PPC Barnet DRC

active

PPC Ltd (PPC) jointly with the Barnet Group S.P.R.L is setting up a company to develop the greenfield Songololo Cement Project in the Cataractes District, Bas-Congo Province (the project to be partly financed by IFC), to produce about 3600 tons of cement per day based on 3000 tons of clinker per day. The project is located between the villages of Zamba and Malanga on a provincial road (RP 111), approximately 8 km from the main Kinshasa-Matadi highway (RN 1), 220km west of Kinshasa, 20 km west of the town of Kimpese and 37 km to the east of the town of Songololo. Based on the Barnet Group’s exploitation rights for the mining area (No. 7649), PPC plans to establish a quarry and processing operation capable of producing up to 1.25 million tons of cement per year. Limestone, clay and laterite will be mined, crushed and mixed with sand to produce clinker, which will then be milled with limestone and (imported) gypsum to produce cement. The expected life of the mine is at least 30 years, and open-pit mining will take place to a depth of 70 m. A coal-fired kiln will be used to produce the clinker, and a 220 kV power line will run approximately 13 km from the Kwilu substation on the Inga-Kinshasa line to the plant for additional energy needs. In accordance with IFC’s Performance Standards, the power line is considered an associated facility, and further information on the approach to this activity is described in the paragraphs that follow. Ground cement will be stored in 7500-ton silos, and the processing plant will have the capacity to bulk-load cement for commercial clients as well as to package and load cement in bags for sale in local retail markets. Road transport via the Kinshasa-Matadi highway (RN 1) and a provincial road (RP 111) will be used to import raw materials and export products from the operation. Water will be sourced from the Lukunga river for the manufacturing facility, the temporary construction camp for approximately 1,200 workers and the residential village for the operation’s permanent workforce, which is projected to be approximately 275 full-time employees.An engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor has been appointed for the project, and construction is expected to commence in the middle of 2014 with plant commissioning scheduled two years later.