Until recently, UNKI Mine, a subsidiary of Anglo American Platinum, lacked its own smelter facilities. Concentrates had to be sent to South Africa for smelting. To address this, the client decided to build its own smelting plant on-site, and Hogarths was tasked with installing the necessary furnace.
All materials, provided by the client on a free-issue basis to Hogarths, were sourced from a previously canceled project in South Africa. The client made some modifications in South Africa before shipping them to Zimbabwe. The base and side panels were 40mm thick.
The panels arrived fully prepared for welding and ready for installation. The furnace was erected on concrete plinths approximately three meters high. Hogarths installed all panels before fully welding the joints, using around 1.4 tonnes of MIG low-hydrogen welding consumables. The welds underwent 100% dye penetrant testing as well as 100% magnetic particle inspection, revealing very few imperfections. Distortion minimization was a key part of the planning process. Hogarths also made some minor modifications and additions on-site.
The project was completed within the nine-week project timeframe and Hogarths met the very stringent ISO 9000 quality procedures with excellence.
