th Hercules dump body. This was swiftly followed in May by another landmark: the production of its 100th Barracuda mining bucket in Waroona – a regional town located 100km south of Perth.
But the Barracuda narrative goes beyond milestones; it’s about a regional business delivering top-quality mining attachments to leading mine sites across Australia.
Excellence forged in regional WA
The history of Schlam dates back to 1996, when it was established as Schlam Welding.
Founder Barry Schlam saw a need for high-quality precision welding and fabrication services in the south-west industrial sector of Western Australia. Schlam Welding quickly established a reputation for outstanding quality and service throughout the area, manufacturing a range of bespoke products for mining and agricultural clients in the region. This is where the first Schlam bucket was built.
Image: Schlam
In 2010, Barry’s son Ryan Schlam took the reins and formed Schlam Engineering to focus on providing maintenance and bucket refurbishment services for local mine sites in WA.
In the same year, Schlam’s Waroona fabrication facility was built on the edge of the town where Barracuda buckets continue to be manufactured today.
With a reputation for reliability, honesty, and efficiency, Schlam quickly established itself as a key engineering firm in the region and beyond, leading to a growth in employees and manufacturing capabilities.
By 2015, Schlam had broadened its engineering focus to keep pace with industry trends, leading to the acquisition of DT HiLoad in 2016 and the manufacture of dump bodies.
Fuelled by the success of its Hercules dump bodies, and led by Ryan Schlam’s vision, the company commenced the development of its own mining bucket to complement the Hercules dump body.
In July 2017, Schlam built its first Barracuda mining bucket for an Australian mining contractor. The bucket’s performance impressed mining clients, leading to widespread adoption by major mining operations across WA.
Barracuda buckets are now used on leading excavators and loaders operating on bauxite, iron ore, nickel and gold mines for a range of mining operators.
Image: Schlam
“We are proud of our Waroona team for their dedication and commitment, and for achieving this historical company milestone,” Schlam Payload Asia-Pacific managing director Hendrik Mueller said.
“It’s a great example of a regional business growing a brand that is respected in the mining industry.”
The Schlam Waroona team consists of around 40 people who reside in the town and the surrounding Peel region.
In addition to providing employment opportunities, Schlam actively supports various community groups and events in the region.
“This is a testament to Schlam’s commitment to ‘supporting the communities in which we live and work’,” Mueller said.
Waroona branch manager Sheree Clancy has thrived in her mining manufacturing career at Schlam for over a decade. She credits the company’s investment in nurturing local talent as an important part of the company’s growth in the region.
“When you live in a regional town, opportunities for career development are limited,” Clancy said. “We support our team to grow together, and to develop their skills with a leading manufacturer, without having to move to the city.”
Engineered to increase payload efficiencies
With the Barracuda range of buckets already becoming popular among miners, Schlam has embarked on developing a new mining bucket to offer additional benefits to miners.
“When it comes to product development, we focus on the principle of developing product solutions for miners, with miners,” Mueller said. “We worked with some of the leading miners, listened to their needs, and developed the Barracuda T2.”
The key feature of the Barracuda T2 is its liner-less replaceable lower shell, which can be replaced between major rebuilds. This enables miners to save asset downtime and subsequently increase payload productivity.
Image: Schlam
The replaceable lower shell also eliminates the requirement for heel shrouds and wear packages. This feature not only makes the T2 up to 15 per cent lighter than standard mining bucket products, but also eliminates the hazard of stored energy associated with rolled wear components.
Like its Hercules cousin, each T2 bucket is specifically designed for a customer’s site conditions, with variable thickness lower floor and side wall options available.
The first T2 was released in 2022, entering service on a major iron ore mine in the Pilbara. That first unit, with a payload capacity of 22m3, has since recorded over 10,000 hours of operation, and still has the original lower shell.
With a strong customer demand, there are over 30 T2 buckets operating on major mines across Australia.
This feature appeared in the July 2024 issue of Australian Mining.
