Tag Archives: Metso

W Resources crushing ore at La Parrilla tungsten-tin mine

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Just over a week since confirming mechanical completion of the La Parrilla crusher plant, W Resources has fed the first mined ore into the circuit at its tungsten-tin operation in western Spain.

Michael Masterman, Chairman of W Resources, said: “First ore into new crusher was achieved on December 18, 2018, ahead of the January 2019 target and is a great credit to the team at La Parrilla.”

The crushing circuit at La Parrilla, supplied by Metso Minerals’ Portugal division, has been engineered to minimise creation of tungsten fines and is designed to process 350 t/h of ore, according to the mining company. It is made up of a C130 jaw crusher and secondary cone crusher, both with vibrating grizzlies prior to size reduction, and two tertiary cone crushers in closed circuit with a double deck banana screen.

La Parrilla is envisaged as a scalable project, starting up at 2 Mt/y to produce some 2,700 t/y of tungsten concentrate and 500 t/y of tin concentrate, before an expansion to 3.5 Mt/y and beyond.

W Resources signs off on Metso crushing plant at La Parrilla

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W Resources has confirmed the mechanical completion of the La Parrilla crusher plant, paving the way for commissioning of mined ore from the tungsten-tin deposit in western Spain next month.

The crushing circuit, supplied by Metso Minerals’ Portugal division, has been engineered to minimise creation of tungsten fines and is designed to process 350 t/h of ore, W said. It is made up of a C130 jaw crusher and secondary cone crusher, both with vibrating grizzlies prior to size reduction, and two tertiary cone crushers in closed circuit with a double deck banana screen.

This milestone follows delivery of the majority of the plant in September.

“The circuit has been designed for modular expansion to 700 t/h, requiring no modifications to the installed infrastructure in the future, and is currently configured to feed X-ray ore sorting going forwards,” W said. “The high level of automation in the design and robust wear liner packages will permit strong operational control and minimise maintenance requirements going forwards.”

Michael Masterman, Chairman of W Resources, said: “The crusher is the first of the three La Parrilla plants to be completed and it’s a great credit to the team to complete it ahead of schedule and on budget.

“We are looking forward to first mined ore into the crusher early in the new year which will contribute to an increase in production rates from La Parrilla in line with the planned ramp-up programme.”

La Parrilla is envisaged as a scalable project, starting up at 2 Mt/y to produce some 2,700 t/y of tungsten concentrate and 500 t/y of tin concentrate, before an expansion to 3.5 Mt/y and beyond.

Rotary kiln product development first up for Metso following KFS acquisition

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The purchase of Kiln Flame Systems (KFS) is set to provide Metso with new computational fluid dynamics (CFD) design and analysis expertise, says Jonathan Allen, Vice President, Engineered Products, at the Finland-based mining OEM.

Following news Metso had completed the purchase yesterday, IM put a few questions to Allen to find out some of the reasons behind the transaction.

IM: Why has the company looked to acquire KFS now? What market signals have you been receiving to indicate increased demand for the type of tailored products KFS produces?

JA: Our customers’ demand for energy efficient solutions and increased reliability of their kilns and other pyro processing equipment has been increasing steadily. Also, our customers are facing the challenge of losing some of the operational expertise with a retiring workforce. By Metso and KFS joining forces, we are able to address these demands simultaneously to deliver the results they require, cost effectively and with minimal disruption to their existing operations.

IM: How important is KFS’ “mastery of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for burner design and system analysis” to the deal? Will Metso be able to leverage this capability across its existing pyro processing portfolio?

JA: Metso’s primary focus has been on general process and mechanical upgrades to improve the performance of pyro processing equipment. With KFS’ CFD capability, we are able to model the entire system to optimise all the possible changes and upgrades to a kiln system.

IM: Out of all of your product offerings within the pyro processing group, which one is set to benefit most from this acquisition?

JA: The KFS technology is applicable to the majority of our equipment portfolio. Our immediate focus will be with rotary kilns, where KFS is a technology leader, but quickly expanding more into burner and combustion systems for iron ore pelletising processes.

Metso acquires Kiln Flames Systems to extend pyro processing line

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Metso has acquired UK-based combustion solutions and technology provider Kiln Flame Systems (KFS) as it looks to extend its pyro processing portfolio and capabilities.

KFS specialises in rotary kiln and calcining processes, combustion optimisation and burner technologies with patented designs. It provides solutions to a wide range of industries including minerals processing. The company has 14 employees based in High Wycombe, in the UK.

The acquisition of KFS will complement Metso’s pyro processing group, which designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment that increase the values of ores, minerals, wastes, and related materials by changing their mechanical and/or chemical properties through the application of heat. It has a complete line of equipment that can be custom designed for special applications, according to the company.

Mikko Keto, President of the Minerals Services business area at Metso, said: “The acquisition supports Metso’s growth strategy by strengthening our capabilities to provide pyro solutions to our customers.”

Cliff Rennie, Director and CEO of KFS, said joining forces with Metso would give the company the opportunity to offer the company’s technology to a wider customer base.

“KFS has worked hard to establish our position and reputation as a market leader in custom-designed combustion solutions, and we are delighted to build our future and continue serving existing and new customers with Metso.”

KFS is a world-leader in rotary kiln and calciner combustion and process optimisation, according to Metso. Founded in 1999, KFS’ distinctiveness is based on its mastery of computational fluid dynamics for burner design and system analysis backed up by an extensive history of physical modelling.

LiuGong achieves wheel loader milestone as it celebrates 60th anniversary

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LiuGong celebrated its 60th Anniversary at a ceremony in LiuGong International Industrial Park in Liuzhou, Guangxi, China, today, at the same time as heralding the production of its 400,000th wheel loader.

Attendees at the event included domestic and overseas customers, distributors, suppliers, government officials, shareholders, and stakeholders who have worked with LiuGong throughout its 60 years.

LiuGong, in addition, said the milestone wheel loader achievement was made through the “unremitting efforts and proactive technological innovation of all LiuGong people in the past six decades”.

“This is a milestone worthy of celebration in the history of LiuGong,” it said.

At the same time as all of these celebrations, the company debuted at the ceremony six new products including a 990F excavator, B170DL bulldozer, S935 sugarcane harvester, TC800C5 crane, 4180D motor grader and 886H loader.

Six decades of history

Established in 1958, LiuGong not only pioneered the production of loaders, it also laid a solid foundation for the technology, talent cultivation and management for the development of the construction equipment (CE) industry in China, the company said.

In 1958, Shanghai Huadong Steel Factory allocated some employees and pieces of equipment to Liuzhou, Guangxi, to facilitate the economic development in southwest China. In a wilderness on the west bank of Liujiang River, they built a factory from nothing.

In 1966, LiuGong rolled out the first wheel loader accredited by China, which opened a new chapter in the company’s development. In 1993, LiuGong began trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and became the first listed company of the CE industry and Guangxi. Since 2000, LiuGong has been looking beyond its loader business and working on cross-regional operations and expansion of its product lines. So far, LiuGong has 32 complete product lines in six categories to meet customer demands of various applications as well as extreme operations.

In April 2002, LiuGong successfully produced 899 loaders in one month, which was known as ‘899 Campaign’, a huge leap of production at that time.

“Taking this opportunity, the company launched its reform towards becoming a modern company. Afterwards, its Board of Directors promoted to build an ‘open and globalised’ LiuGong, boarding the fast lane for the company’s globalisation, which was shown in its fast growth of overseas revenues,” the company said.

“Backed by its historical legacies, LiuGong has developed the core values of “customer oriented, assuring the future by quality; people foremost, create value through cooperation”, striving to build an international brand that leads China’s machinery industry.”

Along with China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation, LiuGong started to build its eastern bases and added multiple product lines into its portfolio. In 2003, LiuGong developed its first overseas distributor in Morocco, north Africa, and started its globalisation. LiuGong has been building its global presence of 10 overseas subsidiaries, nine overseas regional parts distribution centres and more than 300 distributors in over 100 countries. All LiuGong products and customers are supported by five R&D centres worldwide.

In 2012, by the acquisition of civil construction machinery segment of HSW in Poland, the company laid a solid foundation for export of China’s proprietary technology and products to the European Union. Today, LiuGong produces its products in China, India, Poland, and Brazil.

Also, LiuGong India Company and LiuGong Dressta Machinery have been awarded the ‘Best Foreign Investor’, ‘Model Enterprise for China-India Cooperation’, and the ‘Best Employer’ by local governments.

As the “Belt and Road” initiative continues to advance, LiuGong has expanded its footprint to 85% of the countries among the 65 key countries along the route. Its products participated in many major projects along the belt such as the Pakistan PKM Motorway, China-Laos Railway, and Jakarta-Bandung Railway.

In 2008, LiuGong set up SinoEver Financial Leasing Company in Beijing, becoming the “pioneer company in manufacturer leasing” and LiuGong entered the crane business by acquiring Zhengchonganli Engineering Machinery Company in Bengbu.

In 2010, LiuGong acquired Liuzhou OVM, a world leader of pre-stressing products and technology, and started the construction of an eastern manufacturing base for excavators in Changzhou. In 2011, LiuGong bought into the piling foundation industry by holding shares of Jintai, China’s leading brand in piling machinery, and opened a JV with Cummins in Liuzhou.

In 2012, LiuGong opened its hydraulic company and, in 2013, LiuGong and Metso started a joint venture to produce mobile mining crushers and grinding mills, while the company took over an air compressor business in Liuzhou.

In 2016, LiuGong entered the modern agricultural equipment sector when the Luzhai plant, with world-class technologies, was put into operation. And, in 2018, LiuGong started forward with producing intelligent manufacturing systems, mining machinery, forestry machinery, and aerial work platforms.

R&D

“LiuGong has never stopped investing in R&D even during the most difficult years. In 2015, LiuGong launched National Earthmoving Machinery Engineering Research Centre and LiuGong Global R&D Centre, making LiuGong the only national demonstration base for technological innovation and industrialisation of earthmoving machines.

“A total of 19 product lines at LiuGong have been upgraded and 18 new products have hit the market, including a range of machinery for sugarcane planting, heavy-duty mining excavators and loaders, mining trucks, large dual-wheel cutters, smart manufacturing system, and mobile compressors.

“LiuGong has evolved to be a global provider of total solutions. In 2016, LiuGong presented the world’s first vertical lift wheel loader. And, the new generation products of H-series loaders, E-series excavators, D-series rollers and motor graders, and C-series forklifts now are available all over the world and have been contributing more and more in sales revenue.

“A custom designed torque convertor was independently developed and manufactured for LiuGong’s 8128H with many innovative technologies and approaches; and the hydraulic grab by Shanghai Jintai is among the best of its kind globally.”

In the past five years, LiuGong, OVM and Jintai had numerous achievements in R&D, including three National First and Second Prizes for Progress in Science and Technology, and 14 ministerial and provincial-level science and technology awards. LiuGong also participated in drafting of industry standards, both for international and domestic markets, making its own voice heard in the industry.

“Today, with more than 1,000 engineers and a continuous investment in R&D, LiuGong comes up with an outpouring of products with cutting-edge technologies,” the company said.

“Over the past six decades, LiuGong has kept a close bond with its customers, distributors, suppliers, shareholders, and other stakeholders to weather through difficulties and share success together.

“During industry downturns, LiuGong took a series of quick actions like capacity adjustment, organisational reform, team optimisation, cost control, sustained input into technological innovation and product development internally and optimise the marketing channels externally. As a result, distributers, direct subsidiaries and joint ventures have become new drivers of our rapid growth in China.

“As the economy warms up, the excavator business becomes our growth pillar with the highest revenue and profit and LiuGong has significantly improved market competitiveness on a global level.”

Aiming for 100

LiuGong says it is committed to providing extraordinary construction machinery products and services to customers around the world.

“Our endeavour of developing first-class advanced technologies is a valuable asset to LiuGong’s ambition to be a century-old enterprise in the world.

“Sixty years is but a brief moment for LiuGong, who is setting sail on its next journey. Amid the national reforms and industry transformation, LiuGong will adhere to a ‘Total Globalisation, Total Solution, and Total Intelligence’ approach with greater intelligence, courage, and passion.

“Standing at not only a historic stage but as at a turning point for the company, LiuGong will insist on SOE (state-owned enterprises) reform and development; insist on focusing on customer service; insist on innovation and independent R&D; insist on building a dynamic and motivated team to continue to write a new chapter for the company.

“And, in the future, we will continuously provide products and services tailored for local market; we will outdo ourselves in branding, manufacturing, R&D and marketing and strive for continuous progress; we will take on the mission of revitalising the CE industry in China.”

The company concluded: “The one who digs deep will someday leap high and become a legend. Guided by our mission and vision, LiuGong will usher in a new era with much greater confidence and look forward to a centurial business.”

Metso offloads grinding media business to Moly-Cop

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Metso has signed an agreement to divest its grinding media business to Moly-Cop, a portfolio company of private equity firm American Industrial Partners.

The transaction comprises the sale of Metso Spain Holding SLU, including operations in two locations with around 80 employees in Spain (Bilbao and Seville). The estimated turnover of the business in 2018 will be approximately €60 million ($68.5 million).

Sami Takaluoma, President, Minerals Consumables business area at Metso, said: “Metso’s growth strategy in the consumables business is to focus on developing a world-leading global offering. We are confident that our customers and our grinding media team will benefit from this transaction and from the combination of our strong regional know-how with Moly-Cop’s global capabilities.”

Moly-Cop is a leading global manufacturer of grinding media used primarily by global copper, gold, and iron ore producers to break down ore in the primary phase of mineral concentration. Moly-Cop was acquired by American Industrial Partners in January 2017. Only earlier this year, the company received approval to buy forged steel grinding media leader Donhad.

Jim Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of Moly-Cop, said: “Metso has a valued and longstanding reputation as a trusted grinding media supplier for western Europe and northwestern Africa. This acquisition is a great match for Moly-Cop and our strategy moving forward. Metso’s operations and team align perfectly with our global manufacturing network, and this transaction will further enhance our industry-leading value proposition to our customers.”

The transaction is expected to close in December 2018 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. The proceeds from the divestment will have no material impact on Metso’s financial results, Metso noted.

Metso and Ironbark Zinc sign equipment and services MoU for Citronen

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Ironbark Zinc and Metso have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in relation to a potential services and equipment contract for the Citronen zinc project in Greenland.

The ASX-listed company said the MoU sought to provide a platform to negotiate a commercial and binding agreement regarding services and equipment to be provided by the mining OEM for Citronen. The pact would enable Metso to commence engineering tasks preceding the completion of detailed engineering of processing equipment, including the provision of technical specifications for specific third-party supplied equipment, the company added.

Ironbark said it was also in discussions with other “highly regarded groups” regarding the supply of all components of the Citronen facility. “These companies have the potential to significantly assist with the overall project financing,” it said.

Metso has collaborated with Ironbark for several years and was instrumental in the preparation of the process flow sheet for the Citronen feasibility study, according to Ironbark.

“The two groups have maintained open communication during this time. A Metso technical representative visited the project site in August 2018,” the company added.

The future commercial agreement will contain and address the following matters:

  • Scope of Metso’s supply of services and equipment;
  • Price for Metso’s supply of services and equipment and payment terms, including a lump sum cost for remaining engineering works and project management scope;
  • Delivery terms;
  • Provision of process guarantee;
  • Metso compliance with Greenlandic Government requirements and guidelines as applicable.

Ironbark Managing Director, Jonathan Downes said: “We are delighted to have moved towards building on our long running relationship with Metso and the Citronen zinc project. Metso is exceptionally well regarded internationally and has direct experience with projects with very similar commodities, grades and scales to Citronen. Metso is also located in Scandinavia and therefore is well positioned to comply and assist with the training and employment obligations that Ironbark is operating under in Greenland.”

The wholly-owned Citronen project is held under a granted 30-year mining licence. The $514 million project envisages a production rate of 3.3 Mt/y with up to 200,000 t/y of zinc metal produced over 14 years.

In August, Ironbark signed an MoU with Byrnecut Offshore Pty that could see the contractor carry out mining, model underground mine costs and provide the fleet for the project.

Crushing the mining numbers at Metso’s Tampere facility

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Metso’s Tampere, Finland, facility is due to deliver some 1,000 crushing and screening units this year as the company makes full use of the €1 million ($1.15 million) Speedline assembly line it started up in January.

The investment, targeting both efficiency and safety improvements, has enabled Metso Tampere to produce more of its famous Lokotrack® mobile track-mounted crushing units, while also speeding up production of C-series jaw crushers and GP-series cone crushers.

The assembly of a 50 t, track-mounted crushing plant now takes two working days. The serial production line operates in two shifts and has increased Metso’s mobile crushing plant production capacity by 25%.

The majority of these products will find their way into the aggregates industry, but the largest equipment will be seen in mining operations around the world – for example, the Lokotrack LT200 in use at the Altay Polimetally LLP copper mine in Kazakhstan.

IM Editor Dan Gleeson toured the centre last week and found out about the company’s extensive crushing database and how its rock laboratory is offering customers a preview of how its machines could perform.

Piles of rock

Metso’s crushing R&D facility in Tampere is receiving rock samples from all over the world on a weekly and, sometimes, daily basis.

As IM approached the 10-year old rock laboratory in Tampere, piles of rock were waiting outside for testing in a full-scale, enclosed crushing facility configurable with a jaw crusher and either a cone, gyratory, or impact crusher. Various screens were also able to be installed.

Powered by a 300 kW motor and housed inside a roofed facility, this crushing circuit provides customers looking to buy a Metso crusher with the sort of information they only normally receive after the new plant is delivered and commissioned at site.

But, for those not wanting to transport a few tonnes of material to the Tampere facility, Metso has devised a much smaller rock test that only requires a 4 kg sample and tests the hardness, crushability and abrasiveness of the rock in question.

Inside the test centre, manager Ville Viberg talked IM through this much smaller process, explaining the rock test also indicates how quickly a crusher’s wear parts may reach the point of failure – a boon for customers already planning their maintenance shifts years in advance.

Viberg said the company had carried out some 17,000 rock tests to date across the globe, plus some 5,000 crushing tests on the much bigger scale.

This has provided the company with a massive database to refer back to, which it often does in the cyclical mining industry.

On top of this, the company’s Bruno simulation software, mainly used for aggregates applications, offers another level of expertise, allowing users to enter basic feed material and machinery data into the process with the software predicting how the process will perform. Today, there are more than 7,000 users of Bruno, which was developed by Metso all the way back in 1994.

In the future, Metso’s R&D for mining is clear on the direction it is taking – finding solutions to increase energy efficiency and prolong machine life.

This has already seen the company launch its Superior™ MKIII; a gyratory crusher offering 30% higher capacity than other high-speed crushers and 70% lower downtime with a rotable top shell design. The third-generation machine also comes with a five-year warranty for all main components.

The MKIII gyratory crusher was developed in Metso’s mining competence centres with the development headed by the Waukesha centre, in the US, which focuses on mining crushers.

From IM’s visit, it was clear that the more than 100-year old factory in Tampere, which is one of several Metso minerals R&D centres around the world, has plenty of new innovations up its sleeve.

Like the rest of the Metso group, the addition of a digitalised platform like Metso Metrics for Mining – due to be launched next month – will enable the factory to keep developing products to solve the industry’s needs.

Metso and Ferrexpo Poltava Mining’s iron ore pellet evolution

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Ferrexpo’s Poltava Mining subsidiary has been on a journey to both stimulate demand for iron ore pellets and increase the Fe content of its product. The crushing and flotation technology of Metso has played a key role in this evolution, according to Alexey Strikha*.

In 1960, the exploration of Kremenchug magnetic anomaly started on the left bank of the Dnieper River, Ukraine. At that time, the foundation of the future Poltava Mining refinery was laid, and, 10 years later, the plant produced its first batch of concentrate.

There were several phases of plant construction: in 1980, after launching the pelletising plant, the company presented a new type of product to the market – iron ore pellets. To stimulate the demand for this product, the company needed to improve the product’s quality, ie increase the iron content in the concentrate.

Keeping this in mind, the company’s managers decided to upgrade the ore pre-treatment operations: reduce the fragmentation size to cut the costs of further ore degradation. Due to space constraints at the crushing plant, the company was in need of new equipment with the exact dimensions of the current foundation structures. At that time, Svedala (acquired by Metso in 2001) engineers suggested testing the Barmac vertical shaft impact crusher.

“The conventional crusher-based closed cycle of check screening was not an option for us, so we were offered inertial crushers for coarse lumps. And this proved to be a good technical solution,” said Vladimir Khovanets, Chief Concentrating Engineer at Poltava Mining.

Alexander Lysenko, Poltava Mining’s Chief Technical Officer said: “Metso always does lots of research and testing to offer us an integrated solution, i.e. technology that gives us exactly what we want.”

After the pilot testing, the middle and small fraction crusher lines were upgraded with Barmac crushers. That project was a success, so both companies decided to expand further joint activities: two double-drum separators were installed instead of eight locally manufactured triple-drum separators with no loss in productivity.

Flotation technology

These earlier projects to upgrade the crushing and magnetic concentration processes laid the foundation for further improvement in the concentrate quality.

Lysenko said: “It’s common knowledge that our ore is quite lean, and the market was in demand of high-quality iron ore pellets containing 62-65% Fe.”

Two methods are used for concentration of lean ores: magnetic and flotation concentration. During the engineering study of these methods, Metso installed a pilot plant with laboratory mills, flotation cells, magnetic separators and hydrocyclones.

Igor Grebeniuk, Regional Sales Manager at Metso, said: “The pilot results proved that 67-68% Fe content in the pellets manufactured from Poltava Mining ores was quite possible after the flotation upgrading.”

In 2002, the company launched Flotation Plant 1 equipped with Metso RCS130. It was the first project in the former Soviet Union to use flotation upgrading in the ferrous industry. Keeping this in mind, the engineers at Poltava Mining ran a detailed preliminary analysis of the new technology, studying the cases of Metso equipment supplied to the concentration plants in the USA and Canada.

Lysenko said: “Metso explained all the benefits and the hidden risks. And we saw that the technology works. It’s friendly to the environment and commercially feasible.”

Reducing grain size

Commissioning of the new flotation plant entailed the modification of the crushing lines, since super-fine grain is required for efficient magnetic upgrading of concentrate.

Khovanets recalled: “While working with Flotation Plant 1, we gained the insight that Flotation Plants 2 and 3 need to be constructed for the strategic development of the company. And conventional drum mills were not so good for that process.”

Lysenko said: “Thanks to flotation, we were able to increase the yield of iron from quite lean ores, but we couldn’t get enough homogeneous product using the conventional crushing line.”

Metso engineers suggested Vertimill for high-quality and fine milling of the product. In coordination with Ferrexpo engineers, a concentration line with vertical mills for all flotation cells was developed.

Khovanets said: “After magnetic concentration, we get about 85-89% of below 44 microns grade. Vertimill machines help to bring up the fineness of grinding, ie up to 90% of ground materials are minus 33 microns.

“Vertimill machines offer a new design. A conventional drum mill operates in the horizontal position, while Vertimill is installed vertically. The space needed of such equipment is much smaller, and it provides proper crushing grade.”

Boosting pellet iron content

Two additional flotation cells were commissioned in 2014. These additional cells gave a step change in the concentration technology. Today, ore from different fields is processed separately at Flotation Plants 1 and 2, while Flotation Plant 3 is used for iron recovery from froth.

Lysenko said: “Before commissioning the plant, we produced pellets with 62% Fe content. Due to flotation upgrading we now have 67% concentrate, and this brings the product’s quality to a new level. I mean pellets with 65% Fe content.”

Introduction of the new iron ore concentration technologies entails upgrading the next downstream process, namely filtration. After the equipment upgrade, it will be possible to reach the maximum dehumidification of concentrate to gain additional quality.

Grebeniuk said about the current projects: “But we go the extra mile. To increase production, we’re now constructing two additional plants, a crushing plant and filtration plant.”

A tough market requires high-grade product rich in iron and with minimum impurities. After the process upgrade, Poltava Mining was able to improve the pellet quality, which also means more investments in the infrastructure of its hometown.

Ruslan Klimenko, Chief Communication Officer of Poltava Mining, said: “We want to offer benefits to as many people in the city as possible.”

*This story was written by Alexey Strikha, one of Metso’s Regional Directors

Metso and allmineral equipment arrives at La Parrilla tungsten project

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W Resources is on course to hit its production goal at the La Parrilla tungsten project in the southwest of Spain, with crushing equipment arriving on site.

In a project update, the company said overall La Parrilla construction had accelerated during the summer months with construction completion of the crusher, jig and mill on schedule for the December quarter, and completion of the concentrator in the March quarter of next year – the same quarter it plans to start production.

La Parrilla is envisaged as a scalable project, starting up at 2 Mt/y to produce some 2,700 t/y of tungsten concentrate and 500 t/y of tin concentrate, before an expansion to 3.5 Mt/y and beyond.

W’s latest update said capital expenditure was tracking below budget, with engineering and procurement now both over 90% complete.

All major contracts have been placed, with 81.3% of the planned €27.1 million ($31.5 million) spend committed. The company also noted plant civil works were complete, concrete works for the crusher had been laid and works for the jig were underway.

Steel erection for the crusher was advancing quickly, the company said.

The primary Metso equipment for the 350 t/h crushing and screening circuit, which includes four HP300 cone crushers, a C130 jaw crusher, a VF500 vibrating feeder, MB352 rock breaker and MF2473 screen, were on site for “just in time installation”, W said.

W noted that primary allmineral equipment for the jig is arriving on site and allmineral confirmed the jig project was on schedule.

With a throughput of 350 t/h, the two alljig® jigs (one, pictured arriving on site) will provide grading, enrichment and cleaning of the pre-ground ore.

The alljig process involves the feed material initially being fluidised with pulsed water, with the grains graded according to density. The jigs separate the specifically lighter scheelite-poor yield from the specifically heavier scheelite-rich ore from the stratified material bed, allmineral said.

The processing plant, with a capacity of 155 t/h connected to the pre-concentration stage through the alljig jigs, will ensure tailings are separated from the valuable material, thereby achieving a 65% WO3 recovery, the company said.

The fines produced in several processing stages are to be recovered in a separate circuit.