Biggest 'Cat' arrives in Namibia

Maggi Barnard THE BIGGEST “Cat” yet to take up residence in Namibia started leaving its “paw prints” on the landscape as it made its way to the Rössing uranium mine in the Namib desert recently. The latest large wheel loader model, the CAT 994F weighing in at 197 tons, had to travel at a chameleon’s pace to the mine 70km to the east of Walvis Bay. Reaching only a top speed of 10km/h, and with the 3.8 m in diameter wheels taking up the full breadth of the main road, it was decided to use back roads through the desert to reach the mine. The journey lasted three days as it was necessary to take an hour's rest after every hour of travelling to ensure the wheels, each weighing 6.7 tons, did not overheat. According to Reiner Przybylski of Rössing, a new wheel costs as much as R450 000, while the total cost of the loader was R25 million. A total of 345 units have been manufactured in the US since the start of production of this model in 1994. The Rössing loader is the 18th in Southern Africa. It was shipped in 28 pieces from the US and arrived at the Walvis Bay harbour in early March on the MACS ship Green Cape. Max Benade, clearing consultant at Manica, said off-loading the machine did not pose any difficulties. The loader was assembled at the Barloworld depot in Walvis Bay.