Condra has secured a new order to provide lifting equipment for Zimplats’ Mupani mine, in the Hartley Geographical Complex, south-west of Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city.
Mupani is undergoing an upgrade to replace production at the Rukodzi and Ngwarati mines and part of the Mupfuti mine, which are projected to deplete over the next six years.
The crane and hoist order, placed by Australian consulting and project management company Worley, comprises 13 machines for installation underground, namely two workshop-duty double-girder electric overhead travelling cranes, a 5 t jib crane for ore transfer and ten short-headroom hoists for miscellaneous functions.
All units have been designed for ease of transportation within the confines of a 2-km-long underground access route. Only the short-headroom hoists will be shipped without being dismantled.
Mine Tunnel NavigationThe 5 t jib crane, 10 t overhead crane and 30 t machine will be disassembled to enable mine tunnel navigation. Crane girders will be separated from end-carriages and crabs, while the crabs will be shipped without their hoists.
All three cranes are already under manufacture at Condra’s Germiston works, in Gauteng, where the hoists are also being assembled.
Worley technical teams will undertake the underground installation.
While the company’s engineers designed the Mupani overhead cranes to suit reduced installation dimensions aimed at minimising blasting and excavation not directly associated with ore removal, the cranes can deliver the required lifting heights.