In heavy-duty underground mining, equipment failure isn't just an inconvenience—it’s an inevitable operational, financial, and life-threatening hazard. Every haulage system, rigging sling, and safety restraint depends fundamentally on structural integrity under load. Yet, driven by short-term procurement savings, some operations take a gamble by sourcing sub-standard, imported mining chain. To evaluate whether these imported alternatives meet safety expectations, our McKinnon

April 2026 There is a growing concern within the South African market regarding the supply of chain products. We have recently observed a significant increase in non-conforming Grade 3 and Grade 5 chain being sold under the pretence of being fully compliant and certified with SANS 251specification. Alarmingly, the number of incidents involving failures of these non-compliant chains is rising rapidly. Through ongoing investigations, we have confirmed that some of these failure