MINERAL PORTS AND STOCKPILES
indurad iStockpile4D : voxel database generated from a 3D radar volumetric scan and 1D timestamping
machine automation package , iStacker and iReclaimer . As a result , customers obtain an optimal 3D radar environmental sensing package that , the company says , offers improved productivity , collision avoidance , inventory visibility and process control .
Customers can use any stockpile management , Manufacturing Execution System , logistics , or data analytics software to draw from this valuable data , the company added .
Spence sulphides
It is a leach pad system in Chile where FAM ’ s bulk handling solution expertise has recently been on full show .
The first expansion stage of the handling equipment of the leach pad system at the BHP-owned Minera Spence copper mine in northern Chile was completed all the way back in 2006 .
This turnkey facility consisting of 21 machines ( BWRs , tripper cars , belt wagons , stackers and conveyors ) and weighing approximately 7,500 t was installed by FAM within only 24 months after the contract award . It was an extremely short timespan
for such a massive , newly developed handling system , according to the company .
Over time , FAM completed several further scheduled plant expansions , which included , inter alia , implementation of a second BWR and installation of additional belt conveyors .
“ The installed technology and the achieved performance parameters have proven the efficiency of the handling solution for the leaching processes presented by FAM , and the entire FAM plant concept enjoys now a worldwide acknowledgement and application ,” the company explained .
In 2020 , the mine started replacing one of the mobile conveyor bridges delivered years ago by a new bridge designed by FAM , which includes the most modern mechanical components , as well as advanced electrical and instrumentation and control technology , according to the company . This upgrade will substantially increase the handling capacities in leach stockpiles for copper sulphide .
By means of a tripper car , the material is transferred from the feed belt conveyor to the mobile conveyor bridge , which has a centre distance of 426 m . The conveyor bridge moves on a total of nine double crawlers in the direction of the stockpile . On top of the bridge , a tripper car runs and discharges the material systematically line by line using a cross conveyor . This ensures uninterrupted operation with a capacity of 5,500 t / h , which results in achievement of a very precise stockpile shape using the FAM-developed control system , based on GPS data , it said .
The requirements for the ground surface preparation are low due to a special design of the crawler-mounted conveyor bridges , according to FAM .
Owing to the new operating principle developed and patented by FAM , individual double crawler tracks can easily compensate not only for differences in ground inclination in all directions , but also in height . The position of the entire mobile conveyor can be adjusted at any time , even in a longitudinal direction .
The entire system has been designed for easy maintenance , according to FAM . A high level of component unification has been achieved , which reduces the spare part inventories for individual items , drive units and even complete undercarriages .
The FAM scope of supply included project design , manufacturing , delivery , assembly supervision and commissioning of all mechanical components , electrical systems and control technology .
Elsewhere at the mine , FAM recently completed extensive reconstruction activities aimed at increasing the performance of the MH014 rail-bound tripper car with a slewing boom in the Ripios Section of Minera Spence : ripios being spent , previously leached ore , some of which is being reprocessed .
Installation of a new , reinforced discharge boom ( including a portal for the lower ring beam ), replacement of the ball bearing slewing ring and installation of additional travel drives served to increase the output of the machine from 4,000 t / h to 5,300 t / h of leached copper ore . At the same time , a new cable drum carriage was added to the conveyor line . This enables continuous operation over the entire length ( around 1.2 km ) of the shiftable conveyor CV027 without having to change the feed source for the stacking devices .
Re-claiming new ground
Dalian Huarui Heavy Industry ( DHHI ) has been making an impression in Australia at some major projects in recent years .
On the bulk handling side , the China-based company is involved in the design and manufacture of
stackers , reclaimers , stacker / reclaimers and spreaders with 100 t / h to 20,000 t / h capacities . It also provides a range of car dumper unloading systems .
It claims to be the leader in port machinery in China , with capabilities to develop 500-3,600 t / h ship unloaders , 800-15,000 t / h ship loaders and a variety of cranes . Its expertise also expands to conveyor and crushing systems .
The company is currently involved in the Fortescue Metals Group ’ s Eliwana iron ore project in the Pilbara , where it is equipping a 5,850 t / d stacker / reclaimer at the mine ’ s stockyard . These major pieces of equipment arrived late in 2020 and are due to be assembled and commissioned this year .
According to an Environmental Review Document filed by Fortescue , a linear stacker positioned at the Eliwana stockyard will discharge to the four linear stockpiles , each with a length of some 600 m , and ore will be collected using a BWR . The reclaimer will discharge ore to a reclaim conveyor belt , from which ore will be transported to the train load out via a load out conveyor . The load out conveyor will include a direct load option from the ore processing facility ( OPF ) so that product can be transferred directly between the OPF and the train load out ( bypassing the stockyard ).
Eliwana , which celebrated first ore through the ore processing facility at the back end of last year , involves the development of a new 30 Mt / y dry ore processing facility and infrastructure , along with 143 km of rail . It has been built to maintain Fortescue ’ s overall production rate of a minimum 170 Mt / y over 20 years .
Prior to the work at Eliwana , DHHI installed one of the largest capacity reclaimers in Australia at the Roy Hill operation , also in the Pilbara .
Part of a ship loader , stacker / reclaimer and car dumper system with a 5,000-14,500 t / h capacity , it involved two 5,000 t / h mine stackers , two 14,500 t / h port stackers , one 13,700 t / h fixed stacker , two 14,400 t / h reclaimers , one 40 t / h tandem car dumper and one 12,700 t / h ship loader .
DHHI installed one of the largest capacity reclaimers in Australia at the Roy Hill iron ore operation in the Pilbara . This reclaimer is fitted with an indurad iReclaimer solution , which , according to Vedat Maric , Roy Hill Manager Electrical & Control Systems Engineering , has improved the reclaimer net production rate by 4.3 % and reduced the overtorque of the bucketwheel drive by 75 %
58 International Mining | MARCH 2021