WORLD PROSPECTS
MMD Surge Loader assembly underway
A
t the Macquarie Australia Conference that
took place May 1/2 in Sydney, Australia,
Stephen McIntosh, Group Executive –
Growth & Innovation at Rio Tinto confirmed that
the company is “trialling a revolutionary method
of truck-shovel mining” at Kennecott Utah
Copper’s Bingham Canyon copper mine in the
US, and went on to name the mobile surge
loader from MMD, which MMD refers to as the
Fully Mobile Surge Loader. MMD itself said
today in its own release that the first unit was
starting final assembly at an unnamed US
mining operation.
Rio describes the Surge Loader as an
integrated, mobile hopper bin and loading chute
that accepts ore/waste directly from the loading
unit so the loading unit doesnt have to wait for
the truck. It cites an expected increase in
productivity of 50% of the digger as a result of
cutting shovel hang time, removing spot and
reverse at shovel, and increasing effective
utilisation. Added to this a 98% accuracy in
loading of trucks is expected; with an average of
75 seconds and trucks positioned within 1 cm.
The miner said commissioning is expected in
June 2019 with a 12 month pilot test starting in
August 2019. The future decision on deployment
will be based on these field results.
MMD itself did not name the US customer but
has stated: “This revolutionary concept is based
on proven innovative MMD technology that has
already been tried and tested on projects in
Colombia and China. The Surge Loader has been
designed to transform the way mines operate
their truck-and-shovel fleets.”
MMD’s manufacturing commitment for this
project has been handled by several of the
group’s facilities worldwide, with parts coming
from the UK, South Africa, India, China, Australia
and the USA. Installation and Service teams will
be onsite to facilitate efficient assembly and
commissioning phases, whilst providing
dedicated support and guidance to the customer.
MMD adds: “With such keen interest in the
project from a number of departments, MMD
will be providing a time-lapse camera link for
key individuals to stay connected with
developments and keep tabs on the build –
wherever they are in the world. This is just one
of a number of additional value-added benefits
MMD is offering its customers on collaborative
large-scale installation projects.”
The company says expectations for the Surge
Loader to deliver increased shovel utilisation of
nearly 95%, reduce OPEX costs and improved
operator safety “mean that the next three
months are going to pass by with eager
anticipation.” www.mmdsizers.com
TOMRA XRT tech recovers 1,758 ct diamond
L
ucara Diamond Corp claims to have found and
recovered one of the largest diamonds in
recorded history at its Karowe operation in
Botswana.
The 1,758 ct diamond was recovered through
Lucara’s X-Ray Transmission (XRT) circuit,
commissioned in April 2015 by TOMRA Sorting
Mining.
Lucara said it is the largest diamond recovered in
Botswana, and the largest diamond to be mined at
Karowe to date. It comes on top of the 1,111 ct
diamond the company recovered in 2015.
“Weighing close to 352 g and measuring 83 mm
x 62 mm x 46 mm, the diamond has been
characterised as near gem of variable quality,
including domains of high-quality white gem,”
Lucara said.
Since commissioning of the XRT circuit in 2015, a
total of 12 diamonds in excess of 300 ct have been
recovered at Karowe, including two greater than
1,000 ct, from a total production of around 1.4 Mct.
Of the 12 plus-300 ct diamonds recovered, 50%
were categorised as gem quality with 11 sold to
date, generating revenue in excess of $158 million,
Lucara said.
Geoffrey Madderson, Diamond Segment
Manager for TOMRA Sorting Mining, said: “As the
largest diamond ever recovered by a mechanical
process, it reinforces the unparalleled value XRT
offers kimberlite and diamond mining companies.
Lucara’s innovative strategy, in combination with
TOMRA’s world-class sensor technology, has once
again proved an enormous success.”
Eira Thomas, Lucara’s CEO, said: “Lucara’s
technologically-advanced, XRT diamond recovery
circuit has once again delivered historic results.
Strong start for RCR Mining under NRW
R
CR Mining Technologies has continued its
strong start under the guidance of new
owner NRW Holdings, winning a “significant”
original equipment manufacturer (OEM) equipment
package from Rio Tinto for the miner’s Koodaideri
iron ore project in the Pilbara of Western Australia.
The new order is for the supply of three large
apron feeders, 11 slide gates and two belt feeders,
to a combined value in excess of A$18 million ($12.2
million), NRW said.
NRW signed a deal with RCR Tomlinson’s
administrators, back in January, to acquire the
mining and heat treatment businesses of RCR for
A$10 million in cash. Back then, NRW said the
6 International Mining | JUNE 2019
purchase of the international OEM and innovative
materials handling designer would allow the
company to provide incremental services, in
line with its strategic objectives, to several
core clients common to both NRW and the
RCR businesses.
Ian Gibbs, Executive General Manager of
RCRMT, said: “RCRMT has a long and proud
history of supplying major equipment to Rio
Tinto and the WA mining industry.
“Since transitioning to NRW ownership,
we have been able to secure orders for all
the current major iron ore projects to retain
our status as the market leader in the design
Karowe has now produced two diamonds greater
than 1,000 ct in just four years, affirming the
coarse nature of the resource and the likelihood of
recovering additional, large, high quality
diamonds in the future, particularly as we mine
deeper in the orebody and gain access to the
geologically favourable EM/PK(S) unit, the source
of both of our record breaking, plus-1,000 ct
diamonds.”
TOMRA XRT technology
Designed to handle high-tonnage feeds, TOMRA
XRT technology recognises and separates material
based on its specific atomic density. It uses a
cutting-edge X-Ray camera with DUOLINE ® sensor
technology to measure spectral absorption
information. TOMRA Sorting’s proprietary high-
speed X-Ray processing unit uses the data to
produce a detailed “density image” of the material.
The result is a high level of purity in sorting
materials, irrespective of size, the degree of
moisture, or surface pollution present.
www.lucaradiamond.com
www.tomra.com/mining
and manufacture of apron and belt feeders, which is
an exciting achievement against a highly regarded
multinational supply market.” www.nrw.com.au