Best World Project On Schedule And Under Budget

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The following is an advisory by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). The $1.2 billion construction project for the Mozal aluminum smelter in Mozambique has been given the 2001 project of the year award by the International Project Management Institute. The award made in Memphis, Tennessee effectively classifies Mozal as the world's best project in 2001. The companies in the Mozal joint venture receiving this outstanding peer recognition were Murray & Roberts from South Africa and SNC-Lavalin from Canada.

The project was brought in six months ahead of the 31-month schedule and $100 million under budget, setting what is believed to be a world schedule record in the construction of a greenfield aluminum smelter. The job was undertaken in the face of a war ravaged infrastructure and some of the worst weather and flood conditions in living memory and received full support from the principals: BHP-Billiton, Mitsubishi, The Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa and the government of Mozambique.

The Mozal project consumed and implemented works with 25,000 tons of structural steel, 235,000 cubic meters of concrete, 16km of storm water culverts, 25km of roads, 38km of piping, 800km of cabling, and 208,000 square meters of aluminum cladding over an area the size of 340 soccer fields. A new port at Motola linked to the smelter by a new road and bridge was also completed within the project. 50,000 tons of equipment were transported in a major logistics exercise with 80 trucks/day clearing the border between South Africa and Mozambique and 100,000 tons of sea freight coming in through various ports.

An intensive $3.4 million training program was undertaken for the labor force, which peaked at 9,000 with 73% local Mozambicans. The injury frequency rate attained a value of 1.7, which beats international benchmarks and compares very favorably with the South African national average of 10. The SNC-Lavalin Murray & Roberts joint venture has been awarded the $8 billion Mozal II extension, which will see the smelters capacity double from 250,000 tons per year to 500,000 tons per year. It has also won a contract to build an extension to BHP-Billiton's Hillside Smelter.