MechChem Africa November 2018

⎪ Materials handling, conveying, lifting and logistics ⎪

Cranes at Mopani pass R100-million mark Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) operates the Mufulira Mine smelter, concentrator and copper refinery on the outskirts of Mufulira, and the Nkana Mine concentrator and cobalt plant near Kitwe. Condra’s recent shipment of lifting equipment brings this customer’s spend with Condra to over R100-million.

A shipment of lifting equipment des- patched in late August to Mopani Copper Mines has taken Condra’s order intake from this company to more than R100-million. Zambia-based Mo- pani placed its first order on Condra in 2012. Comprising one electric travelling over- head crane, 38 hoists, two large and seven smaller jib cranes, the shipment is earmarked for various applications within the Mufulira andNkanamines,andleftCondra’sGermiston factory by road. Work began on six further single- and double-girder overhead cranes for Nkana’s Synclinorium shaft, and for the concentrator plants at both mines. Crane capacities are between 5 t and 10 t, with standard lifting heights and spans of between 15 m and 18 m. Condra expects to receive additional or- ders for as many as nine further cranes while these six are on the factory floor. Condra’s deliveries to MCM are ongoing. Three years ago, the company delivered two 25-t headgear cranes to the Synclinorium shaft at Nkana mine, and two 70-t mainte- nance cranes for the winderhouse, the latter designedwithveryhighliftsofover80meach. The company has manufactured several other overhead and high-lift machines for

Mopani since its first delivery in 2012, and regularly supplies hoists in quantity. Underpinning this successful relationship between customer and supplier is Condra’s very tight focus on product quality and reli- ability. Manufacture is carried out to the ISO 9000 and GOST standards, and the company additionally complies with the en- vironmental and health and safety standards of ISO 14000 and ISO 18000. Cranes are custom-designed and as- sembled from hoists, drives, end-carriages, brakes, gearboxes and some 250 other sub- assemblies all manufactured by Condra. Two hoistproductlinesaremanufacturedinanum- ber of standardmodels suited tomost mining and industrial applications; from 1.0 to 500 t. The company offers transport, installa- tion and commissioning as complementary services. Commentingontheclutchofrecentorders fromMCM, Condra’smanagingdirectorMarc Kleiner says that this customer had named reliability and prompt service as the main reasons for awarding the contracts toCondra. Service for Zambia’s Copperbelt is sup- plied byKitwe-based agent ECMining, which holds stocks of Condra spares. Kleiner explains that his company’s north- ern hemisphere competitors generally suf-

fered from the handicap of long lead times on spares ordered from factories based abroad. “Mining companies needeffectiveproduction levels, and this productivity is dependent on the reliability of all mining machinery and lifting equipment. “It is a fact that the ability of some of our competitors to respond toneeds and realities of lifting equipment customers on theAfrican continent lags behind that of Condra,” Kleiner explains. Of the shipment just despatched toMCM, high lifts of 30 m on some of the hoists were exceeded by a very high lift of 48 m on one of the jib cranes. Walkways on the overhead crane were completed with steel grating in place of the normal chequer plate, and weld seams on all machines were inspected for quality and integrity to counter the harsh, corrosive environment characteristic of Copperbelt mining. q This Condra jib crane, similar to those recently delivered to Mopani Copper Mines in Zambia, is installed on Bird Island, eight kilometres offshore fromWoody Cape and 62 kilometres from Port Elizabeth on the South African coast.

A crab-mounted Condra hoist.

November 2018 • MechChem Africa ¦ 21