WORLD PROSPECTS
MAXAM taking on Chinese
M
ine blasting and explosives solutions
group MAXAM has announced the
official opening of its state-of-the-art
manufacturing plant in Pingyi, Shandong
Province, China. The strategic move marks the
official commencement of MAXAM’s business
operations in China, one of the largest and
fastest-growing civil explosive markets in the
world.
Located in the Lao Qiuyu mountain area in
Pingyi County, about 100 km northwest of Lingyi
City, the new facility will manufacture civil
explosives and initiation systems for the mining,
quarrying and infrastructure construction
industries in China. The plant has an annual
production capacity of 10,000 t of watergel
cartridges and 60 million detonators.
“We are very excited about starting our new
journey in China, a large and promising market,”
commented José Fernando Sánchez-Junco Mans,
Chairman and CEO, MAXAM. “The Chinese
economy is now on its strategic transformation
trajectory to sustainability and high-
quality growth, which provides
tremendous business opportunities
to MAXAM. Our new manufacturing
facility is evidence of MAXAM’s
confidence about its future in China
and its strong commitment to the
Chinese market.”
The new facility is a joint venture
project between MAXAM and Shandong Tianbao
and Weihai Yuboqiang, with an investment of
€70 million by MAXAM. “Through a joint venture
partnership, MAXAM brings its industry-leading
technologies and solutions to China, addressing
the growing needs of Chinese customers for
safe and higher-quality explosives, while
helping raise the bar of sustainability and safety
of the civil explosive industry.”
With a total area of 455,000 square metres,
the new plant adopts a culture of safety and
highly automated processes. “Here, MAXAM has
deployed their global standards and best
First ore on TAKRAF Chuqui Underground
A
fter successful pre-commissioning,
crushed copper ore was, recently
conveyed along the complete 13 km belt
conveyor system designed and delivered by
Tenova TAKRAF for Codelco’s Chuquicamata
Underground copper mining project in northern
Chile. The system has been dubbed “the world’s
most powerful belt conveyor system”.
Capacity of the entire system was steadily
increased so that on October 7, the system’s
design capacity of 11,000 t/h could be reached.
Commissioning will continue into the coming
weeks with final system performance testing
expected to be completed by year-end.
TAKRAF states: “Our world-leading belt
conveyor system transports crushed copper
from underground storage bins to the surface
along a 7 km underground tunnel that
overcomes a non-insignificant 1 km of vertical
elevation change. Once on the surface, ore is
then fed onto an overland conveyor that
The 13 km conveyor is gearless driven and has
both underground & surface sections
transports it the final 6 km to the distribution
silo.”
The underground system (comprising two
conveyors of about equal length) as well as the
overland conveyor boast advanced gearless
drive technology provided by drive technology
partner, ABB. Gearless drives eliminate the need
for a gearbox, hereby significantly reducing the
number of main wear parts, which results in
The new facility will manufacture civil
explosives and initiation systems for the
mining, quarrying and infrastructure
construction industries
practices, striving to guarantee utmost safety
and quality in operations. Founded by Alfred
Nobel in 1872, MAXAM is bringing to China the
energy and experience of a global technology
leader with 147 years of history.”
In addition to the new manufacturing facility
in Shandong, MAXAM now has offices in Beijing.
It currently employees over 100 employees in
China. www.maxam.net
increased efficiency and reliability, as well as
less maintenance being required. Further
advantages include a considerable reduction in
the drive system’s footprint and the amount of
instrumentation required.
Total installed drive power for the entire
system, including various feeder conveyors,
totals an incredible 58 MW, of which we have 11
x 5 MW gearless synchronous motors.
Marc Hollinger, TAKRAF Project Manager, had
this to say from site: “This mega project
achieves a number of world firsts, from the
system’s installed drive power to the first global
application of the ST 10,000 conveyor belt. With
this project, we firmly entrench Tenova TAKRAF
as one of the world’s only providers capable of
delivering a mega project of this nature
incorporating advanced technologies that really
push the boundaries of what has been done
before. This is a project that will certainly go
down in the record books as a defining moment
for our client and we are very proud to be a part
of this.” www.takraf.tenova.com
Outotec’s HIGmill selected for Iron Bridge
O
utotec has been awarded an order by Iron
Bridge Operations (IBO) for the delivery of
Outotec ® HIGmill ® high intensity grinding
mills and services for the Iron Bridge Magnetite
Project in Australia. IBO is a joint venture between
Fortescue Metals Group subsidiary FMG Magnetite
Pty Ltd and Formosa Steel IB. The order value of
approximately €50 million has been booked in
Outotec’s 2019 fourth quarter order intake.
Outotec’s scope includes the design and
delivery of ten advanced HIGmill grinding mills, as
well as installation and commissioning and site
services to support the customer with site
operation and maintenance. The deliveries will
take place in 2020 and 2021. When complete, the
4 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2019
project will produce 22 Mt/y of high grade 67%
iron magnetite concentrate product and will
deliver an energy efficient operation with globally
competitive capital intensity and operating costs.
“After extensive evaluation of available
technologies and a comprehensive test work
program in collaboration with Fortescue, Outotec
HIGmill technology was selected for this industry-
first process circuit due to significant benefits in
energy savings. Additionally, considering the
amount of grinding power required for this project
along with Fortescue’s objective to reduce the
total number of mills required, the HIGmill, with
the world’s highest available installed power in a
compact footprint, was best suited to meet the
customer’s requirements for this project,” notes
Kimmo Kontola, head of Outotec’s Minerals
Processing business. www.outotec.com