Cosira undertakes site construction of Munali's Zambian nickel processing plant

26 August, 2008

Cosira, one of South Africa's largest fabricators of structural steel, has recently been awarded the contract for the site construction of the Munali nickel processing plant in Zambia.

This is according to John da Silva, managing director of the Cosira Group.

“Munali project is a project in which Cosira is responsible for the erection of the structural and mechanical platework and piping, to a total quantity of approximately 750 tons of steel,” explains Da Silva.

Munali, which is situated approximately 60 km south of Lusaka in southern Zambia, is owned by Albidon, and will produce nickel from an underground mining operation involving straightforward extraction methods and conventional processing technology.

Project Manager Manny de Santos from Cosira's client GRD Minproc, the engineering arm of GRD Limited (which was awarded the procurement and construction management contract by Albidon Limited) comments: “The project was awarded in October of 2007, and was originally due for completion in April 2008; however this time period has subsequently been extended until later in the first half of 2008.”

“As with any project of this nature, efficient processes and an emphasis on good communication and attention to detail are crucial to both time lines and the quality of the workmanship. Thus far, the teams on site are executing their tasks satisfactorily, and we are happy with the progress being made,” De Santos continues.

"This is an unusual project for Cosira to undertake. Unlike many of the other projects that we undertake for the mining industry, Cosira has been tasked only with completing the site construction phase of the project.

This has required us to work closely and with Genrec Engineering - the fabrication partners for the project - to ensure that we were coordinated and with a high degree of seamless transitions," points out Da Silva.

“Fortunately, Cosira has had excellent results in the past working with projects - such as this one - that demand a high degree of precision in the planning stages.

Moreover, we have also had several recent successes with regards to projects undertaken in very remote locations such as this one, with the attendant transportation and logistical challenges. Similarly challenging but highly successful projects include, amongst others, the manufacture and trial erection of the Victor and Snap Lake modular diamond recovery plants in Canada; as well as the fabrication involved in the new sports complex in Algiers,” Da Silva comments.

“Cosira is furthermore very pleased to be spearheading pan-African structural steel construction projects such as these, in association with our clients GRD Minproc, ” he concludes.