Tag Archives: Bradken

Bradken aims for South America mill liner expansion with Funtec facility acquisition

Base metals, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , ,

Bradken, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd, has purchased the land, buildings and some facilities necessary for a foundry from Fundacion Technologica S.A. (Funtec), a manufacturer of steel castings for mining sites in Peru.

Bradken says it aims to rapidly supply products and further expand its mill liner business to respond to the vigorous demand in South America, with a focus on Peru and Chile where hard rock is mined in abundance. Bradken will now complete construction of the foundry with first production of large mill liners expected in 2026.

This recent purchase was decided as part of the goal to provide products and solutions that solve customer issues at various touch points from pit to plant at mining sites.

The South American market for mill liners is the world’s largest, according to Bradken, and focuses on hard rock. Chile and Peru, in particular, have a high concentration of copper and gold mines which account for more than 80% of the demand for large mill liners in the South American region, it said.

Currently, Bradken imports mill liners for the South American market from India and Canada. However, producing mill liners locally in Peru will build a speedy product supply system and improve the ability to meet the needs of customers, including providing a pathway to recycle spent liners, delivering a more sustainable mining process.

The foundry purchased from Funtec is located in Chilca, some 70 km south of the capital city of Lima, Peru. Since this foundry is located in an industrial park, has many of the main plant items on site and already has permission for plant operation, typical approval and construction times can be accelerated, according to the company.

Furthermore, due to the ability to procure power based on hydroelectric power generation utilising Peru’s water resources, the new plant is expected to reduce annual CO2 emissions during plant operation by approximately 95% compared with the use of typical electrical energy by maximising the usage of hydroelectric power, according to studies from Bradken.

This purchase marks the first large-scale investment project in South America in the independent business undertaken in the Americas by the Hitachi Construction Machinery Group since March 2022. In the future, the group will consider using the Peru foundry targeted for investment at this time as a depot for storing Hitachi Construction Machinery mining parts and plans to leverage it as a South American mining market base for the Hitachi Construction Machinery Group.

Bradken highlights Duaplate D80 wear performance in WA iron ore mine trial

Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Steel and iron ore, Sustainable mining, , , , ,

Bradken’s Duaplate® DX has recently been trialled in the lower section of a surge bin, at an iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, showcasing the weld overlay material’s ability to perform under extremely abrasive operating conditions.

The trial was completed back-to-back with Duaplate D80, a chromium carbide weld overlay that can withstand very high impact and very severe abrasive environments in the fixed plant industry, Bradken says.

Duaplate DX is manufactured to Bradken’s proprietary composition to create an incredible fine microstructure that provides a substantial improvement in the operational life over a traditional chromium carbide based overlay, the company says.

In the study, the two – Duaplate DX and Duaplate D80 – were compared with each other in identical chute lining applications. The DX chute was lined with 8 mm overlay, while the D80 chute was lined with 9 mm of overlay. The chutes were in service for six months and processed comparable material and tonnages, according to Bradken. At the end of the six-month trial period, the bins were removed from service and thickness testing was conducted to compare wear and impact performance between the two overlay materials.

Thickness testing data showed that similar locations were prone to high wear on both bins, however the DX material showed significantly less wear compared with the D80 material. In particular two areas were worn past the D80 overlay and through the mild steel fabrication. In the corresponding locations on the DX chute, there was still a minimum of 4 mm of overlay, or 50% of the wear life remaining.

The trial, therefore, showed that:

  • Bradken’s new Duaplate DX has up to 2.5 times longer wear life than Duaplate D80;
  • 8 mm of Duaplate DX is equivalent to at least 17 mm of Duaplate D80 in sliding abrasion conditions; and
  • A 50% reduction in liner mass; giving a significant reduction in manual handling risks, therefore improving safety concerns.

Bradken expands mining wear solutions offering and Americas presence with Linings buy

Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, , , , , , , ,

Bradken has confirmed its growth aspirations in the mining wear solutions space with the acquisition of Linings, a Peru-based leader in composite mill liners.

Bradken says its expansion into the manufacturing of rubber composite mill liners and other products confirms its focus on serving the mining sector with innovative wear solutions and the importance of South America to Bradken.

“Over our 100-year history, Bradken’s customer focus has always shaped our innovation and growth,” Bradken CEO, Sean Winstone, said. “This acquisition is a perfect example of us listening to our mining customers and seeing immense value in broadening our range of solutions to fuel our growth.

He added: “We are proud to lead the market in steel mill liners and, as mining operations develop, so will we. It’s great to expand our product offering into rubber composites and leverage the expertise and innovation of the Linings team to continue solving the challenges our customers face.”

Bradken, a subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery, began as an Australian foundry organisation and has grown to be a global entity focused on the mining sector and backed by an extensive manufacturing capability. Outside of wear solutions for mineral processing, mining fixed plant and mobile plant applications, Bradken delivers engineered bespoke castings for a range of industries in North America and supports the Australian sugar industry. This is the first manufacturing facility Bradken will have in South America.

Linings CEO, Manuel Marquez, said: “Joining Bradken is an excellent opportunity to combine the innovative composite products we have developed over the past 11 years with the depth of Bradken’s centenary of foundry experience, innovation and customer focus.

“This will allow us to have world-class tools and systems to provide our customers with outstanding pre- and post-sales service, as well as continuing to strengthen our supplier partnerships.”

New research collective to examine grinding mill process

Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mineral processing, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining techniques, Power supply for mines, Sustainable mining, , , , , , ,

Bradken, as part of a research collective, is to work on a project aimed at delivering a digital step-change in grinding mill design and performance.

The company, which specialises in equipment wear parts and services, made the announcement following the award of an Australian Government grant of A$545,000 ($362,264) for the project, which will focus on comminution and developing super-accurate simulations of the grinding mill process, it said.

Bradken Global Research and Development Manager, Reece Attwood, said the potentially game-changing project would give global mining and resources operators the ability to precisely target grinding efficiency, mill liner service life, power consumption and carbon emissions, to optimise their operations.

“The constant evolution of the global raw material market and the changing needs of our customers’ demands that Bradken innovates so we can deliver solutions that offer improved productivity, but on a whole new level,” Attwood said.

“This exciting project aims to accelerate improvements in mill design through development of an enhanced digital twin while, combining a number of technologies such as IoT instrumentation, enhanced simulation techniques and deep learning.”

The project will be hosted by the University of Newcastle through its flagship research institute, the Newcastle Institute for Energy and resources (NIER) in collaboration with the University of New South Wales and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), as well as international involvement from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

Attwood said Bradken and the University of Newcastle had a long history of partnerships.

“Working with organisations like the University of Newcastle brings a bigger mix of ideas from a wider range of backgrounds all focused on the same significant challenge,” he said. “This collaboration will help generate the innovation our industry and our customers need to take the next step forward.”

Chief Investigator on the project, Professor Craig Wheeler, from the University of Newcastle, said the cross-disciplinary team will merge expertise from solids processing and artificial intelligence to develop new computational algorithms.

“Our work will enhance the design and maintenance of key industrial equipment, predict wear and optimise the design of key components to improve the life of machinery to process minerals,” Professor Wheeler said.

Leading the project for Bradken is Senior Research Scientist – Process Control, Dr Wei Chen, who, according to Bradken, has extensive experience in both industry research and applied numerical modelling.

Dr Chen said: “Partnering with a group of leading research experts from Australia and abroad, gives us access to world class thinking in IoT, deep learning and numerical modelling.

“Together we’ll go through a rigorous experimental and numerical research program that we expect will deliver considerable benefits for our customers around the world.

“Involving our customers in the research process through site trials will keep us together at the forefront of mineral processing technology.”

Work on the project is planned to get underway in March.