AFRICAN NEWS
Zimbabwe has been in the
news throughout 2018 for
a number of horrific bus
accidents, at least three of
them each killing more than
40 people. The government of
Zimbabwe has accordingly set
aside USD693-million for the
rehabilitation and widening
of the Harare-Masvingo-
Beitbridge highway over the
next three years.
According to publicity and
broadcasting services minister
Monica Mutsvangwa, the
road will be widened from the
current 7m to 12.5m putting it
at par with South Africa’s
N1 highway.
Initial road construction
will be carried out by local
contractors while government
concludes negotiations with
Anhui Foreign Economic
Construction Group Limited
(AFECC), a Chinese firm
contracted to implement the
Zim’s
USD693m plan
to widen main
highway
Zimbabwe’s roads have taken a heavy toll on lives over the past year and more.
dualisation exercise. Sections
of the road to be dualised is
estimated to cost
USD466-million.
The cabinet received
a briefing by minister of
transport and infrastructural
development, Joel Biggie
Matiza, on progress in the
rehabilitation and dualisation
of the Harare-Masvingo-
Beitbridge highway, following
the decision by government
to use resources from the
road fund, while awaiting
the conclusion of ongoing
discussion with AFECC.
Phase one of the road
upgrade will consist of
rehabilitating and widening
the existing road from the
current width to Southern
Africa Transport and
Communications Commission
(SATCC) standards of
12.5m. Phase 2 will entail the
dualisation of the rest of the
sections of the road at a cost of
USD466-million.
The decision to commence
work on the rehabilitation and
dualisation of the highway
using local resources was
taken due to the fact that a
lot of time has already been
lost on the project and that
the lives of the travelling
public continues to be at risk
along this major highway,
which joins the North-South
Development Corridor in the
sub-region.
Guinea gold mine installs new Osborn feeder
An export order to Guinea
has been secured by mining
and quarrying equipment
specialist Osborn.
The vibrating grizzly feeder
will be employed at a Russian-
owned gold mine in Guinea,
west Africa, reflecting the
global reputation of the high-
quality machines manufactured
in South Africa by Osborn.
Osborn area manager Joe
Sequeira says that Osborn has
8_QUARRY SA| JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019
supplied an Osborn GBEX 2
000mm x 4 400mm vibrating
grizzly feeder to NordGold’s
Lefa gold mine, which is
situated 700km north east of
the capital Conakry.
The unit features a fully
fabricated 350 WA steel main
frame assembled with tough
huck bolts; and an exciter
drive beam that is stress
relieved.
Sequeira expands on the
feeder’s features, “Each of
its two UG40 exciter drives
boasts sturdy, soundproof
cast metal housings and two
synchronised shafts with gears
mounted on swivel joint,
heavy duty roller bearings.
Lubrication is achieved by a
combination of oil bath and
oil mist (splash), while the
eccentric weights attached
to both ends of the shaft can
be adjusted by adding or
removing steel or lead weights
and steel plates.
“Coil spring vibration
isolation is used, and the drives
have pan liner support frame
crossbeams. Wear liners on
the pan area are VRN 200;
10mm on the bottom and 8mm
on the sides. Grizzly bars are
installed individually, with half
bars on the sides (or complete
cartridge), secured with hex
bolts.”