News - Padley & Venables

Steve Harper (Head of Engineering) 25 years Service

12 November 2021/in News/by Marketing

Steve Foster retires after 46 years at P&V

29 October 2021/in News/by Marketing

Steve Foster retired from Padley & Venables last week after more than 46 years’ service, joining us in September 1975 as a ‘Craft Apprentice’.

After finishing his apprenticeship in 1978 he became a Setter in our now obsolete Coal Cutter Section.

In 1980 he became a Skilled Machinist in our also now obsolete, Percussive Bits section.

In 1987 he was promoted to Foreman in the General Machine Shop, over the years gaining experience in every department except the Carburiser.

In 2002 to Quality Manager Designate, naturally migrating to Padley & Venables Quality Manager.

Steve travelled internationally for the business to help our customers.

In the last few years Steve has reduced his working hours gradually but has been overseeing and bringing to fruition various projects including the purchase and installation of new plant and equipment.

Steve has been a great servant to the company, a fantastic colleague to work alongside and he will be greatly missed by us all!

We wish him well for a long, happy and fun filled retirement.

Mining World Ukraine 2021 Report

29 October 2021/in News/by Marketing

The Ukraine is one of the world’s most important mineral producing countries, in terms of both the range and size of its reserves.

Padley & Venables attended MiningWorld Ukraine 2021, which is the only international exhibition of equipment, special technology and technologies for extraction, enrichment and transportation of minerals. Leading foreign and national companies present their latest developments in equipment, special equipment and technology at the exhibition.

From October 5-7, 2021, the 6th edition of MiningWorld Ukraine was held again in the local Exhibition Center Kozak-Palace in Zaporizhzhia.

After setting up the stand on the previous day, it did not take long for the first visitors to arrive on the stand when the show opened. Maciej Borzestowski and Hans-Joachim Kopp greeted them and an interesting discussion started about the benefits of P&V’s Ninja bit, which was shown in the Ukraine for the first time.

P&V’s Ninja button bit is the perfect all round bit suitable for most hard rock, top hammer drilling applications and is available in bit sizes ranging from 48 to 64mm.

Many customers are already aware of the distinct angled face grooves and deeper lateral flushing flutes aid rock removal from the bit face, which increases drilling speed. The open face design of the bit allows rock to fall into the void between the three face tips before being crushed which adds directional stability and helps to create a straighter hole. This in turn reduces bending stresses on the rods, shanks and couplings thus reducing breakages and reducing overall drill steel consumption.

The straighter holes also reduce the need for costly secondary drilling and blasting which is often the case with deviating holes. These are important benefits for mine applications in the Ukraine where efficient drilling operations and tight cost control is paramount.

Throughout the first two days, we received a steady flow of visitors, who were very impressed with the product range P&V manufactures, including the heat treatment of the tools in their own deep pit furnaces, one of the largest in Europe with 7.5m depth.

On day 3, we welcomed student groups from Dnipro University of Technology, which was the first university in the region and is was founded over 100 years old, same as Padley & Venables.

The students picked up some valuable information on rock-drilling, demolition and contractors tool, which will hopefully help them with their studies. They also seemed to like our helium balloons!