Condra cranes to lift Botswana diamonds

22 October 2020

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Canadian firm JDS Energy & Mining Inc. has ordered two high-lift machines from South African crane and hoist specialist, Condra, to be installed at a Botswana diamond mine.

The two high-lift double-girder electric overhead travelling cranes are of different configuration and design. The larger of the two, for the winder house, is a 60/15t crane of 30m span with a lifting height of 25m on the 60t main hoist and 26.2m on the 15t auxiliary. There will be dual-speed movement throughout this crane; on the long-travel, cross-travel and lift.

The second crane, for the mine’s headgear, is a 20t machine with a span of 11m and a lifting height of 60m. It has a variable-speed drive on the hoist, allowing fast vertical travel across the distance of the lift as well as slow speeds for accurate load positioning. Dual-speed drives will manage movement on the long- and cross-travel.

This is the second time that JDS Energy & Mining has specified Condra lifting equipment, having previously specified an overhead crane and five hoists for the Bonasika bauxite project in Guyana, South America.

Management at Condra believes that there is growing overseas market awareness of the company’s capability in high-lift. Generally recognised in central and southern Africa as the leader in this segment, Condra high-lift machines have also been installed at a dam in Chile for hydroelectric turbine maintenance.

Commenting on the new order, a Condra spokesman said that he thought a competitive price and rapid response times during the tender process had contributed to a successful close. “Clarification requests were particularly quickly executed to comply with customer time frames," he said. “These cranes will include some interesting features such as load cells, limit switches, remote control, warning lights and sirens.”