ABOUT US
Engineered to be forgotten
The best parts of a conveyor are the ones nobody thinks about, because they never give anyone a reason to. For four decades, that has been the standard we build to.
Talk to our engineers
What we do
Forty years inside the world's conveyors
Run a conveyor long enough and you learn which parts are the most critical. They are the rollers turning under the belt, the pulleys that drive and turn it, and the engineered hardware that holds the whole line true. Lorbrand has spent decades building those parts and refining them with every generation.
They run on everything from light plant conveyors to high-tension overland systems and high-impact loading zones, in the heat, dust and cold of operations that never stop.
Today our components turn in mines, ports and plants across several continents, largely out of sight, year after year.
Manufacturing
Built right, all the way through
We engineer each product for its capacity and operating environment, manufacturing each one with careful precision to eliminate the often-overlooked misalignments and loose tolerances that lead to premature failure. The result is a part that runs for years without asking to be thought about.
Our commitment to reliability drives the engineering of both visible parts and hidden components. We apply our highest standard of precision to every single element of a Lorbrand build. This steadfast focus is exactly why a Lorbrand component needs so little attention in service and endures for years to come.
Rollers we built in the 1990s are still turning today, in the same operations, nearly thirty years on.
At Batu Hijau in Indonesia, a 2026 site visit revealed that a large share of the original 1999 Lorbrand idler rollers were still in service.
Why it matters
Underneath almost everything
Most of what is around you moved along a conveyor at some point: the ore behind the metal, the coal and minerals behind the power, the aggregate behind the concrete. Bulk materials handling is one of the quiet foundations of the modern world, and conveyors are how it moves at scale.
Lorbrand idlers, rollers and pulleys carry that flow on overland, in-pit and underground conveyors in continuous operation, where a single seized roller can cut a belt and stop the line.
Engineering & Production
Our facilities
Lorbrand designs and manufactures its idlers, rollers and pulleys in-house, and customers deal directly with the engineers who build them, from the first drawing to the finished part.
Robotic welding cells raise the efficiency and quality of our frame production, and mechanised roller assembly lines keep capacity high, even for the heaviest rollers. We also make our own bearing housings, which keeps the calibration of every bearing seat, the detail that decides bearing life, under our own control.
Two factories keep that manufacturing close to the mines it serves.
Antofagasta Spares manufacture
At the centre of Chile's mining north, a Lorbrand facility manufactures spares close to the operations that run them, so a replacement can be made and on its way in hours.
Centurion The main factory
Lorbrand's main factory in Centurion, South Africa, houses the engineering team and the production lines for idlers, rollers and pulleys.
Where we work
Running on conveyors in over 40 countries
From the factories in Centurion and Antofagasta, Lorbrand idlers, rollers and pulleys go to mines, ports and plants worldwide, with agents and distributors close to the operations that run them.
Products in operation
Manufacturing, agents & distributors
Lorbrand components in operation
- Angola
- Argentina
- Australia
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Cambodia
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Côte d'Ivoire
- DR Congo
- Egypt
- Finland
- Germany
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Indonesia
- Italy
- Kazakhstan
- Laos
- Madagascar
- Malaysia
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Panama
- Peru
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sweden
- Taiwan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Türkiye
- Turkmenistan
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Since 1985
Revision history
- A
Founded by Alfred Granig and his three sons in a single workshop in Bryanston, Johannesburg, making conveyor rollers. Lorbrand is still family-owned.
- B
First major export: idlers and overland tables for 17 km of overland conveyors at Codelco's Radomiro Tomic copper mine in Chile.
- C
Idlers for overland conveyors at Batu Hijau in Indonesia and Henderson in the USA, where independent testing won Lorbrand exclusive idler supply.
- D
Roller and idler frame manufacture certified to ISO 9001 by TÜV Rheinland.
- E
Conveyor pulleys join the range, designed and built in-house.
- F
Manufacturing begins in Antofagasta, Chile. The pulley division is certified to ISO 9001.
- G
Sole idler supplier for Sasol's 26.8 km Impumelelo conveyor, the world's longest single-flight conventional belt conveyor.
- H
TÜV Rheinland ATEX type examination of the conveyor idler series, for gas and dust atmospheres.
- J
Development of Sensor Seal begins: a self-powered sensor in the roller's end seal that reports bearing temperature, vibration and speed.
- K
Idlers for the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, and idlers and pulleys for the Cerro Verde IPCC expansion in Peru, thirty years after the first Cerro Verde roller supply.
- L
Continued in company news.
Company news
All news
From the factory and the field
Lorbrand at EXPONOR 2026 in Antofagasta
Idlers, pulleys and Sensor Seal roller monitoring on the Lorbrand stand at EXPONOR 2026, close to our Antofagasta roller factory.
Team building in Sodwana Bay
Deep-sea fishing, quad biking and sand duning: part of the Lorbrand team on a team-building trip to Sodwana Bay on the KwaZulu-Natal coast.
Lorbrand and Capotex win Best Presentation at Rápidas y Poderosas 7
The Smart Conveyor, a joint presentation on Sensor Seal monitoring under Capotex conveyor covers, won Best Presentation at Rápidas y Poderosas 7.