HIGH PROFILE
Luoyang taking on the mining world
Paul Moore visited the unique factory operations of CITIC
HIC in Luoyang, China in 2019 witnessing the breadth of
its fabrication, forging, machining and casting capabilities
plus reviewing its global reach & impressive mining
product offering from the largest mills to hoists, HPGRs,
stirred mills and primary crushers
CITIC HIC mills at Erdenet copper mine in Mongolia
tate owned mineral processing equipment
giant CITIC Heavy Industries Co., Ltd (CHIC)
is located in Luoyang, Henan Province, a
city of over 7 million people and famous not only
for heavy industry but also its annual peony
flower festival. CITIC HIC started business in 1956
with its first product being coal mine hoists, a
technology which it still supplies today. But only
since the late 1980s has the company been active
in the international market with its product lines.
Since then it has grown quickly and now
competes directly with the likes of Metso,
Outotec, FLSmidth and others, especially in
contracts for large AG, SAG and ball mills.
CITIC Censa in Spain is a complete story in
itself. In February 2011, CITIC HIC acquired
Gandara Censa SA as a new manufacturing hub. It
can supply full mills if required but specialises in
mill shells and gives CITIC a strategic second
location outside of Luoyang. It is only 25 km from
the port of Vigo. The site extends over 70,000
square metres of which 40,000 square metres are
under roof. It operates horizontal lathes up to 150
t and 7.9 m x 18 m length and vertical lathes up to
400 t and 20 m diameter as well as milling-boring
machines up to 21 m x 7 m.
CITIC HIC in Luoyang has complete
S
manufacturing resources from raw materials
through to forging, casting, machining, heat
treatment etc to the finished product, even
supplying logistical solutions. Designs are
developed using its own DEM simulation
modelling department and CITIC HIC’s
Technology Centre, Luoyang Mining Machinery
Engineering Design Institute (LMMEDI), is the
largest organisation for comprehensive
technology development and research for mining
and mineral processing equipment in China.
This vertical integration is in contrast to some
other global players, which as an example usually
buy in castings and other raw materials from
external suppliers. CITIC believes this position
gives it better quality control and better delivery
time guarantees not being dependent on external
suppliers. While its prices are lower than its
global competitors, they are not that much lower,
and it says this is possible due to the scale of its
manufacturing facilities and level of vertical
integration. “We always try to pursue the most
competitive price we can, but this is never to the
detriment of our equipment quality and post
delivery service offering,” Jin Song, the GM of the
International Company of CITIC HIC told IM.
In terms of market trends, CITIC HIC says that
miners increasingly are looking to work with
major mineral processing equipment suppliers
where they take on an EPS role and CITIC HIC has
already done this for customers in Russia, Korea
and Vietnam. There are also ongoing discussions
for EPC type projects in Africa. The company told
IM it is proud of not only being successful in
tenders for crushing and milling contracts but also
maintaining relationships with partners and
customers over many years.
CITIC HIC supplied all the major capital mineral
processing equipment to the CITIC Pacific iron ore
project – including no less than six lines each
having an AG mill 12.2 m x 11 m and ball mill 7.9 m
x 13.6 m, the AG mills powered by Siemens 28
MW gearless drives. CITIC HIC also has a good
relationship with global EPC/EPCM majors like
Ausenco, Fluor, Bechtel and SNC Lavalin. Other
engineering firms with a more specialist focus
have also worked with CITIC HIC, such as DRA, GR
Engineering, Primero and Lycopodium. Chinese
engineering companies are also gaining in
influence globally, all of which CITIC HIC has
worked with before in China – these include
groups like China ENFI, owned by MCC. CITIC HIC
told IM: “In the overseas market of course it helps
in the consideration of using Chinese equipment
where there is Chinese funding or where a
Chinese group has acquired a mine but often they
still rely on a local company for procurement.”
Jin Song comments: “Traditionally there is a
Western way of building up a mining project that
follows a certain procedure that has a high cost
and long construction time. With the experience
of Chinese companies from rapid urbanisation
and infrastructure projects in China, Chinese firms
can build mines much faster. In addition, Chinese
companies often have access when they go
overseas to Chinese enterprise funding meaning
things can happen much faster as investment is
already in place, whereas after the downturns,
Western banks have been much more reluctant to
bankroll mines. Not to mention our faster
equipment lead times and self sufficiency in
components and raw materials as well as our own
manufacturing and technology in Luoyang.” As
stated, CITIC HIC has its own logistics arm where
if needed it can ship all the way overland to the
customer (eg SAG and ball mills to Jiama Copper
in China’s Tibet region) or to ports for shipping out
of Shanghai or Tianjin.
Also in Australia, CITIC SMCC Process
Technology Pty Ltd was established in December
2012, following CITIC HIC’s acquisition of SMCC
Pty Limited founded by Dr Stephen Morrell in
2000. The company provides independent
consulting services from its office in Brisbane,
using proprietary CITIC SMCC IP simulation
MARCH 2020 | International Mining 69