IM 2019 August 19 | Page 20

MINE HOISTS TURBOLITE ® M, a new 8-strand compacted hybrid hoist rope for underground mining. “TURBOLITE ® M delivers the best strength-to-weight ratio in the industry and is measurably lighter than standard steel ropes. Its high-strength plastic impregnated fibre core is fatigue-resistant and makes installation and rope maintenance easier.” “In extensive field-testing, TURBOLITE M ropes have been in service four years in an underground vertical shaft used on a drum winder. These ropes still have significant life remaining, and are approaching three times the normal service life of flattened strand ropes. Higher strength, lighter weight TURBOLITE M ropes provide top performance and service life, minimising downtime and lowering the overall cost of ownership.” Deep shaft mining ropes To meet a mine’s hoist emergency stopping and parking application requirements, Twiflex provided Series VKSD spring-applied, hydraulically released, dual-spring caliper brakes The industry-leading SOBO iQ braking controller combines cutting-edge technologies to provide significant flexibility, safety and durability on applications including mine hoists. The controller features three-state digital modulation and a revolutionary dual-loop PI control (pressure/speed). The pressure control is based not only on speed but also on deceleration. Manufactured in-house, Svendborg Brakes’ specialised hydraulic power units are engineered to perform in tough mining applications. Synthetic mine ropes on the horizon Global leader in the supply of mining ropes, Bridon-Bekaert, recently said that it and Applied Fiber are combining their expertise to develop and bring to the market advanced solutions to improve efficiency and safety in heavy industrial operations including mining. “During the last decade, high performance synthetic fibre materials are playing an important role in new rope product developments. Within heavy industrial applications in particular, these lightweight materials can provide compelling improvements to operational efficiency and workforce safety. Both heavy equipment and operations stand to benefit from specific advantages of synthetic fibre, however terminations on large and critical ropes have historically been a conversion barrier. Combining advanced fibre rope and termination expertise accelerates the rate of advancement towards high performance termination solutions.” Bridon-Bekaert said its long standing steel and synthetic ropes expertise, and “profound application knowledge” combined with the “termination excellence of Applied Fiber” are “a 18 International Mining | AUGUST 2019 recipe for success to address the industry challenges of customers worldwide.” “Bridon-Bekaert is pleased to announce our companies will be working together. This collaboration fits perfectly in our mission to be the leading innovator, developer and producer of the best performing ropes and advanced cords globally. Providing terminated fibre rope solutions for high impact and performance driven applications complements our steel, synthetic and hybrid rope solution offerings to our customers,” said Brett Simpson, CEO of Bridon- Bekaert “Terminated fibre ropes using Applied Fiber’s leading technology opens new options for high performance synthetic rope. In some cases the synthetic offering may retrofit directly into existing steel wire applications and provide key performance benefits. The use of Applied Fiber’s developed and proven termination technology also addresses the historical construction limitations on the fibre rope itself. Given the lack of end-connection options, typical fibre ropes are designed around the limits of splice-able connection. Terminated fiber ropes, engineered together, opens many new performance options.” Elsewhere, CASAR part of global company WireCo WorldGroup has introduced CASAR, part of global company WireCo WorldGroup, has introduced TURBOLITE ® M, a new 8-strand compacted hybrid hoist rope for underground mining Teufelberger-Redaelli told IM that over the last six years it has very successfully tested its new High Performance Hoist Rope for drum winders. The 7Mine was tested on several multi- layer drum The 7Mine rope has been successfully tested on several multi-layer drum winders in South Africa and Canada winders in South Africa and Canada. “In all cases the new 7Mine hoist rope was able to significantly outperform the previously used triangular strand ropes in terms rope service life. Additionally the rope showed a lot less torque and an improved rope stretch characteristic compare to triangular strand ropes.” So far, the deepest shaft equipped with a 7Mine was in South Africa with a depth of around 2,300 m. The two ropes supplied were 54 mm in diameter and had a length of 2,700 m each. Teufelberger-Redaelli says it developed this new high performance rope to replace triangular strand ropes without any downsides in terms of rope weight and breaking strength. “The rope will help mines to improve the productivity of their existing systems by using a modern state of the art high performance hoist rope.” Based on the “extremely positive” field-tests Teufelberger-Redaelli says it is convinced that it has now a high performance rope it its mining portfolio which can be used in the deepest mines on earth without negatively affecting the existing system. IM