HEAVY ENGINEERING AND WEAR PARTS
Ruihua Tongyong Machinery facility, with guests including government officials, key customers and suppliers.
Molycop doubles Cilegon SAG ball capacity
In the plant space, Molycop recently strengthened its operations in Indonesia with the commissioning of a new SAG ball production line at its Cilegon facility.
This expansion, coupled with the acquisition of a state-of-the-art cast high chrome plant in Cikande, marks a significant milestone in the company’ s efforts to meet the growing demands of the Southeast Asian mining industry with efficiency and reliability, it says.
With these advancements, Molycop says
it enhances its ability to provide high-quality grinding media solutions for its customers and strengthens its position as a leader in grinding media manufacturing in Indonesia and in the wider region.
The Cilegon plant has been a key part of Molycop’ s Indonesia operations for over 25 years. Initially set up to serve the local market, it has now been upgraded to meet the rising demands of the broader Southeast Asian mining sector. The new SAG ball production line at Cilegon doubles the plant’ s production capacity from 50,000 t / y to 120,000 t / y. This expansion significantly improves the plant’ s ability to produce high-quality grinding media for the mineral processing industry.
Keith Ritchie, General Manager, Molycop Indonesia, said:“ This development significantly enhances our ability to deliver both forged and cast grinding media directly from within the region, reducing lead times and improving supply chain efficiency.”
At the heart of Cilegon’ s advanced technology is a heat treatment facility that, the company says, simultaneously optimises NG SAG abrasion resistance and toughness to maximise performance even in the most demanding mill environments. As well as featuring robust inline processes, the production line offers flexible product switching capabilities to allow for easy scaling up of specific product output as required.
The newly established cast high chrome plant in Cikande, the first to be 100 % Molycop-owned, adds another layer to Molycop’ s capabilities. The facility produces cast high chrome balls and cylpebs, two types of grinding media known for their high abrasion resistance and durability.
Za’ iimatul Husnaa Muharromiyya, Molycop Business Development Manager, said:“ Both the new SAG ball line and the cast high chrome plant are equipped with multi-layered heat treatment processes and
quality control facilities. This ensures that the grinding media we produce are of the highest standard, with consistent hardness, impact resistance and durability. Our customers benefit from reliable products that perform consistently in demanding milling conditions.”
Salyo Kahar Dikdoyo, Head of Commercial and Business Development, said:“ Molycop can now produce a wider range of sizes and compositions, providing customers with more options tailored to specific milling needs. This flexibility allows customers to select the most suitable grinding media for their operational conditions, which can lead to cost savings and improved grinding performance. The increased production capacity at Molycop’ s plants means our customers benefit from enhanced supply reliability, shorter lead times and access to the latest innovations in grinding media.”
The opening of the new SAG ball production line and acquisition of the cast high chrome plant at Cikande represent a strategic step forward for Molycop in Indonesia. By investing in advanced technologies, expanding production capacity and focusing on local manufacturing, Molycop says it has reinforced its reputation as a leader in grinding media solutions.
Optimising mantle profiles for gyratory crushers
The use of a new conical mantle design that leverages ME Elecmetal’ s proprietary manganese steel alloy is showing promise at a large copper concentrator, a new case study has shown.
This concentrator, which operates a 60”× 109” primary gyratory crusher, was experiencing challenges maintaining a stable closed-side setting( CSS) as the lower mantles approached end-of-life. The existing bell-shaped design led to localised wear and inconsistent crusher performance, resulting in coarser product size, reduced SAG mill efficiency and unplanned shutdowns, ME Elecmetal says.
To address these issues, the operation partnered with ME Elecmetal to trial this new conical mantle design.
The bell-shaped lower mantles of this crusher were wearing unevenly, resulting in:
• Unstable CSS and product size drift – Toward end‐of‐life, instantaneous crusher rate( ICR) climbed from circa-8,000 t / h to 20,000 t / h, driving a 20 % rise in + 6” material and a 20 % drop in −½” fraction to the SAG circuit;
• Localised bell‐shape wear – Scans showed excessive wear concentrated at the liner’ s base, limiting hydraulic cylinder travel and CSS control;
• Frequent change‐outs – Lower mantles were replaced every six months; concaves annually, with each swap cutting into mill availability; and
• Difficulty maintaining throughput targets – The customer was unable to meet the throughput targets set by their concentrator’ s optimisation program.
The program that ME Elecmetal and the client devised sought to improve CSS stability to ensure optimal and consistent crusher performance and feed size to downstream milling; extend mantle wear life and reduce unplanned downtime; and reduce localised wear that trigger power spikes and CSS drift through improved profile geometry.
ME Elecmetal proposed a two‐step implementation of machined conical mantles cast in manganese steel.
Phase 1 consisted of a mantle profile upgrade where ME Elecmetal introduced two conical lower mantle profiles( Ø108” and Ø109”) to eliminate pinch points and create a smoother crushing zone. Both mantles were cast in ME Elecmetal’ s manganese alloy and finished to precise specifications, with each installed with an initial CSS of 152 mm.
12 International Mining | JUNE 2025