Rebuilding heavy mining equipment requires precision, technical skill, and deep mechanical understanding. Since joining Sandvik as an apprentice in 2012 and qualifying as a Class 1 Millwright in 2016, this specialised auto-electrician has built a career restoring complex machines such as load haul dumpers (LHDs), dump trucks, and drill rigs at the company’s Harare workshop.
In this interview, Progress Marikano shares insights into the process of rebuilding mining machinery and reflects on her journey in the trades while balancing a demanding technical career with family life as a wife and mother.
Progress, your journey from a 2012 apprentice to a specialised auto-electrician is impressive. What made you choose a trade like this, and what was the most important lesson you learned during those four years of training that still guides your work today?
I have always been fascinated by how complex systems work together to form a unit. Before my apprenticeship, I was a medical student, but when I could not finish the course, I saw being a millwright as very similar to medicine. Both investigate symptoms, run tests, rule out possibilities, and identify root causes. They both rely on observation, logic, and experience. You take something broken and make it whole again. They are different trades, yet almost identical.
A millwright is a jack of all trades. During training, you gain skills in automotive engineering, electrical, mechanical fitting, welding, hydraulics, and fitting and turning. The most important lesson I learnt is to look at a machine as a whole. The electrical does not work separately, and the hydraulic does not work separately. They work together towards a common cause; it is electro-hydraulic.
You are a qualified Class 1 Millwright and a specialised auto-electrician. That combination is powerful but rare. How did you decide to layer the electrical specialisation on top of your mechanical foundation, and where do you see the biggest overlap or conflict between the two in your daily work?
It was actually by default. Back then, Sandvik only trained millwrights, and after qualifying, the ladies would automatically work as auto-electricians, whilst the men became diesel plant fitters.
The biggest overlap is in the fact that our machines are not purely electrical or hydraulic. They are electro-hydraulically controlled. The mechanical and electrical systems are completely intertwined.
I would say the biggest conflict is that the mechanical side is mostly about power and heavy lifting, and it is mostly dirty, whereas the electrical side is mostly about precision, cleanliness, and is delicate. The challenge becomes managing the two so that they can co-exist in a machine regardless of their differences.
You describe your work as a “transformation process”, taking an ageing, stripped machine and bringing it back to life. Can you walk me through the most critical moment in that process? Is it the first start-up, or is there another step earlier on where your expertise truly determines whether the rebuild will be a success or failure?
The most critical moment is the routing of cables and the wiring of electrical components. If a cable is laid down too close to a heat source or wired incorrectly, that machine is a walking failure. It might fail to start, or if it does, it will fail within a short period of time in the mines.
When you strip a machine down to the bare frame and begin rebuilding, you’re essentially working with a blank canvas, but the machine’s history is still there. How do you identify and address the hidden issues, the lingering electrical or hydraulic problems that plagued the machine before it was stripped— that aren’t visible on a parts list or a schematic?
The condition of the frame itself, hydraulic hoses, electrical cables, and panels does tell a story even after having been stripped off a machine. Burnt or partly burnt cables reflect overheating due to nearby heat sources or high currents being drawn. Corroded or sulphated cable terminations in electrical panels show that water was able to enter the panels, either due to worn-out seals or panel covers left incompletely closed.
Worn-out cables or hoses with rub marks may indicate that they were not properly secured. All these cannot be identified by checking parts manuals or schematic diagrams, but by visual inspections. They can be rectified during the rebuild process and through notifying those at the mines what to be on the lookout for.
Your role requires you to troubleshoot complex issues where electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical systems intersect. Describe a recent, particularly stubborn fault you encountered. Where did the problem manifest, and how did you trace it back to its root cause?
A drill rig’s power pack that was working perfectly suddenly began tripping when attempting to start it up. There were one or two hydraulic valves whose pressure settings had been recently adjusted. Initially, we thought that was the cause and reduced the pressures. We were able to start the motor and attempted to return the valve settings to where they were initially, but during the process, the power pack would just cut off by itself.
We tested the control circuit, and it was working perfectly. After several tests and troubleshooting, we later identified an intermittent contact failure. The power circuit would only complete about half the time the contactor was pulled in.
After a rebuild, you conduct exhaustive functional testing to ensure a machine is “site ready.” What is the one test you personally never skip or delegate, and what is the worst thing that can happen if a machine goes to the site before that test is done perfectly?
The one test I usually do personally is the dead short check done before the initial start-up of the machine. A direct short results in high currents being drawn that can melt cables, cause battery terminal welding, battery explosions, or fires.
Beyond rebuilding, you’re also responsible for the workshop’s electrical maintenance and safety. How does your perspective as someone who rebuilds machines change how you approach maintaining the facility that supports that work?
The workshop should be treated as the ultimate machine. A clean, electrically stable, and organised facility is the foundation of a world-class rebuild. If the workshop is running perfectly, the machine leaving it will too.
You work with machines that are constantly evolving with new technology. How do you stay ahead of the curve, and what is the biggest challenge you face in troubleshooting a brand-new system versus one from ten years ago?
In a company like Sandvik, technology moves very fast, and I treat a new machine’s manual as a textbook. Sandvik offers internal technical training and digital diagnostic platforms, which keep us ahead. Older machine troubleshooting was straightforward, physical, and predictable.
However, new systems are not so straightforward because they are software-driven through the use of PLCs, electrical modules, and CAN bus systems. Ten years ago, machines were fixed with our hands, and today we fix them with our minds.
You are a wife and a mother working in a highly technical, demanding trade. What has that journey been like, and what advice would you give to a young woman today who is considering a career in the trades but might be unsure if she fits the mould?
My journey has been one of constant evolution. Beginning as a young woman, often the only female in the room, I had to deal with the absence of female facilities like change houses and PPE not designed for women. The industry was not properly equipped to accommodate females back then, but it has gradually evolved, and more women are entering the industry and are now better catered for.
I have realised that working in a demanding trade and building a family is a double shift—from a busy, demanding day to being a present and loving wife and mother. However, in all this, my kids grow to see a mother who does not just have a job but who builds and breathes life into giant machines.
I would say to the young woman considering a career in the trades that machines don’t care about your gender. Focus on becoming so technically sound that your work speaks louder than any stereotype. If you have the curiosity to understand how things work and the perseverance to see a project through, then the industry needs you.
