Engineering group Sandvik is establishing multimillion-dollar support offices in Kitwe, Zambia, which will significantly support the country’s ambition to become the mining capital of Central Africa.

Sandvik Mining & Construction Zambia MD Jacques Britz says the company plays a critical role in assisting mines to develop infrastructure and supply appropriate mining solutions to meet production and revenue targets in Zambia’s mining industry.

“Sandvik’s ability to support large-scale mining operations with customised solutions, including complete turnkey systems, means that international mining organisations can establish operations seamlessly with world-class equipment supplied by Sandvik,” he says.

Sandvik decided in 2012 to invest in establishing new support offices in Zambia to improve the company’s efficiency and sub-sequently reduce its customers’ operating costs.

Further, the rapid growth of the Zambian and Central African mining sectors in recent years, as well as the expansion of existing mines and the establishment of several new mines, necessitated Sandvik’s move to a modern, more efficient facility.

The Zambia-based office, which is one of nine other permanent offices in Africa, should be completed in January 2015.

The new support facility will serve as an administrative head office for Sandvik Mining & Construction Zambia, which is a division on Sandvik, and will feature fully equipped support facilities and rebuild and repair workshops.

The centralisation of services will also improve logistics and the company will be in a better position to communicate with customers regarding progress on orders and maintenance, says Britz.

“The facility will ensure that Sandvik can effectively provide complete presales and after-sales services of all Sandvik equipment throughout Central Africa. In terms of technology, our new workshops will have the latest equipment and tooling, with facilities for machine rebuilds, component repairs, component test facilities and machining, besides others.”

Britz says the company is laying the foundations of the building and will start construction in the next phase.

Environment-friendly building materials will be used to construct the facility to limit its impact on the environment. The offices have been designed with three aspects in mind – safety, efficiency and the environment.

The facility will also be energy efficient, as insulation, rainwater harvesting, solar energy, conservative energy use and water manage-ment, as well as the recycling of energy and the management thereof, will be implemented, says Britz.

While Sandvik’s primary focus is on Zambia, it also offers logistics, technical and training support to countries surrounding Zambia, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Sandvik’s commitment also extends to its people and the development of skills for workers in the industry. Therefore, modern training facilities with appropriate tooling will be put in place in Zambia to develop technicians and other technical staff.

The new training facility will ensure that Sandvik personnel as well as its cus-tomers are trained in house.

In addition, initiatives such as wellness programmes, help- ing to establish services in surrounding areas and life skills training, as well as entrepre-neurial training for family members of staff, will also be offered as part of Sandvik’s sustainability programme in Zambia.