This was a 2500 kW, four-pole, 6600 V WEG HGF 630 motor. Zest is the official distributor of WEG motors and other products in southern Africa.

Zest's official distributor in Zambia for the past six years has been EC Mining Limited, headed by Tom Anderson-Slight. The company stocks a comprehensive range of WEG motors, together with the necessary parts stockholding.

EC Mining Limited specializes in the provision of high-quality equipment and technical installation services to the southern African mining region, covering Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "We provide a wide range of technologies based on our exclusive representation of major original equipment manufacturers to the mining industry. EC Mining Limited trades both in its own right as well as acting as an agent representing its principals such as Zest," Anderson-Slight explains.

Based in the heart of the industrial area in Kitwe, Zambia, EC Mining Limited has easy access to all the main mining towns on the Copperbelt. "Our main clientele includes Konkola Copper Mines, Mopani Copper Mines, Chambishi Metals, Ndola Lime Company, Chilanga Cement and Chibuluma Mines.

"Our challenge is to expand our operations regionally and throughout the rest of Africa to supply quality products and services to a fast developing and expanding market. With over 30 years of business operation in Africa, EC Mining Limited's vast experience in commercial, financial, procurement and technical areas has been of tremendous benefit to its customers and principals alike," Anderson-Slight says.

"EC Mining Limited has established valuable contacts in the Zambian mining industry. This has given both WEG a good foothold in the region, with the opportunity to expand the WEG brand significantly. Our participation at Zaminex is therefore an important component of this strategy," James Blakemore, Zest chairman, says.

The particular motor displayed at Zaminex has a frame length of 3.3 meters. It weighs 13.3 tons, with the frame alone weighing 5000 kg. A total of 4800 kg of steel and 1250 kg of copper were used in the manufacture of this motor. Large WEG electric motors of this type are premium efficiency units with typical efficiencies of 97.5%. "Zambia has always been an important focus in Africa for Zest and WEG, and is becoming even more so with the current economic upswing in the region," Blakemore says.

"Hence we regard our participation at Zaminex as an important factor in promoting awareness of the WEG brand in the region. It also demonstrates our commitment to the region, which we regard as a high growth area."
Zaminex is held in Kitwe in the Zambian Copperbelt, the economic heart of the country. This is copper-rich region stretching for hundreds of kilometres from east to west along the centre of Zambia's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Zest has already supplied motors to Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM), the largest mining and metals company in Zambia, with an annual capacity of 200 000 metric tonnes. KCM is a subsidiary of Vendanta Resources Plc, a London-listed FTSE 100 metals and mining group. Zest supplied seven 355 kW, four-pole, 3300 Volt pump drives to KCM.
Zest also supplied a 5150 kW, 11000 Volt WEG synchronous motor to Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) in April this year. The use of a synchronous motor will facilitate an improved power factor across the entire plant. MCM began as a joint venture between Glencore International and First Quantum, with Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines holding the balance. Glencore has since assumed complete control of the operation. MCM operates the Nkana and Mufulira copper and cobalt mines.