The Redpath Group has won a contract for the expansion of Mopani Copper Mines’ Mindola Mine in the Zambian Copper Belt. The North Bay, Ontario, mining contractor’s Johannesburg group is busy mobilizing for the project, which will include shaft sinking, raiseboring and lateral development.
“The contract is of substantial importance to the international Redpath Group and will prove to be a major contributor towards our long-term growth in Africa,” said company president George Flummerfelt.
Mopani Copper Mines is co-owned by Glencore International (73.1 per cent), First Quantum Minerals (16.9 per cent) and ZCCM Investment Holdings (10 per cent). The Mindola Mine is part of Mopani Copper’s Nkana complex, located in Kitwe, 388 kilometres north of Lusaka.
Earlier this year, Redpath also completed a sand tunnel project at Gem Diamonds’ Ghaghoo diamond mine in Botswana. Redpath drove a concrete lined tunnel to 112 metres below surface at an incline of eight degrees using an open-faced tunnel shield.
“It was a very challenging project,” said Flummerfelt. “It’s a big 50-tonne hydraulic shield with a safety canopy. The sand is dug out under the protection of the shield, which is advanced a half metre at a time.
“A similar solution is used in horizontal applications for civil works, but we adapted it for this project.” In addition to its North American business unit and headquarters based in North Bay and its presence in Johannesburg, Redpath has offices in Australia, Chile and Germany.
“In the last year, we worked in some 18 different countries,” said Flummerfelt. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Deilmann-Haniel International Mining and Tunneling of Dortmund, Germany, the Redpath Group employs approximately 6,200 people, including between 180 and 200 at its headquarters in North Bay.
