Tag Archives: jaw crusher

Metso to deliver four modular FIT Crushing Stations to Americas mines

Metso continues to register demand for its modular mineral processing solutions, announcing that it intends to supply four FIT™ Crushing Stations in the Americas.

Three of these will be delivered to an iron ore mine in Brazil and one to a gold plant in Canada.

The combined value of the orders is approximately €20 million ($21.9 million).

The crushing and screening solution was launched in 2020. Since then, Metso has sold 24 FIT Stations around the world for applications including gold, iron ore, graphite, lithium, copper and slag.

The FIT Station is focused on flexibility and speed for quick installation with primary gyratory stations, jaw stations, cone crushers stations, screening stations and recrushing stations. Metso Product Manager, Daniel Nagano, says: “The capacities range from 200 to 4,000 t/h and all can be used in unique applications with multiple equipment configurations, and the combination of equipment modules can accommodate any kind of mining application.”

Modular FIT conveyors and ore sorting modules can also be added to the solution.

Erwin Huber, VP, Crushing and Conveying Systems at Metso, said the company is thrilled to see the customer interest in the modular FIT Station.

“The flexible solution enables us to deliver the plants with a short lead and installation time,” he said. “When comparing the FIT Station to similar crushing and screening plants in mining, we have seen a more than 30% reduction in implementation time.”

Sandvik launches new ‘fully electric’ crushing solution

Sandvik Mobile Crushers and Screens has built a new ‘fully electric’ crushing solution based off its CJ412 jaw crusher that, it says, continues to drive the sustainability shift in the crushing and screening industry.

The Sandvik UJ443E is built upon a new ‘fully electric’ track platform and features high quality, reputable componentry throughout, as well as the latest generation Sandvik CJ412 jaw crusher.

Its new modular feed station includes a larger hopper, two feeder options with larger grizzly cassettes and an optional under screen for greater natural fines extraction before crushing, allowing operators to optimise their process flow depending on feed conditions and material, the company says.

The UJ443E is designed for hard and abrasive rock applications, making it ideal for the quarry, mining and contractor segments, the company says.

Aligning with Sandvik’s “make the shift strategy”, the UJ443E has been designed with an increased focus on sustainability, productivity and durability, while retaining the look, feel and value proposition customers’ demand.

The fully electric UJ443E provides customers with up to 30% reduction in fuel consumption, the company says, and up to 30% increase in throughput versus previous generation products.

It features electric final drives and an onboard generator set, meaning it can be operated in a more sustainable way, being powered by either an external electricity supply, HVO or diesel from the onboard genset.

Operating while connected to the external electric source can bring several advantages, including lowering running costs, extending drive train service intervals, reducing time spent refuelling, reducing on-site emissions and lowering noise levels. The fully electric track drives also decrease the use of hydraulic oil on the plant by up to 91%, the company claims.

The UJ443E features a 125 Amp downstream connection which allows customers to operate a downstream plant such as a screener or scalper, providing up to 20% decrease in fuel consumption compared with running separate units.

The unit comes with improved access to maintenance, including new access platform under and a newly designed automatically locking folding hopper sides, that can be operated from ground level. The new automation system with Optik™ intuitive user experience, includes simplified operation controls and total integration with the Sandvik My Fleet telematics solution. Diagnostic support, pre-installed guides for troubleshooting and real-time information allows customers to know exactly how their equipment is being utilised, Sandvik added.

Sandvik Rock Processing navigates choppy waters to deliver Africa’s first SmartPlant

A fluorite mine some 100 km outside Pretoria, South Africa, has become the first recipient of Sandvik Rock Processing’s first locally-manufactured SmartPlant™ in Africa.

Following its recent commissioning, the 300 t/h plant has already met process guarantees and reached nameplate capacity, according to the OEM.

To improve efficiency and productivity, a South Africa-based fluorspar producer went into the market for a new processing plant in 2020. The SmartPlant concept from Sandvik Rock Processing appealed to the customer for several reasons, but mainly because of the fast delivery time, flexibility and substantial cost savings it would offer the operation.

SmartPlant is a range of pre-defined Sandvik SmartStations that can be mixed and matched to meet individual customer needs for maximum productivity and performance, thus reducing wait time, maximising uptime and increasing profitability, according to Sandvik. Delivery generally takes about 22-30 weeks ex-works. Where there are peripheral design changes to the pre-defined SmartStations, lead times may be shorter than the standard 22-30 weeks.

According to Jaco Benade, Project Manager– Crushing and Screening at Sandvik, the deal was negotiated midway through the COVID-19 hard lockdown of 2020. The order was placed during Level 5 of the lockdown, with manufacturing commencing during Level 4. Despite the challenges brought about by the travel restrictions, compounded by the global supply chain disruptions, the plant was still delivered on time and within budget.

“A major talking point of the project was the short delivery time of 22 weeks ex-works at a favourable capital cost for the customer,” Benade says. “The SmartPlant concept allowed the customer to choose from the pre-defined SmartStations, combine and configure them to meet specific site and operational needs, with no extra design and engineering costs.”

While the designs are very much pre-defined, the SmartPlant still offered a great deal of flexibility for the customer, according to Glen Schoeman, Vice President – Sub-Sahara Africa at Sandvik Rock Processing.

“The modular approach of the SmartPlant meant that the customer could tweak design parameters such as height, capacity and liner profiles, amongst others, without much concern about cost deviations and time implications,” Schoeman said.

Regarding flexibility, Sandvik’s approach to the project was also a major plus for the customer. For example, based on its understanding of the customer’s budget and time constraints, Sandvik opted for the mine to commission a conveyor supplier of its choice, purely to shorten the time to production and reduce costs for the customer.

In line with Sandvik’s ‘safety first’ culture, the project was delivered with no lost time injuries, all the way from project inception to commissioning.

“Despite the arduous conditions on site, ranging from excessive heat to wet weather conditions, the project was completed with an impeccable zero harm safety record,” Schoeman says.

The new plant comprises a full suite of Sandvik equipment, including jaw and cone crushers, screens and feeders. Informed by customer needs, Sandvik opted for a much bigger front end of the plant, comprising a large tip area and bigger jaw crusher. The Sandvik CJ412 primary jaw crusher, which takes a 750 mm top size, is fed by a box bin and a grizzly feeder.

The plant also employs two Sandvik CH840i cone crushers for secondary and tertiary crushing, the very first units of the company’s 800i series range of cone crushers in Africa. Another first in Africa is the rotary feeder on top of the cone used to distribute material into the crusher.

“This is a fantastic approach,” Benade says. “The rotary feeder turns slowly, evenly distributing material around the edges of the crusher. This reduces pressure peaks in the crusher caused by uneven feed, a common challenge in crushing plants. The rotary feeder has passed with flying colours in terms of its performance at this particular site.”

The CH840i cone crushers come with Sandvik’s Automation and Connectivity System as standard. The system continuously monitors and optimises crusher performance and controls the complete lubrication system, increasing uptime and reliability. It can automatically adjust crusher settings to compensate for crushing chamber wear, ensuring consistent product size, according to Sandvik.

In addition, the SAM by Sandvik digital service supports operational excellence in the plant.

Benade concluded: “SAM by Sandvik brings people, activities and data together in an easy-to-use, seamless and collaborative way. It allows both client and OEM remote access to the plant. The system itself provides a holistic view of the plant, enabling the customer to make informed decisions and the OEM to respond proactively to any equipment health and performance issues.”

Metso Outotec energy-efficient comminution tech heading to Engebø rutile and garnet project

Nordic Mining ASA has awarded Metso Outotec with an order for the delivery of an energy-efficient comminution technology package for its Engebø rutile and garnet greenfield project in Norway, the OEM says.

Metso Outotec’s scope of delivery includes key comminution and classification equipment, comprising a C-type jaw crusher, Premier™ Rod mill, Vertimill™, and 12 UltraFine Series™ screens, as well as pre-production pilot-scale confirmatory test work.

Ivar S Fossum, CEO at Nordic Mining ASA, said: “This is another important milestone for the Engebø project. We are very pleased to partner with Metso Outotec as the technology and service provider for this vital process equipment.”

Christoph Hoetzel, Senior Vice President, Grinding at Metso Outotec, added: “The combination of Metso Outotec’s Planet Positive equipment is exceptional in this project. By utilising our Premier Rod mill and Vertimill for primary and secondary grinding, as well as our UltraFine Screens for classification, this solution not only provides excellent energy efficiency but also superior sharpness of product particle size distribution. This will maximise the liberation and minimise losses in fines.”

Roar Vasbø, Vice President, Sales and Services, Nordics at Metso Outotec, said Engebø is the first greenfield industrial mineral production site developed in Norway in almost 40 years.

Nordic Mining is expected to produce high-quality rutile and garnet products from an annual run of mine of 1.5 Mt ore at Engebø. The average production and sales volumes of rutile and garnet will be approximately 35,000 t/y and 180,000 t/y, respectively, for the first 10 years of operation, according to the company.

Endeavour Mining launches construction of Lafigué gold project

Endeavour Mining has launched the construction of its 80%-owned Lafigué project on the Fetekro property in Côte d’Ivoire, following completion of a definitive feasibility study that outlined a project able to produce approximately 200,000 oz/y at an all-in sustaining cost of $871/oz over its initial 12.8-year mine life.

Based on the DFS recommendation, an upsized 4 Mt/y carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant capacity has been selected to process the ore from the Lafigué deposit, which will be a six-stage open-pit mine.

The Lafigué deposit is a near surface orebody amenable to conventional open-pit, drill and blast mining, which will be carried out by contractors, Endeavour says.

Mining will occur in 10-m benches, with double batters to achieve the final 20-m bench heights. Ore mining will occur in three to four flitches, selectively using smaller loading equipment in order to decrease dilution.

Diesel excavators and trucks will be used for loading and haulage, with a fleet comprising 400-t-class face shovels to load 180-t capacity dump trucks for waste mining, and 200-t-class excavators to load 180-t capacity dump trucks for ore mining.

Ore will be processed via the 4 M/y processing plant based on only a fresh ore feed. Over the life of mine, the plant will be fed with 94.2% fresh ore and 5.8% oxide and transitional ore with the proportion of oxide and transitional ore remaining below 30% at any time.

A two-stage crushing followed by high-pressure grinding roll (HPGR) and ball milling circuit is planned. A primary jaw crusher will crush ore to a coarse crush size, followed by secondary cone crusher to produce an intermediate crushed product where 80% passes 25 mm. This will feed to a crushed ore stockpile that feeds the HPGR circuit. Ore will then be passed through a conventional ball mill and milled to 80% passing 106 μm.

The milled ore will pass through a gravity circuit for separation and recovery of coarse free gold, to produce a gravity concentrate for cyanidation and electrowinning that can be smelted to produce gold doré. High gravity recovery of approximately 70% is estimated for fresh ore at Lafigué. The remaining milled ore will be screened and passed to a CIL circuit containing one pre-leach tank and six CIL tanks in series for leaching and adsorption. Leach residence time will be approximately 36 hours.

Following leaching and adsorption gold will be recovered from activated carbon by elution, electrowinning and gold smelting to produce gold doré.

Extensive and representative metallurgical testwork has indicated that gold is free milling with very high gravity and leach extraction potential, with a projected gold recovery rate of 95% over the life of mine.

Lafigué construction is underway with first gold production expected early in the September quarter of 2024.

Sebastien de Montessus, President and CEO, said: “We are ideally positioned to launch the construction of Lafigué, given our net cash position, the continued strong performance of our operations, and our success in de-risking the Sabadola-Massawa Expansion with a significant portion of the capital already committed on-budget. Moreover, we are seeing reduced inflationary pressures and favourable foreign exchange rates compared to earlier in the year.”

Patrick Bouisset, Executive Vice President Exploration and Growth, said: “The Lafigué discovery is a great example of how we can create significant value. For a modest exploration investment of $31 million, which represents a discovery cost of $12/oz, we have added a new cornerstone asset to our portfolio. To continue to source our projects organically, we have increased our greenfield exploration efforts, which, over recent months, have resulted in significant success at our Tanda-Iguela property in Côte d’Ivoire, where we expect to publish a maiden resource later this year.”

Gold Fields Agnew to decarbonise crushing operations with new Sandvik solution

Gold Fields’ Agnew mine in Western Australia is continuing to innovate, with its latest technology development involving the installation of a new modular Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions crushing system that can align with its day-time solar generation capabilities on site.

The operation has recently completed one of the biggest hybrid renewable projects in the mining sector – one that includes solar, wind, battery storage and a backup gas turbine (the Agnew Hybrid Renewable Power Station). This project has put the mine on track to source some 60% of its overall energy needs from renewables.

At the same time as this, Agnew is also testing out battery-electric equipment to further decarbonise its operations, which consist of two underground mines (Waroonga and New Holland) amalgamated into the Agnew One Mine Complex.

The innovative integrated thinking has gone further than this, with a planned plant throughput increase looking to leverage as much renewable energy as possible.

In this latest project, the mine has invested A$35 million ($25 million) in the construction of a new modular crusher. The latest milestone has seen all the concrete in the construction of the project poured, with the southern run-of-mine (ROM) access ramp completed and the final stage of backfilling of the ROM wall having commenced.

The construction team are 60% of the way through erecting the crusher structure and all key crusher components – crushers, screens, feeders, magnets and metal detectors – are on site.

IM put some questions to the Agnew Technical Team to find out more about this project.

IM: Are you able to share what type of crusher the new installation is? Could you also mention what crusher model it is replacing?

ATT: We opted for a Sandvik solution (modular plant solution and automation-ready). There were several reasons for going with Sandvik and deciding on a modular-style plant. This choice has now proven beneficial two years down the track with the challenges we have seen obtaining steel and fabrication services around the globe during COVID. We began early design work with Sandvik back in June 2020, however, we also worked through various other design and equipment options with other key crushing and screening suppliers on the market.

Gold Fields were involved in the design of the circuit as the configuration needed to accommodate for potential production increases in the future, whilst also efficiently crushing the current throughput rates.

The Gold Fields project team managed the electrical design through a third-party electrical engineering company. The automation and control philosophy has been undertaken in-house by the Gold Fields Process Control team. This has been a good opportunity to demonstrate the skills and knowledge we are now building in that space. The project has been executed by the Agnew project team with an external engineering firm.

We are installing a CJ412 primary jaw crusher, two 840i cone crushers (secondary and tertiary), a double-deck product screen and several bits of auxiliary equipment such as magnets, weightometers and a rock breaker above the jaw crusher. The process design criteria was 1.7 Mt per annum with a P80 of 6 mm. The circuit replaces a JW42 jaw crusher, three 1350Z cone crushers (one secondary and two tertiaries) and two product screens.

IM: On top of the reduction in conveyor belts (the old crusher comprised of 16 conveyor belts; the new crusher circuit has six), what other benefits is the team expecting to receive with installation of the new crusher?

ATT: The new circuit will be simpler and more efficient to operate with less equipment, as well as being more modern. There are less transfer points and wear areas, which will reduce the maintenance costs associated with running the current crushing circuit.

In addition, the design and automation of the new circuit will mean the crusher is operated remotely from the main control room, removing the need for a second process operator to be situated in a standalone control room. The three Sandvik crushers have a larger capacity and slightly higher power draw, but they will produce a finer product size more efficiently based on being the latest technology on the market. This will have a positive impact upstream in the processing plant once the ore reaches the grinding circuit.

The design has included the ability to monitor the power draw of each section of the circuit, which will be fed from the Agnew Hybrid Renewable Power Station. Having the ability to crush at a higher throughput rate will also mean being able to operate the crusher more during daylight hours by taking advantage of the solar-generated power. Last year, 56% of the power Agnew draw came from renewables.

IM: When does the team plan to have the new crusher in place and commissioned?

ATT: Commissioning is scheduled for mid-August.

Tungsten West set to bring Hemerdon tungsten-tin mine back into production

Tungsten West, the mining company focused on recommencing production at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in Devon, England, has announced its intention to proceed with an initial public offering on London’s AIM market.

The company has conditionally raised £39 million ($53 million) before expenses, with plans to debut on the bourse on October 21 with a market capitalisation of approximately £106.2 million.

The net proceeds of the offer, together with the $49 million project financing from a fund managed by Orion Resource Partners, will be used to, among other things, execute the planned capital expenditure and corporate commitments of £44.6 million for improvement works at the Hemerdon Mine, bringing it back into commercial production.

Hemerdon is, Tungsten West says, the third largest tungsten resource globally, as well as being a previously producing mine that was operational from 2015-2018. Tungsten West purchased the Hemerdon Mine in 2019, and has since completed a bankable feasibility study that demonstrated an extensive reserve of approximately 63.3 Mt at 0.18% W and 0.03% Sn, as well as 37.4 Mt of saleable aggregate material. The company estimates that the life of mine is currently 18.5 years with the opportunity to extend this through future investment.

The mine already has the majority of its infrastructure in place, with previous owner Wolf Minerals Ltd having invested over £170 million into the development of the mine and its processing facilities, which include an open-pit mine, mineral processing facility and mine waste facility, the company says. With a substantial amount of existing infrastructure, the development costs associated with re-starting the mine are estimated to be £44.6 million. This existing infrastructure also means that the rebuild is only expected to take 12 months, with parts of the restart project already underway.

Having acquired the mine out of a receivership process, Tungsten West completed a significant amount of work to enable it to understand and address the issues historically experienced by Wolf Minerals, including a 6,113 m geological exploration drilling program and several technical studies. The company has identified the past issues experienced by Wolf Minerals that required rectifying.

“One of the main issues was a poor mineral process route design, with several items of equipment, particularly in the front end of the plant, causing plant downtime and hindering the recovery of the tungsten and tin minerals,” Tungsten West says. “Tungsten West has therefore designated a material proportion of its rebuild costs to modifying and updating the front-end of the processing plant. This will include replacing the existing crushing circuit with new duty and standby primary jaw crushers and secondary cone crushers.”

In addition, the introduction of X-ray Transmission ore sorting, which the company previously carried out tests on with TOMRA Mining in Germany, substantially reduces processing costs by rejecting around 70% of the ore fed to the sorters, it says.

Further upgrades to the plant commenced by the previous operator will be completed, including the dense media separation feed stockpile where 24 hours of surge capacity will be installed, decoupling the front-end of the plant from the concentrator circuit.

“Through these actions, the company expects plant operating time to improve from circa-53% under previous operatorship to the industry standard of circa-81% under Tungsten West,” Tungsten West says.

Tungsten West has identified further opportunities for by-product cash flow through the production and sale of aggregates. A new aggregate plant will be fed with ore sorter rejects and with the waste streams from the processing plant. The business plan is to sell to local aggregate consumers, such as GRS, providing them with a stable, long-term and sustainable source of these materials.

The company says it has implemented a number of initiatives to ensure a minimal impact on the surrounding environment and local community. These include optimising the plants low frequency noise to ensure minimal environmental impact and a fully cash funded £13.2 million restoration bond.

Max Denning, CEO of Tungsten West, says: “With the proposed £39 million raise announced today, and the £36 million funding package from Orion, we will be fully funded for the development of Hemerdon back into production. We look forward to welcoming new investors into this compelling business and working with all our stakeholders to ensure that the newly reinvigorated Hemerdon mine is a beacon of mining excellence in the UK.”

SIMPEC awarded significant Cloudbreak crusher contract from Fortescue

SIMPEC’s relationship with Fortescue Metals Group continues to strengthen, with the engineering contractor set to replace two Metso Outotec Nordberg® C160 jaw crushers at the miner’s Cloudbreak iron ore operation in the Pilbara of Western Australia.

The WestStar Industrial Ltd subsidiary’s new contract for the Hopper 5 Jaw Crusher Replacement project is the first win directly from Fortescue but is far from the first time the company has stepped on site at one of its mines. SIMPEC has previously carried out work on its operations after being subcontracted by the likes of Central Systems, Energy Power Systems, ATCO and others.

The scope of the jaw crusher contract includes removal of all structural and mechanical items required to access the jaw crushers, followed by reinstatement on completion of the change out. It also includes maintenance works and modifications to the existing Hopper 5 hoppers, chutes and screens, SIMPEC said.

Worth A$2.1 million ($1.6 million), the vertical contract has commenced immediately, with works expected to be completed in April.

SIMPEC Managing Director, Mark Dimasi, said: “It has been a long-term goal of SIMPEC to work directly for Fortescue and to break into the field of sustaining capital works. By building our sustaining capital portfolio, SIMPEC aims to achieve a more stable cash flow as well as provide continuity for our workforce.

“This is a very proud moment for the team, and we look forward to successful completion of this project and what we hope will be a long-term relationship with Fortescue.”

Henkel LOCTITE 270 shores up jaw crusher operation in Australia

Henkel’s LOCTITE® 270 adhesive thread locking has come to the rescue of a mining operation in Australia that was facing a potential collapse of the jaw crusher equipment frame.

According to Henkel, the failure of a threaded assembly through self-loosening not only risks lost production but also worker safety. This was the case at the Australia mine site.

The M36 anchor bolts in question had been locked by spring washers that could not rise to the challenge of securing bolts on a piece of equipment subject to continuous vibration and high shear forces, according to Henkel. This resulted in the loosening – and, ultimately, breaking off – of anchor bolts and the collapse of concrete footings.

Spring washers, also known as lock or helical spring washers, are one of the most popular mechanical devices for securing threaded fasteners against self-loosening, Henkel says. The washer is squashed flat when the nut is tightened against the mounting surface so that its sharp edges dig in to prevent the threaded fastener unwinding.

In practice, a spring washer may delay the length of time it takes for the bolt to loosen, but it will not permanently prevent it, according to Henkel. “The main reason is that the split washer does not solve the gapping issue, the free space remaining between the threads of the nut and the bolt,” it said.

On a typical threaded assembly there is just 15% efficient metal-to-metal contact between the threads. Everything else is empty space that enables plenty of side-to-side movement for the bolt. Additionally, being metal itself, a spring washer can cause damage to contact faces and corrode in place.

For the Australia mining operation, this problem was exacerbated by the size of the bolts. The bigger the bolts, the bigger the gap between threads, which leads to more vibrational impact on the assembly. This realisation resulted in the company changing to adhesive thread locking with LOCTITE 270, according to Henkel.

This is a high strength formulation that fills all gaps between the thread and prevents any movement of the bolt within the nut, according to Henkel.

“Secured this way, the assembly is completely vibration-proof but can still be easily dismantled with hand tools for repair and maintenance,” it said. “Additionally, the liquid thread locker seals the threads against humidity and dust, preventing corrosion and surface erosion.”

This simple adjustment to working practice has not only underpinned productivity but contributed to a safer working environment at the operation, Henkel says.

One 50 ml bottle of liquid thread locker is sufficient to secure around 850 M10 bolts but, unlike spring washers, can be used on any bolt size, according to the company.

Metso to help Pavlik Gold double processing capacity

Metso says Pavlik Gold JSC has chosen it as the supplier for the key crushing and grinding equipment for its ore processing plant in Magadan, Russia.

The Pavlik gold plant, which commenced its operations in 2015, currently produces around 225,000 oz/y of gold. With the new equipment, the plant expects to double its ore processing capacity and increase gold production, according to Metso.

Metso’s delivery consists of the primary crushing station with a Nordberg® C160™ jaw crusher, one SAG mill and two ball mills with a total installed power of more than 20 MW. The circa-€25 million ($27 million) order has been booked in Metso’s March quarter orders received, with delivery expected to take place in the first half of 2021.

Alexey Muzychkin, SVP, Russia and CIS, Metso, said: “We greatly value our long-term cooperation with Pavlik Gold, where Metso’s equipment has been in use already for several years. We are sure that the experience and technical competence of both companies in this type of projects will help us rapidly achieve the goals.”

Earlier this month, FLSmidth announced that it would supply a new 7 Mt/y gold processing plant to the mine.