In 2013, Loesche Latinoamericana SAU signed a contract with Societe Le Nickel- SLN, part of the ERAMET group, for the design and delivery of a new coal grinding plant to be installed in the nickel production plant already operating in Nouméa, New Caledonia. Doniambo – Le Nickel-SLN selected the vertical mill technology from LOESCHE for the preparation and coal injection into their kiln burners used for nickel mineral drying.

LOESCHE will supply the whole coal grinding plant, from trucks receiving hopper up to the existing fine coal storage silos and two silos to feed the ATEC GRECO Flexigen® Hot Gas Generators of 53 MW each. The heart of this coal grinding plant will be a LOESCHE vertical roller mill of the type LM 27.2D capable of producing 42 t/h at 15% R90
microns. The gearbox will have a power of 530 kW and the integrated Flexigen® Hot Gas Generator, which will be delivered by ATEC GRECO, will have a capacity of 7 MW.

The scope of supply of LOESCHE includes all mechanical equipment, transports, silos, hot gas generator for the mill itself, the electrical equipment, motors, instrumentation as well as detail mechanical and electrical engineering. LOESCHE Latinoamericana is managing the project which is now being delivered. LOESCHE will carry out the installation supervision and will be fully responsible of the commissioning of the plant planned for the end of 2014.