SPECIALISTS IN the transport of earthmoving equipment have struck a business seam with the copper boom in Zambia and the development of the Lumwana Mine in the North-Western province of the country. “Copper has boomed in Zambia, and there is lots of new activity,” says Frits Kroon of Pretoria-based Frits Kroon Transport, who expects routine demand for transport over the next 18 months. His company specialises in abnormal lowbed services catering for earth moving equipment. He runs three 30t-75t trucks mainly for the mining industry but also serves the irrigation and construction sectors, with services to Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and the DRC. According to Malcolm Coulter, a director of TRS Transport Botswana, his company moved eight 60 ton loads to Zambia last month. “We have been doing this for some time now,” he said. TRS operates eight lowbed trailers and prime movers, also serving Namibia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The Lumwana Mine is reported to be one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper mines with an estimated R174bn worth of copper deposits underground. Copper mining is expected to begin in 2007.
