Hyspec starts a new underground workshop at Zambia’s Mopani Mine

In November 2013, Hyspec Mining Services started a new workshop at the Mopani Mine in Mufulira, Zambia.
This workshop has been set up to provide round the clock services during the contract duration, exclusively for Murray & Roberts Cementation Zambia Ltd’s underground operations. The addition of this new workshop brings the number of workshops operated by Hyspec in Zambia to a total of four (three surface workshops, and one underground). The contract with Murray & Roberts Cementation Zambia Ltd has been signed for an initial term of five years.
The fully fitted workshop, which includes racks, shelves, work benches as well as hose making and cleaning equipment is consigned to the mine. Hyspec also supplied a consigned stock of hoses, fittings and adaptors, which will be renewed as required. The workshop is managed by an experienced Hyspec workshop supervisor, assisted by a team of hose technicians. Hyspec will be offering the same type of services, including daily inspection of hydraulic hoses and root cause analysis reports, for the Murray & Roberts Cementation Zambia Ltd underground operations, that it is providing for equipment working above ground on other mines. Hyspec boasts an extensive underground competence and expertise, acquired through many years of experience working at underground mines in Ghana and Mali, where its teams work side by side with the mines’ production teams to maintain the equipment operating in the underground conditions. This will however be Hyspec’s first underground workshop in Zambia.
“The entire Hyspec Zambia team is very excited by the opportunity it is given to set up and operate its first underground workshop in Zambia”, says Greg Bowman, Hyspec Mining Services Zambia Operations Manager. “Maintaining underground mining equipment is extremely difficult because the working conditions are a lot more stressful on the machines, and HSE requirements are a lot tougher. This makes operating in an underground environment quite challenging. But thanks to our underground experience in Ghana and in Mali, we are confident that we will exceed Murray & Roberts Cementation Zambia Ltd’s expectations.”
“We decided to award the hose assembly contract to Hyspec because of their excellent reputation and track record in the industry”, adds Martin Von Allemann, Site Engineer at Murray & Roberts Cementation Zambia Ltd. “We are confident that their expertise and understanding of our industry will allow us to reduce downtime on our equipment significantly and help us exceed our production targets.”
For additional information on Hyspec Mining Services’ activities in Zambia, please contact: greg.bowman@hyspec.com