HEAVY ENGINEERING AND WEAR PARTS
17.53 Mt.
Freundt added:“ It’ s important to note that the removal was carried out in order to close the test and perform a full wear assessment. However, it was observed that the liners were still in good condition and still have remaining service life.”
Spin Peru and ROXON estimate that, by the end of the liners’ lifespan, approximately 20 Mt will have been processed.
Following the success of this trial, ROXDUR skirting liners are now being installed in the chute conveyors at the same site.
ROXON products are fully made from recycled iron and carbides, with material efficiency, reduced wear material consumption and the use of renewable energy making ROXDUR the most sustainable solution, the company says, claiming that only 4 kg of CO 2 is produced per tonne of ROXDUR manufactured.
PolyFIT processing proposal
ME Elecmetal has a case study of its own to highlight the wear life benefits of its ME PolyFIT ® composite feed head liners in a 34 ft( 10.4 m) SAG mill at an open-pit coppermolybdenum mine in British Columbia, Canada.
This mine operates two grinding circuits, each with a 34 ft x 14 ft 8 in SAG mill.
In early 2023, a manufacturer’ s inspection revealed structural concerns in the feed end head of SAG # 1, including a circumferential wear pattern and erosion up to 150-mm deep at the flange / joint. With extended lead times from the manufacturer for replacement components( 68 weeks lead time; 38 weeks expedited) and potential risks to the mill’ s integrity, it became critical to reduce stress on the feed end without compromising operational efficiency.
The existing configuration consisted of four Cr-Mo steel liner rings( inner, mid-inner, mid-outer and outer), totaling 92,576 kg and 64 components. The mid-outer liner( FEMO) was the critical wear section, limiting the liner’ s lifespan to approximately 7.77 Mt of throughput in prior campaigns.
ME Elecmetal proposed a three-ring composite liner system using ME PolyFIT, combining abrasion-resistant steel and rubber to strategically distribute weight and wear protection. Key features of the solution included:
• Elimination of the joint between the inner
Quantity of the hybrid( ME PolyFIT) feed end liners installed in SAG # 1 at the mine in British Columbia
and mid-inner liners to reduce stress concentrations;
• Higher rubber content in low-wear areas for aggressive weight reduction;
• Use of abrasion-resistant steel( Hardox ®) for improved sliding wear resistance in high-wear zones; and
• Reduction of lifter height by 30 mm to reduce liner mass.
The resulting configuration reduced the total number of pieces from 64 to 48 and the weight from 92,576 kg to 61,408 kg – a 33 % reduction.
The ME PolyFIT liners were installed on December 7, 2023, without issue, according to the company, maintaining the same footprint, bolt pattern and installation procedures as the previous steel liners.
On top of the weight reduction, the solution also provided a 7 % decrease in feed end bearing pressure, reducing mechanical stress and removing a historical constraint in the first 2-3 weeks, post-reline. The operation also observed a 6.2 % reduction in specific energy consumption – despite a slight( 0.7 %) increase in average power draw – plus a 7.8 % increase in fresh feed throughput.
Alongside this, reduced noise levels were
measured, suggesting higher mill fill levels and more stable operation, the company noted.
The ME PolyFIT liners ran a complete campaign, processing 8.63 Mt of ore: an 11 % increase over the best-performing steel liner campaign. ME Elecmetal said:“ The outer bolt hole region of the mid-outer liner remained the critical wear zone, but the enhanced liner design maintained structural integrity throughout the campaign.”
3D wear scans confirmed that the liners approached end-of-life condition with minimal residual wear margin, validating ME Elecmetal’ s wear prediction and design choices.
Based on wear-tracking data, the feed end inner liner was redesigned to further extend service life and is currently in operation. A second installation in July 2024 combined cast steel and composite liners to use existing inventory, demonstrating compatibility and modular application potential.
The success of the trial prompted plans to extend the ME PolyFIT solution to the second SAG mill and explore further applications, including discharge liner replacements, the company concluded.
International Mining | JUNE 2026