Zest WEG Group says it is showcasing its full suite of products and manufacturing capabilities at a flagship infrastructure and iron ore mining project in Liberia. This follows group company EnI Electrical winning two major contracts for ArcelorMittal at Buchanan Port in Liberia as well as at the Tokadeh iron ore mine near Yekepa in Nimba County.
“These projects will serve as a vehicle for the Zest WEG Group product portfolio to arrive on site,” Trevor Naude, Managing Director, EnI Electrical says. One of Africa’s largest electrical construction companies, EnI Electrical forms a significant part of the Zest WEG Group’s value addition and total service package for the African mining industry.
“While the Zest WEG Group is well known as an importer and distributor of WEG electric motors from Brazil, one of the largest ranges of its kind in the world, our full product line up includes transformers, switchgear, variable speed drives, motor control centres, gensets and renewable energy solutions. We also have three fully fledged manufacturing facilities in South Africa that we are in the process of expanding as we increase our footprint in Africa,” Louis Meiring, CEO, Zest WEG Group, says.
ArcelorMittal is currently mining and shipping 5 Mt/y of iron ore a year from its Phase 1 operations in Liberia. A Phase 2 expansion project will boost shipments to 15 Mt/y, with first production earmarked for end-2015. The first contract focuses on a ship loading facility at Buchanan Port, where EnI Electrical will construct 6.6 kV overhead power lines in addition to all medium voltage infrastructure, electrical infrastructure and instrumentation works.
The second contract relates to mine infrastructure at the Tokadeh mine, which has a rail link to Buchanan Port. “We are responsible for all overhead line infrastructure from medium voltage to all the electrical work and instrumentation,” Naude explains. “This flagship project represents what EnI Electrical has been striving towards since its inception. “We are positioning ourselves as the electrical infrastructure construction team within the Zest WEG Group.”
EnI Electrical’s roster of successful flagship mining projects completed since 2012 include the Beira Coal Terminal in Mozambique, the Konkola North Copper Project in Zambia, Nantou Mining in Burkina Faso, the Samancor Meyerton furnace upgrade, the Gold Fields South Deep Expansion, Xstrata’s Tswelopele sinter and pelletising plant in Rustenburg, Petra Diamonds’ Cullinan DMS plant and two gold mine expansions for Barrick Gold in Tanzania. EnI Electrical has also completed projects in Uganda, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Mali, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.