Small to mid-sized track mounted crushing plants are more associated with urban redevelopment projects, not high production mining operations. But given that they are agile, mobile, and versatile they can be customised for multiple uses in the mining industry, representing a form of in-pit crushing and conveying technology.

In May 2014, TRIO commissioned a MTJ3254 totally self contained crawler mounted jaw crushing plant for a large Brazilian iron ore producer. One of the first assignments for TRIO’s crawler mounted primary crusher is to provide feed for the main ore processing plant while a modernisation project is completed on the older primary section and then it will be used to augment production at other sites.

Collaborating with the mines operations team, TRIO incorporated some customised solutions into the MTJ3254s’ design for this 800 t/h production application. The feed hopper was designed to accept feed from an wheel loader, with self-relieving geometry for the moisture saturated ore. The vibrating grizzly feeder was equipped with a special suspension to accept the heavy surge loads from iron ore dumping, and a hydraulic hammer was provided to break the occasional oversize ore and keep production running smoothly.

“The rugged, reliability of TRIO’s self-contained diesel-electric generator power supply was a key factor in the customer’s selection of the MTJ3254”, says TRIO. For this project the electrical platform was easily modified to also accept commercial power when available. TRIO’s simple, electrical platform utilises heavy duty switchgear, cable and premium efficiency electric motors rather than hydraulic pumps, piping, fittings and hydraulic motors.  The company states: “Simple, rugged and reliable, TRIO’s track mounted crushing and screening plants can provide cost-effective solutions for aggregate, mining or recycling applications, whether it is a congested metropolitan environment or a wide open mining project.”