Engineering consultancy Hatch has received the go-ahead to proceed with the design and procurement of a Zambian-based rock-hoisting and ventilation shafts project.
The company has been awarded the contract for the engineering, design and con- struction of a new shaft system that will descend more than 1 000 m.
However, Hatch mining director Lister Sinclair tells Mining Weekly that the project, which was started last year, has been continually interrupted owing to the uncertainty created by windfall taxes, which the Zambian government has imposed on mining houses in the country.
Subsequently, all contracting operations were also affected.
Sinclair says that, this year, the mine has managed to resolve its tax issues and announced at the end of June that operations at its Zambian project would resume.
Constructed to conprices palletizing plant iron oretinue production, rather than expansion, the new shaft is to take over replacement tonnage, as the capacity of existing shafts will be scaled down.
The construction is in its infancy as it is still in a design and procurement phase.
Sinclair says Hatch has started the designs for the execution phase.
“Designs for the shaft collar and Blair multirope (BMR) winders are complete, while headgear designs are still in progress,” he adds.
Procurement for the BMR winders is also currently under way.
Sinclair believes the project, with construstone crusher plant project report pricesction company Murray & Roberts appointed as shaft-sinking contractor, can still be completed by the scheduled 2014 date, if operations can continue unabated.
Further, the installation of two more ventilation shafts is being evaluated, depending on how the mining company aligns its current operations with the new operations.
“They might be able to use some of the existing facilities,” he notes.
Chinese Takeover
The Chinese foothold in the Zambian mining industry has become apparent, following denationalisatiosand screening equipment south african in 2000, with increasing numbers of mines, owned and run by the State-owned Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM), being handed over to Chinese mining houses on an equity basis.
A well-known private mining house took over two Zambian mining operations and associated infrastructure from ZCCM in April 2000 as part of the privati- sation programme.
Sinclair says the true effect of the trend is still to be felt. “It will take time to determine the positive impact of this development on local communities,” he notes.
Further, despite Chinese mining codynamic loading cone crushermpanies’ tendency to undertake engineering in-house, increasing numbers are approaching African firms, seeking their deep-level mining expertise.
Skills
Despite the Copperbelt Univer- sity and other Zambian tertiary institutions facing challenges such as poor salaries and a shortage of lecturing staff, Sinclair believes that the quality of mining engineers produced in the country is high.
To tackle these challenges, the universities are investigating the possibility of implementing an industry model that will involve role-players in the process gundlach roll crusher correct oilof improving salaries to attract high-quality lecturers to produce excellent students.
“As a contributor to the Mine- rals Education Trust Fund, Hatch is involved in this process. We are hoping to raise lecturers’ salaries closer to that of the industry standard,” Sinclair notes.
Opportunities
In the midst of the growing global demand for copper and other metals and rising prices, there are significant oppor- tunities in unexploited areas deeper into the Copperbelt.
“The Copperbelt still has a lot to offer. To meet the growing demand, companies are expanding their operations and exploring deposits deeper into the Copperbelt,” Sinclair says.
Further, the industry has also been turning its focus beyond the Copperbelt, with more exploration drilling taking place to the north-western side of the country, towards the Angolan border.
The region holds significant exploration opportunities for minerals such as gold, nickel and copper.
If these exploration projects are to reveal significant deposits, the area will yield almost unlimited mining opportunities.
Challenge
Sinclair says one of the major challenges faced by the Zambian mining sector is lowering the cost of deep-level mining as the country’s current openpit opera- tions, which are cheaper to operate, are almost completely depleted.
“We are seeing more of our clients moving into the Demo- cratic Republic of Congo, which is an Aladdin’s cave of surface metals. The country offers cheaper surface mining opportunities, while not many new surface deposits have been discovered in Zambia,” he concludes.