Mill shell heads for Mauretania

LEONARD NEILL FIRST IT was the delivery of the highest load recorded for transportation to the Zambian copper fields. Now logistics specialist Unidel is busy conducting a feasibility study to handle the heaviest on record to the same region. This single load of 280 tons is to be offloaded in Richards Bay and conveyed across land to a mine in northern Zambia. “With weights and volumes of that nature, there are special undertakings to be completed before we can go through with the project,” says Unidel managing director Rick de Smidt. These involve route surveys, bridge capacities and other geometrical constraints. Once completed, findings and proposals have to be submitted to the various authorities for approval before the transportation of the equipment can be carried out, with a September/October time-frame scheduled. On another offshore project Unidel successfully completed the delivery of a large mill shell, which is loaded in the Carletonville area and transported to Richards Bay and then loaded aboard a chartered vessel bound for the West African port of Nauchott in Mauretania.