WORLD PROSPECTS
LOESCHE at heart of Kazakh phosphate mill
ALOESCHE mill is the technological heart of the new EuroChem crushing and processing plant for the production of ground phosphate in Zhanatas. EuroChem, one of the world’ s top ten producers of mineral fertilisers, recently started operation of the plant, located in the South Kazakh region of Zhambyl. LOESCHE technology is a key part of the plant, helping to develop the large-scale phosphate rock deposit – the most important raw material for the production of phosphate-containing fertilisers. EuroChem selected a LOESCHE mill type LM 24.2, with the proven vertical roller mill technology, for the production of ground phosphate.
“ As the pioneer in vertical roller mills technology LOESCHE has been successfully constructing and supplying phosphate mills worldwide since the 1960s. For this project, LOESCHE’ s contract includes the delivery, planning and installation of the grinding plant, which has a capacity of 600,000 t / y. The plant was realised and put into operation on-site by LOESCHE GUS in close cooperation with the LOESCHE headquarters as well as LOESCHE Automation GmbH.”
The plant has been successfully operating since the first quarter of 2016. During a performance test of 72 h,
the new grinding plant proved to be operating up to and ahead of expectations.“ During this operation, the plant not only reached all contractual guaranteed values, but even significantly exceeded the guaranteed production capacity. Furthermore, a further 15 % specific energy consumption was saved compared to the original guaranteed values.”
Thanks to the successful start and the good cooperation, EuroChem has invited LOESCHE GUS to submit their quotation for two additional mills for a chemical processing plant that is currently being planned. A spare parts and service package is also being offered for the existing plant. Construction of the complete fertiliser plant is still underway, with an investment of approximately $ 150 million. When construction is concluded in 2018, the plant will boast an annual production of some 300,000 t NPK fertiliser( NPK fertilisers are three-component fertilisers providing nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), 600,000 t potassium sulphate, 660,000 t dicalcium phosphate( DCP), 1.2 Mt gypsum, 390,000 t calcium chloride, as well as 120,000 t magnesium sulphate. The phosphate products produced supply both the local and international markets, thus securing the supply of any EuroChem finishing plants and contributing to a further increase in the development of the region. www. loesche. com
BME drilling and blasting conference highlights positives
There was heartening news for mines and miners at the recent BME Annual Drilling and Blasting Conference in Pretoria – with views that commodity prices may be turning, and news of innovations that will save mines money as they struggle to stay profitable. According to Economist Dr Roelof Botha, the volume of total mining production has last year shown signs of stabilising when compared to 2013 – particularly in terms of platinum and iron ore.“ Also, in the first quarter of this year, the demand for gold reached its second-highest quarterly level in history, which is fantastic news,” said Dr Botha.“ What is good for gold is, as a rule, good for the South African economy.”
Reflecting on activity in the exploration sector, BME Managing Director Joe Keenan said there were signs that confidence was returning to commodities, and it was unlikely that prices would worsen beyond current levels. However, Keenan suggested that a global economic recovery may still be a couple of years away. Notwithstanding the cyclical difficulties, he said BME – part of the JSE-listed Omnia Group – was still forging ahead in terms of cost-saving innovations and opening up new markets.“ BME has become very much an international company, operating in over 23 countries while pursuing business opportunities in large markets like the USA and Canada,” he said.“ This year also saw our first delivery of Axxis products to Colombia, and a contract on the expanding rail system in Singapore.”
The conference focused on technological innovations in the field of blasting that could reduce costs in mining in the short term while improving safety levels and productivity. A key advance was in the employment of emulsions in underground mining; BME in partnership with Gold One’ s Modder East mine had implemented the world’ s deepest emulsion pipeline, and developed the infrastructure to use emulsion explosives in the narrow-reef environment.
“ The system at Modder East is the result of three years of hard work, but we’ ve achieved what no-one has accomplished before,” James McArdle, Explosives and Technical Manager at Modder East, told delegates.“ While we were already using emulsion explosives in development operations, we took a bold step forward. We have successfully installed and commissioned the world’ s first longest drop Rapid Re-Loading Emulsion System of 318 m to underground storage tanks and now leverage its benefits and cost-savings in day-to-day operations.”
Addressing the risk of lightning to mines’ blasting activities, BME Technical Director Tony Rorke pointed out that, lightning strikes poses significant dangers to South Africa’ s opencast mines. Rorke highlighted the potential for especially positive cloud-to-ground( CG) strikes to induce the unplanned detonation of explosives, and outlined the advances made in the second generation of the Axxis electronic detonation system – Axxis GII™ – to mitigate the risk of lightning-induced initiation.
The cellular phone was another focus of innovation at the conference, with BME Senior Software Developer Nicky Klacar demonstrating the power of mobile applications in drilling and blasting.“ Tablets and phones can help monitor
aspects of operations – even underground – and improve efficiencies as a result of knowing how well plans were turned into action,” said Klacar.“ Even a simple photograph of a drilled round on a stope face – taken with a tablet underground – can provide valuable data to be measured and analysed as part of continuous improvement practices.” She highlighted BME’ s Blastlog Reporter, an app through which minerelated data can be stored and presented according to what the user requires, and avoiding a deluge of unnecessary information.
“ For an operation to run optimally, staff need to be aware of anything exceptional that is taking place with production or machinery – or any deviations that indicate a problem somewhere,” she said.“ Apps like Blastlog can do this, and even people who are not familiar with computers can use a cell phone.”
The BME conference, held annually for the past 24 years, attracted over 450 delegates from 15 countries including Poland, Singapore, Australia, Canada, United States, the Czech Republic, Zambia and Botswana. www. bme. co. za
4 International Mining | JANUARY 2017