Aluminium requirements for MeerKAT to benefit Hulamin

A little while back, MeerKAT radio telescope project manager Willem Esterhuyse gave a presentation on the estimated aluminium and steel requirements for MeerKAT and the bigger Square Kilometre Array (SKA). These radio telescope projects will delve into the evolution of the galaxy, the universe and dark energy, among other scientific endeavours. SKA will take until 2024 to build, and will ultimately involve 2,500 radio antennas spread over a square kilometre of the Karoo.

This leaves JSE-listed companies such as South Africa’s primary steel maker ArcelorMittal SA and semi-fabricated aluminium producer Hulamin well positioned to benefit.

Hulamin already has an idea of what the construction process will look like. The group says for MeerKAT — comprising the first 64-dish array, scheduled to be operational by end-2017 — it will supply 56 tonnes of rolled aluminium to be used as the back-panel of the antenna reflectors. Then there are the aluminium extrusions used as part of the frame of the dish, which get attached to the steel structure.

Hulamin says the requirement is for about a tonne of aluminium per dish. Mr Esterhuyse says MeerKAT will need 203 tonnes of aluminium and 2,357 tonnes of steel for the antennas alone. The SKA project will not necessarily have aluminium reflector back-panels. However, it will use an estimated 100,000 tonnes of steel for antennas alone.