Marthinusen & Coutts (M&C), repairer of rotating electrical equipment, is close to completing a contract awarded in January 2011 by specialist winder consulting company DRA Technical Services (DRATS) on behalf of the client Konnoco Zambia, for the rewinding and refurbishment of the rock winder and man winder rotating machines for the Konkola North copper project. Konnoco Zambia is a subsidiary of Teal Minerals (Barbados), which is a Joint Venture owned by African Rainbow Minerals and Vale. The rock winder was sourced from Deelkraal gold mine and M&C is conducting a complete rewind of the MG set AC drive motor, the two MG set DC generators and the two DC hoist motors. The man winder, sourced by DRATS from Chibuluma in Zambia, is undergoing a complete rewind of the DC hoist motor armature and refurbishment of the two field frames and five transformers for the winder.

Repair of the man winder’s field frames and transformers is being conducted at M&C’s dedicated rotating machinery repair facility in Zambia – the largest electro-mechanical repair facility on the Zambian and DRC Copperbelt. The remaining work has taken place at M&C’s Cleveland facility in South Africa. M&C will oversee the initial installation and commissioning of this equipment by the contracted winder supply companies, supervised by DRATS. Prior to commissioning in mid-2012, most of the equipment will be stored at the M&C Rotapro workshop in Benoni. Final commissioning on site will be conducted by M&C, involving activities such as setting the brush gears and making the halving joint connections.

This contract follows the recent successful repair of rock winder and man winder rotating machines, comprising drive motors and generators, for Great Basin Gold’s Burnstone mine near Balfour, Mpumalanga. Both winders were also secondhand machines sourced for the project by DRATS.

Eugene Lottering, High Voltage Administration Manager at M&C, says the company has established a close working relationship with DRATS and this has contributed to the success of the Konkola North Project contract to date.

DRATS’ Anthony Clark comments: “We regard M&C as specialists in their field. They have become our preferred contractor for this type of work, based on their direct experience with winder motors and the specialist expertise the company offers. M&C’s performance on the Burnstone project last year demonstrated not only their ability to apply this specialist knowledge, but also to conduct contract work to spec and on schedule.”

The Konkola North project demonstrates M&C’s engineering capability and, more specifically, its ability to design customised engineering solutions for customers using sophisticated technology. M&C has its own design room and has invested in critical equipment such as ‘full load’ test bays and crucial testing equipment enabling the company to manufacture and repair motors with unparalleled results.