Tag Archives: linings

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.”

Weir Minerals improves plant uptime at mineral sands, gold mines

Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Industrial minerals, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Precious metals, , , , , , , , ,

Two African mines are achieving increased production time and plant availability after converting to Weir Minerals rubber lining solutions, the company says.

A mineral sands operation in Mozambique approached Weir Minerals just over two years ago, after experiencing high wear on its pipe and launders. This was leading to frequent maintenance, leaks and downtime. The Weir Minerals team observed that part of the challenge was worn out and corroded metal work on the mine’s wet concentrator plants due to the proximity to the coast.

Access to reline the existing launders was difficult and posed safety risks necessitating a more effective solution, the company said.

The solution was to replace the competitors’ products – chemically-cured rubber – with Linatex® rubber and Linard® 60 rubber. This was done during the mine’s monthly shutdowns.

Whereas the competitors’ rubber lasted only two to three months, the Linatex and Linard linings are still in operation after 25 months, according to the company.

The Linard 60 rubber lining solution was also applied at a gold mine in South Africa’s North West province. The mine’s maintenance team had been replacing the rubber lining on mill feed hoppers and spouts every 10 days, but the Mechanical Foreman was looking for a more resilient solution.

The Foreman was not familiar with Linatex rubber products, so a trial using Linard 60 rubber was arranged, with the entire feed hopper and spout lined with this silica-reinforced natural rubber.

The results saw wear life increase to 12 weeks. With only the partially worn areas requiring relining, there was a reduction in relining costs. This, in turn, increased plant availability, resulting in fewer stoppages and reduced operating costs.

Linatex premium rubber is a proprietary vulcanised natural rubber produced through a process that uses high quality natural latex, according to Weir. “It has outstanding strength, resilience and resistance to cutting and tearing – with high performance in wet, abrasive conditions,” the company said.

Linard 60 rubber, which is silica reinforced, retains the natural strength and nerve of latex, while combining with the toughness needed for handling coarse materials, according to the company.