( Virtual Showroom ) Tronox Mineral Sands has ordered a 35/12,5-ton Condra crane for mill maintenance at the Namakwa Sands East OFS Project, Brand-se-Baai, 385 kilometres north of Cape Town.

The company has also ordered two Condra hoists with capacities of 5 and 7,5 tons for the mill discharge and run‑of-mine stockpile.

East OFS is being developed to allow extraction of orange feldspathic sand (OFS), a mineralised grit, from levels deeper than have been mined at Namakwa Sands before. Extraction will begin this year (2025).

Marc Kleiner, managing director at Condra, thinks a reputation for quality, durability and service helped secure the Tronox contract.

“Customer surveys have shown these characteristics to be the ‘big three’,” he said. “They are uppermost in the customer’s mind at the time of purchase.

“We’ve been working on them for many years now. I think it’s fair to say our ability to tailor lifting equipment to the specifics of a particular application is the key to many of our successful tenders.”

The drawing office at Condra’s Germiston headquarters designed the three Tronox machines, with manufacture taking place in the factory there.

The mill maintenance crane is a double-girder electric overhead travelling machine equipped with a 35‑ton main hoist and 12,5‑ton auxiliary on a single crab. Span is 23,3 metres, lifting height 30 metres. There is a storm brake to prevent unintended crane movement caused by excessive wind loading. Other features include a full-length walkway, radio control with pendant back-up, and audiovisual safety warnings of crane movement.

The hoists for Tronox are class 2m machines from Condra’s modular K‑Series range, assembled to application requirements. As with the overhead crane for the mill area, they feature remote radio control with plug-in pendant back-up, and audiovisual warning lights activated while working. Weather covers protect hoists and motors.

The 7,5-ton stockpile hoist has a lifting height of 9,5 metres, the 5-ton mill discharge machine 8,5 metres. This latter hoist also features articulated crawls to allow negotiation of a monorail with curves of 1,9-metre radius. Modified cross-head assemblies will facilitate hoist movement around the bends.

All machines – the overhead crane and both hoists – are fitted with load cells and digital read-outs, and finished with a special paint finish to protect against corrosion. Electrical panels are from stainless steel to IP65 standard.

Delivery of these machines took place late last year (2024) after professional engineering certification.

Blue Cranes of Cape Town, the company already servicing much of the lifting equipment at Namakwa Sands, is to carry out installation and commissioning. The same company will maintain the crane and hoists, in line with Condra’s policy of working with companies already possessing knowledge of local conditions.