There are limited ongoing or prospective mineral sands projects under way in Southern Africa, says heavy transport specialist Mammoet Southern Africa (SA) marketing manager Ryan Amos, but the company is still actively pursuing the regional mining market, despite the global mining industry being “worse off than it was last year”.

“We will, however, continue to actively demonstrate our service offering, which is capable of improving transportation times, thus reducing downtime and resulting in huge cost savings.”

During this sustained period of weak commodity prices, Mammoet can assist mining companies by transporting fully assembled mining haul trucks and other earthmoving machinery across Africa in challenging conditions, adds Amos.

In November last year, Mammoet reached a milestone when it transported a fully assembled CAT 797 – the third-largest mining haul truck in the world – for the first time.

Amos notes that, previously, trucks as big as the CAT 797 needed to be partially disassembled prior to transportation and reassembled on site, adding to overall costs and downtime.

The 623 t off-highway truck is about 16 m high, 15 m long and 10 m wide, and can transport about 363 t of sedimentary deposit. Mammoet loaded and transported the CAT 797 from Fort McKay, in Alberta, Canada, to a mining customer about 80 km away.

Amos believes that, despite the vastly different terrain, climate, infrastructure and legislative environment, Mammoet SA can replicate the operation, as it has performed similar transportation operations in the Southern Africa region. He notes that, while a lack of suitable transport infrastructure presents numerous challenges, the company has developed solutions to overcome them.

“For example, Mammoet has designed a special crane, the MTC-15, used at harbours, where the infrastructure does not allow for the passage of heavy cargo. It’s unique because it has low ground-bearing pressure, but with heavy-lifting capacity.”

A project in Kribi, Cameroon, necessitated that Mammoet engineer a landing point on a beach. This involved building a ramp on a secluded section of the beach to create a makeshift mooring location for barges transporting heavy items.

The company’s operations unit can also deal with any legal issues regarding the transportation of goods throughout the Southern Africa region, ensuring the legal and safe transportation of heavy items.

Amos points out that, though the Southern African division is currently short on mining clients, the company has completed several mining projects in North America, specifically in Canada and the US, as well as in Australia, and has a wealth of experience from which to draw.

“I believe that capturing the attention of the African mining market is our biggest challenge. Once the market understands our value-added service offering, we can gain a foothold and expand from there.

“The basis of all our planning and operations is impeccable time management, which ensures that a job is executed as safely as possible and saves our clients time through the engineering of smarter solutions,” Amos avers.

From a logistics standpoint, Mammoet SA has an advantage, as all its services are executed by in-house personnel using Mammoet equipment, he says. “We have equipment suited for specialised jobs that normal logistics companies will not have in-house. Also, our ‘factory- to-foundation’ service provides peace of mind, as we ensure the safe transportation and installation of all heavy equipment.”