Engineering News

Sperosens was founded in 1988 by four electrical engineers as an instrumentation consulting business. The company’s first significant commercial contract was secured in 1990 to design and install a carbon monoxide gas monitoring system on a mine in KwaZulu-Natal.

The next major milestone was achieved in 1995 when Sperosens developed an underground fire detection system. This initiative led to the launch of the SL2000 Fire Detection system in 1997. An improved version, SL2010, is now “the de facto fire system in all South African deep, hard-rock mines”.

In the period from 1998 to 2005, Sperosens established itself as a major player in the underground telemetry market by capturing more than 80% of that market.

Fire detection naturally led to Sperosens entering the suppression market in the mining industry. The company’s suppression solutions grew from the initial standalone CAFF solutions to much larger deluge systems with ring mains, water reservoirs and pumps as a standard part of its capabilities.

The company’s most recent initiative is a product called Verifi, which is a management and technology toolkit designed to facilitate the real-time management of distributed fire infrastructures. The cloud-based platform enables full visibility of all fire infrastructure-related activities and addresses clients’ cost, compliance, integration and management challenges.

Sperosens now stands as a market leader, providing innovative special risk fire and telemetry solutions to the African mining market, through its in-house engineering capacity, its products, project implementation and support services, continuous monitoring, and integrated fire system management tools.

“At Sperosens, we have a long-standing record of providing world-class environmental monitoring, fire detection and fire suppression to various industries. Our cutting-edge detection and suppression technologies ensure safe working and operational conditions, even in harsh environments,” said Kench.

He thanked customers for their trust, collaboration, and partnerships, Sperosens’ 450 employees for their commitment,and suppliers for their expertise and support.

“To be in business for 35 years, we recognise the importance of establishing collaborative partnerships that bring extraordinary value to both Sperosens and our customers. We thank our partners for their commitment, expertise and support.

“We are continuously finding new ways to solve our clients’ toughest challenges. To bring them additional value and security. It is a quality that has marked our growth and evolution as a company for the last 35 years. And it is one that will continue to carry us forward into the future,” Kench concluded.