A one-off “shipping container” crane is currently under manufacture for mine maintenance by overhead crane and hoist manufacturer Condra’s authorised agent, Lynx Supply and Services, in Tanzania.

The design of the 5 t double-girder crane makes use of two 12 m delivery containers, positioned exactly 9.8 m apart with bolt rails on their tops, as gantry support, after the hoist, crab, girders, end-carriages and other components have been unpacked for assembly.

A roof will weatherproof the resulting 120 m² workshop.

Lynx also placed additional orders with Condra for wheel blocks, miscellaneous spare parts and a separate 10 t, 10-m-span single-girder gantry crane for an unnamed mining house.

Lynx will carry out the installation and commissioning of both overhead cranes.

A Condra spokesperson further highlights other recent orders from sub-Saharan Africa, including a 10 t portal crane for a maintenance application in Ghana.

The design of this crane overcomes floor loading limitations by spreading the machine mass across multiple nylon-treaded wheels at the base of the portal’s supporting legs.

The Ghanaian portal machine is linked to two further crane orders from the same customer, one of which is for installation in Saudi Arabia.

“There are also enquiries from Chile and Peru, where Condra is re-establishing agency relationships adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic,” the spokesperson adds.

In addition to Lynx Supply and Services, Condra’s sub-Saharan Africa agent network includes Integrated Engineering Services in Zambia, Integrated Engineering Services in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namcranes in Namibia and KL Cranes in Botswana.

Additional potential agents are currently being identified in Ghana, Mozambique and Kenya.

Service support is vital to machine uptime and Condra has long and strong relationships with agents across sub-Saharan Africa to deliver the necessary rapid response time on service calls.

“Service proximity and availability must be carefully considered alongside purchase price if losses due to downtime are not to negate and even exceed the initial savings of an attractive price.”

According to the company, its Johannesburg spares division will deliver parts in South Africa within 48 hours and anywhere in Africa within five days, minimising production losses owing to crane downtime.

“You can save money by buying a crane at a more competitive price, but the savings on the day of purchase will be lost many times over in downtime if a spare part has to come from overseas.”

Condra claims a design philosophy focused on robust strength and durability, the success of which is reflected in a solid reputation for mechanical reliability under corrosive and abrasive environments, and under wide extremes of temperature, humidity and altitude.