Modern Mining September 2018

PRODUCT News

Mopani a major customer for Condra

A s h i p m e n t o f lifting equipment des- patched in late August to Mopani Copper M i n e s h a s t a k e n Condra’s order intake from this company to more than R100 mil-

Crab-mounted Condra hoist.

lion. Zambia-based Mopani placed its first order on Condra in 2012. Comprising one electric travelling overhead crane, 38 hoists, two large and seven smaller jib cranes, the shipment is earmarked for various applications within the Mufulira and Nkana mines, and left Condra’s Germiston factory by road. Work will now begin on six further single- and double-girder over- head cranes for Nkana’s Synclinorium shaft, and for the concentrator plants at both mines. Crane capacities will be between 5 and 10 tons, with standard lifting heights and spans of between 15 and 18 m. Condra expects to receive additional orders for as many as nine further cranes while these six are on the factory floor. 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, both towns situated on the Copperbelt. Condra’s deliveries to MCM are ongoing. Three years ago, the com- pany delivered two 25-ton headgear cranes to the Synclinorium shaft at Nkana mine, and two 70-ton maintenance cranes for the winder house, the latter designed with very high lifts of over 80 m each. 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 reliabil- ity. Manufacture is carried out to the ISO 9000 and GOST standards, and the company additionally complies with the environmental and health and safety standards of ISO 14000 and ISO 18000. Cranes are custom designed and assembled from hoists, drives, end‑carriages, brakes, gearboxes and some 250 other sub-assemblies all manufactured by Condra. Two hoist product lines aremanufactured in a number of standard models suited to most mining and industrial applications, from 1 to 500 tons. Motors are bought from external sup- pliers in Germany. Commenting on the clutch of recent orders from Mopani Copper Mines, Condra’s MD, Marc Kleiner, said that this customer had named reliability and prompt service as the main reasons for awarding the contracts to Condra. Service for Zambia’s Copperbelt is supplied by Kitwe-based agent EC Mining, which holds stocks of Condra spares. Of the shipment just despatched to Mopani Copper Mines, 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 completedwith 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. Condra, tel (+27 11) 776-6000

September 2018  MODERN MINING  53