Cramo goes underground with LKAB contract

Cramo has signed a four year ‘main rental supplier' contract with Swedish mining group LKAB to provide a equipment for a €1.2 billion project at the Kiruna mine. Cramo said the order would be worth a minimum of €15 million with the possibility of extensions to the contract.

The deal will see Cramo open a project depot in the mine itself, which Cramo said may well be the first ever underground rental depot.

"This prestigious initial order is one of the largest ever in the Nordic rental industry", said Cramo's chief executive officer, Vesa Koivula, "Fundamentally, it is based on Cramo's almost unique capability to deliver everything that is needed in terms of site infrastructure services in a huge work place like KUJ 1365 [at Kiruna].

"But it is also the fruit of the good relationship that has developed between LKAB and Cramo's Swedish operations in earlier projects like KK4 and KA3 in Kiruna".

Cramo will deliver all tools, construction machinery, aerial platforms and scaffolding, as well as site offices, dining rooms, conference rooms, locker rooms, toilets and washrooms and storage facilities. Also included are transportation services, audio visual equipment and phone and IT infrastructure.

Ulf Gräsvik, project manager at LKAB, said; "From our perspective the supplier selection is a question of credibility. We know Cramo well, and very few rental companies have the capacity needed to supply everything we need in a project like this. Using numerous suppliers was never an alternative from an administrative point of view"

Erik Bengtsson, managing director of Cramo's Swedish operations said the construction activity will peak during the first four or five years; "But our experience is that giant projects like this one will generate more business over time".