The small projects division of local mine engineering and project management company DRA Group, DRA Turnkey Projects, reports that it is currently undertaking a number of new projects in Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Angola.

The company is currently building a 
R93-million, 200-t/h dense-medium separation (DMS) drum plant for one of mining giant BHP Billiton’s manganese mines, in Gabon.

The project will see DRA’s Cape Town 
facility fabricate the processing plant into 80 containers, which will be shipped by DRA’s engineering, procurement and construction management team to Gabon. 
The team will also oversee the manage-
ment of Gabonese contractors on site. Com-missioning is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.

DRA is also building a 130-t/h concentrator plant for copper and cobalt exploration company Tiger Resource’s Kipoi copper mine, near Lubumbashi, in the DRC.

The plant is expected to generate income for Tiger Resource over the deposit’s three-year life span and required an economical 
design to keep costs down. The plant will process minerals to size, incorporating scrubbing, crushing, screening and using the DMS plant to produce smelter feed product, which will be shipped to smelters in Namibia and South Africa. DRA will use local contractors on the project.

A R20-million process plant upgrade will be provided for the Luo Tuff diamond mine, in Angola. 
The project, which is currently under way, will enhance the operation of the 250-t/h 
facility and will include a DMS plant, con-
veyors, a screening structure and a feed bin.

This project is proving difficult, owing to the high cost of living in the country and 
logistical challenges such as crossing several African borders. Commissioning is expected to start in October 2010.

The company is also expecting to undertake a number of new projects in Zambia and Tanzania in the future.

“The number of new projects that we are currently working on is an indication of the boom which is taking place in the African mining industry, and one which DRA is well positioned to benefit from,” says DRA Turnkey Projects director Paul Hopwood.

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