Spotlight Feature Articles HEAVY ENGINEERING | Page 7
HEAVY ENGINEERING
production due to a preventable crusher
obstruction could cost the mine $1.25 million in
lost production,” the company said.
Over the course of a year, the system detected
12 missing loader teeth and experienced zero
crusher downtime – preventing the $1.25 million
annual production loss the mine would have
experienced prior to installing a missing tooth
detection system, Motion Metrics explained.
Spain-based MTG has also come up with
protective systems for GET, with the latest being
its new MTG SYSTEMS PROMET lip shroud
designed for 90 mm loader blades.
Coming in a series of 435 mm wide central and
lateral elements with a delta angle of 15˚, it
complements the existing PROMET loader lip
shroud sizes of 70 mm, 75 mm and 100 mm, the
company said.
“This expands our lip shroud size versatility as
well as loader blade configuration possibilities,”
MTG added.
The PROMET 90 is suitable for versatile loader
applications in the construction and mining
industry, in particular the Cat 933 or Komatsu WA
900 wheel loaders, the company said.
“It is compatible with both PROMET II and III
mechanical lip protectors and can be combined
with the STARMET tooth system for a complete lip
protection,” MTG said. “Additionally, the lifting
rings have been reinforced for safe transport and
handling, which underlines MTG’s commitment to
operational safety.”
The PROMET III range of lip protection for cast
lips and rope shovels, which has an improved
locking system formed by a weld-on base and a
new locking assembly, was only launched at the
end of 2019. Common to the entire range of lip
protectors, which include plate lips, cast lips and
rope shovels, PROMET III is composed of a block,
a plate and a bolt.
According to the company, the new locking
assembly on the system provides greater
reliability against loss or fall in the most
demanding uses, thanks to the replacement of the
pin and retainer with a bolt and a plate that offer
better performance.
It also helps reduce the required replacement
time by minimising the effects caused by
compaction to the bolt, which normally leads to
cleaning and subsequent handling.
Grinding media and mill linings
It is an appreciation of how its products affect the
entire mineral processing flowsheet that is
enabling Magotteaux to differentiate itself from
other comminution-focused companies on the
market.
Magotteaux has become renowned for
supplying cast and forged, low and high chromium
grinding media and tailored mill liners, but in
recent years has adopted a much more holistic
focus, according to Stephan Marin, the company’s
Regional Sales Manager of Mining for North
America.
“If you go back, Magotteaux worked a lot
focusing on the internal equipment in the mill –
grinding media, mill liners, etc,” he told IM. “In the
last few years, we have invested a lot of money
into looking into the rest of the process plant.”
This has seen the company come up with the
‘Magotteaux Mill’.
This ‘milling laboratory’ enables the company to
study the whole process flowsheet – from
crushing and grinding to flotation – and see what
impact a new mill liner or grinding media product,
for instance, has on the whole process.
“By taking this integrated approach, we can
assess how an upstream product affects
downstream processes, fixing potential issues that
arise throughout the flowsheet,” he said.
This ‘whole of process’ focus is opening several
potential avenues for the company to sell its
products, according to Marin.
For example, a customer may have approached
Magotteaux looking to reduce their SAG mill
grinding media consumption without increasing
the risk of breakage.
A switch to the company’s low-chrome Ecomax ®
Forged ball may provide the improvement the
customer was after, but the combination of this
media with a new mill liner from Magotteaux could
improve results further.
“The most important thing is to understand
their process and, based on that, use everything
we have in-house at Magotteaux to come up with
solutions that provide the best result, whether
that be reduced operating costs, improved
recoveries, reduced cyanide consumption, etc,”
Marin said.
Finding solutions, as opposed to simply selling
products, is becoming commonplace at
Magotteaux as the company continues to
collaborate with miners in ‘partnership’
agreements.
“Increasingly big miners are asking for
companies to be partners,” Marin said. “They
want you to look at their whole operation and set
up working groups and teams that work together
to solve problems that arise.”
After brainstorming with clients, Magotteaux
representatives on these teams provide feedback
to the company’s technical team to help bring a
solution to the client.
“A lot of the time, it may involve changing the
way the customer works in order to get the most
out of your products,” Marin explained. “It will
end up opening some doors that were previously
closed.”
This type of risk-sharing arrangement provides
benefits for both the miner and the manufacturer,
in this case.
The miner benefits from improved performance
through tailored solutions that have been studied
by dedicated team members, while the vendor
reduces the risk associated with creating new
products, knowing the investment is tied to
existing customer demand.
Magotteaux is making it much easier for mining
companies to visualise process improvements
using proprietary models and databases that
model a customer’s flowsheet.
By carrying out ore analysis and feeding certain
data into these databases, the company can
accurately predict grinding media wear, for
example.
“Even with projects that haven’t started
operating, we can project what the wear life will
be by using this data,” Marin said.
JUNE 2020 | International Mining