A ten-person-capacity turnkey Warrior Shelter survey camp, manufactured by turnkey camp and temporary accommodation solutions provider Weatherhaven Redeployable Camp Systems (RCS), was donated to nonprofit organisation the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP) to assist the organisation in combating the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa.

Weatherhaven RCS – a member of local tent manufacturing group Canvas & Tent – marketing manager Karen Coetzer tells Mining Weekly that the survey camp was initially procured for Rio Tinto by engineering and construction company Fluor.

The Warrior Shelter was previously used at one of diversified miner Rio Tinto’s operations in Guinea, which Rio Tinto later donated to the UN WFP.

The shelter, which is generally used as a survey camp is barrel-shaped with a waterproof polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cover that provides insulation against extremely hot and cold temperatures.

“The unit can be deployed in various configurations, including for accommodation, dining, recreation, communication, kitchens, ablution, gymnasiums, hospitals and offices,” states Coetzer.

The Warrior Shelter is made of fire-retardant materials and is available in various sizes: 4.8-m-wide × 4.8-m-wide × 2.8-m-high or 4.8-m-wide × 4.8-m-wide × 4.8-m-wide × 2.8-m-high units.

Each unit contains end-panels and panels with PVC flaps, with ultraviolet-stabilised 550 g/m2 PVC walls and soft 600 g/m2 PVC floors.

Coetzer highlights that Weatherhaven RCS also offers a range of redeployable shelter systems to several sectors, including the mining, construction, military, medical and aviation industries.

“We are focused on providing cost-effective and comfortable solutions for companies and organisations which are undertaking work in Africa, particularly in remote locations with harsh climates,” she says.

Weatherhaven RCS offers a full turnkey solutions package, which includes infrastructure support and accommodation, as well as water-treatment, sewage-treatment and power-generation facilities.

Coetzer adds that Weatherhaven’s products can be packed into smaller components, thereby making them easy and cost effective to transport throughout Africa.

She notes that the company’s camp units can be disassembled, reconstructed and, if required, modules can be added to expand the campsite.

Meanwhile Coetzer says the general downturn in major commodities, such as coal and gold, resulted in Weatherhaven RCS recording lower sales, yet still lucrative rental figures for the year, while the company was also negatively impacted on by the outbreak of Ebola, which led to several mining companies suspending their operations.

However, despite this, the company supplied a full turnkey military camp to the Ghanaian military in November, Coetzer notes.

Weatherhaven RCS also supplied three containerised HERCon kitchen units to a State-run prison in Angola, in September.

Coetzer explains that the HERCon is a hard-walled expandable and redeployable container, which can be transported to any site as a standard convention for safe container rated shipping.

The HERCon is available in high-, standard- and low-cube designs. The low-cube design allows for the unit to be transported by a C130 Hercules aircraft, while the high-cube designs allow for optimal floor space.

Additionally, Coetzer notes that the HERCon can be used as a kitchen, serving between 250 and 500 people or as a 50-person ablution unit.

“All the unit’s internal services, such as electrical wiring and plumbing, are preinstalled, as part of the manufacturing process, thereby enabling the unit to be operational within one to two hours after delivery,” she says.

Weatherhaven RCS is also tendering to supply shelter facilities to engineering, procurement and construction management companies working in the mining sector, as well as the oil and gas sectors, in Mozambique and Angola.

The company also regularly supplies products to the Democratic Republic of Congo, owing to the rapid growth of its mining sector.

Facilities
Coetzer points out that the company’s affiliate, manufacturer, supplier and installer of prefabricated modular building systems and related services provider Dynamic African Projects, has project offices in Tete, Mozambique, and in Nairobi, Kenya, which assist the group in servicing Eastern and Southern Africa.

She notes that most of the Weatherhaven RCS structures do not require engineers to be present when erected, “as they are easy to assemble”, owing to their modular design and picture-illustrated manuals.

In addition, with turnkey camps, Weatherhaven RCS undertakes the full turnkey integration of the facilities in South Africa, after which the structures are transported to site, she states.

“However, if required, we can deploy engineers from South Africa to assist companies on site.”

All Weatherhaven RCS products are manufactured at the Canvas & Tent factory in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal. Electrical kits are manufactured and assembled at Weatherhaven RCS’s premise in Irene, Centurion.
Coetzer highlights that the company’s electrical workshop is fully accredited by local electrical contractors employers organisation the Electrical Contractors’ Association.

“Weatherhaven and Canvas & Tent are also ISO 9001:2008-certified,” she adds.

Weatherhaven RCS received its ISO 9001:2008 accreditation from provider of standards, management systems, business improvement and regulatory approval information the South African Bureau of Standards in November 2014.

Canvas & Tent is aiming to achieve ISO 14001:2004 accreditation for environmental management systems for its Ladysmith facility in the first half of 2015.

“Weatherhaven RCS is also aligning its operations to ISO 14001:2004 guidelines and aims to achieve certification by the end of 2015 for the Irene facility,” she asserts.

Mining Indaba
Coetzer notes that the 2015 Investing in African Mining Indaba, which will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre and run from February 9 to 12, will be the third time that Weatherhaven RCS will participate as an exhibitor.

“Prior to exhibiting at the conference, we regularly visited the event as standard visitor delegates.”

She says the company will showcase that it is “a one-stop shop for all camp system requirements”.

“Weatherhaven RCS will use the Mining Indaba as a platform to showcase our product and services offering, as well as to network with companies to create new business opportunities.”