HEAVY ENGINEERING & WEAR PARTS
rate ( 0.5 % increase ), decreased specific energy consumption ( 10 % decrease ), decreased ball consumption rate ( 25 % decrease ), decreased ( or eliminated ) discharge grate blockage percentage , and decreased ( or eliminated ) grinding ball breakage .
The trial commenced in late 2017 and continued for about a year . During this time , very close monitoring of operational data , along with several site visits to observe the performance of the SAG mill and media , were performed .
“ The test provided solid and consistent evidence that the performance of ME Elecmetal 125 mm Super SAG grinding media met or exceeded expectations ,” ME Elecmetal claimed .
“ In particular , measuring media performance in three different ways ( energy consumption , throughput rate and operating time ) demonstrated a positive step change with no indication of any change in ore characteristics ,” the company said .
With the minimisation of ball breakage – the aim of the trial was less than 1 % of the total balls – site management was confident in further increasing SAG steel load to achieve a throughput rate of circa-3,500 t / h . This represented a significant increase in production revenue for the copper operation , ME Elecmetal said . At the same time , SAG mill scats were now being considered for use as ball mill media with the purchase of a sorting mechanism .
In addition , the site can consider increasing the slot size in some grates to allow more spherical media to exit the mill .
Engineering expansion
Renowned for its expertise in designing and delivering large girth gears for grinding mills and mill shells in concert with major OEMs , Australia-based Hofmann Engineering is , once again , expanding its presence in major mining markets .
The company branched out into the Americas in 2012 with the start-up of its Chile manufacturing facility , built on this in 2018 with a factory opening in Peru and , in July 2020 , started up Hofmann Engineering North America with a plant in Ontario , Canada .
This 4,645 sq . m facility comes with 60 t of crane capacity ( two units ) and a 4,366 sq . m factory floor . From this North America hub – located close to Quebec and Ontario ’ s major gold mines and the oil sands of Alberta – the company can produce mill and kiln gears , mill and kiln pinions , gear boxes , and all major mechanical components for draglines from this base .
Hofmann Engineering North America also has the capacity to produce swing , propel , hoist and crowd transmissions for electric rope shovels that are fully interchangeable with OEM
In July 2020 , Hofmann Engineering started up its North America operations with a 4,645 sq . m facility in Ontario , Canada
components , and complete undercarriage components for hydraulic excavators .
The Ontario facility leverages Hofmann ’ s global haul truck expertise , too , and is able to offer both mechanical and electrical final drive transmissions and associated components interchangeable with OEM products for vehicles such as Caterpillar ’ s 797 , 793 , 789 , 785 and 777 trucks , Komatsu ’ s 930E and 830E ultraclass vehicles , Hitachi ’ s EH4500-1 , EH4500-2 and EH5000 units and Liebherr ’ s T282B & T282C trucks .
On top of adding large dragline component contracts and capabilities for in-house testing of large vibrating screens in Australia to its offering over the past year , Hofmann has also put in place plans to build its eighth factory around the world in the iron ore rich Pilbara region of Western Australia .
China-based equipment OEM CITIC Heavy Industries Co Ltd ( CITIC HIC ) has also been expanding its international presence .
One of its products recently premiered at the Kamoa-Kakula copper project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC ), majority-owned by Ivanhoe Mines ( 39.6 %) and Zijin Mining ( 39.6 %).
Two ball mills , transported in three shipments , have now been installed on site . The initial shipment for the first line included a 7,800 kW , 21 ft x 31.5 ft ( 6.4 m x 9.6 m ) primary ball mill and a secondary ball mill of the same power rating and size .
With the project owners having now signed off the long-lead items for an expanded 7.6 Mt / y operation , the plant will eventually include two modules , consisting of two of these lines ( each of the two 3.8 Mt / y grinding lines having a primary and secondary ball mill ) from CITIC HIC .
Brakes off
SIBRE Siegerland Bremsen GmbH ’ s more than 60 years of operating history has seen the company engaged in development and production of brake systems for multiple industries including mining .
In 2019 , SIBRE introduced its new generation of thruster disc brakes , the USB5 series , mainly used as service brakes .
The new design has led to a standardised functional principle for the brakes , available in five different sizes , designed for hoisting and conveyor applications . The brakes are a springapplied , fail-safe design intended as a calliper brake that is activated or closed by spring force .
For those customers used to SIBRE ’ s thruster disc brakes , the new series comes with identical conditions regarding installation , adjustment and maintenance . This is reinforced with full control and a status overview of the brakes via the company ’ s SSM – SIBRE Status Monitoring – system . This system allows the user to check the status of the brake from the comfort of their office .
Another new product in SIBRE ’ s offering is an upgraded design of its SHI series calliper brakes for emergency brake applications . The SHI features a piston design that , the company claims , is “ decoupled ” from radial forces to deliver an increased lifetime .
“ The new SHI has been redesigned for improved force distribution and reduced risk of leakage ,” SIBRE said . “ A new lining material compound provides a more stable friction coefficient , and the brake is equipped with a simple manual wear compensator system . The SHI disc brake is applied by spring force and hydraulically released .”
Fossil-free steel
Earlier this year , Volvo Group and SSAB signed a collaboration agreement on research , development , serial production and commercialisation of the world ’ s first vehicles to be made of fossil-free steel .
SSAB has already stated its aim of supplying the market with fossil-free steel using hydrogen at a commercial scale from 2026 in line with the framework of the HYBRIT initiative , which SSAB has been driving with LKAB and Vattenfall since 2016 . A HYBRIT pilot plant has been in place
International Mining | JUNE 2021