After a successful trial, Weir is to deliver the first of three new ESCO® Nexsys™ rope shovel lip upgrades to a large iron mine in Brazil, it says.
This 33 cu.m meter bucket will be attached to a Caterpillar 7495 rope shovel.
Weir says the Nexsys system is designed to lower lip maintenance requirements, extend tooth and adapter life and, ultimately, provide miners with longer uninterrupted shovel operation. This translates to increased production, safety and sustainability.
Weir has achieved this using field data from hundreds of Whisler Plus™ system installations, laboratory simulation and analysis and customer input, it says.
“We’ve been serving Whisler Plus customers for 20 years. We are proud of the reputation it has within the marketplace for wear life and longevity,” Kevin Stangeland, Vice President of Global Products, ESCO, told IM at MINExpo 2024, in Las Vegas. “At the time of its release, Whisler Plus was seen as revolutionary; it has allowed us to capture a market share close to 50%.”
The NEXSYS system comes with a new tooth design that requires fewer point changes, according to the company. This is thanks to a rear wear cap that extends service life and protects the rear stabiliser boss. Additionally, the system has dual lock slots to allow lock installation on the side of the dipper with less wear. A single sealed lock on the GET teeth reduces impacted fines for easier removal with an off-the-shelf hand tool.
Weir also stresses the benefits of an optimised nose position and geometry for an extension of adapter life with improved penetration and loading. An advanced point configuration maintains a sharp profile and increases life by over 15%, the company claims.
The addition of a leading edge lip insert – made from a very high hardness alloy – to increase adapter stability and better distribute loads, provides up to four times greater resistance to wear, reducing overall rebuild complexity and cost, according to Weir, plus it has an up to 15% lighter adapter for overall system weight savings.
At MINExpo, Stangeland confirmed the NEXSYS GET Lip System had been “in the dirt” with field trials for over 18 months at three trial sites – one of these in iron ore – with up to 40% total cost of ownership reductions calculated through fewer “downtime events” and fewer components used during the campaign.
He said the company was using the findings from these positive trials to “refine” and “optimise” the system ahead of going commercial with NEXSYS system.