Tag Archives: mill liners

‘Circularity in action’: the Metso mill liner recycling offering

Comminution of minerals, Environmental, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , ,

The idea of mill liner recycling is nothing new for Metso, with the first feasibility studies examining its potential conducted 15 years ago. Just ahead of MINExpo 2024, Metso announced that it is now expanding the offering to the North American market, with the company continuing to view the offering as a key contributor to making mining more sustainable, IM learned.

“The recycling program was initiated in 2015, achieving an important milestone of 1,000 recycled Megaliner™ liners in 2016,” Lars Furtenbach, Director, Research & Technology Development, Mill Lining, told IM last month in Las Vegas. “Back then, the machine we initially designed was not as flexible as the one we use now. This meant our global expansion had to be very deliberate to ensure we could offer the best services possible to as many customers as possible.”

Following studies and customer pilots, Metso launched a new liner separation unit in 2022 for its customers in Europe. In May 2024, the services were expanded to customers in South America – where the company now has two separation machines. Additionally, as mentioned, North America has just been added to this global roster.

The recycling service is facilitated by an innovative technology that enables safe and efficient separation of different rubber and metal liner components, like cast inserts, wear plates and backing plates. Composite liners, like Megaliner™ and Poly-Met™ liners, as well as rubber liners, can be processed using this solution. Metso also has an existing recycling process for metallic mill liners.

“One good example is the Megaliner where this service offering means that recovered backing plates, which are certified for reuse, can be returned to the same customer as part of new Megaliner liners,” he says.

“This is real circularity in action.”

Indeed, Metso says the recycling service is a concrete example of how it can drive the mining industry towards more sustainable practices and a circular economy. “With less unprocessed waste material sent to landfills, recycling helps to reduce CO2 emissions and improve environmental efficiency,” the company explains.

It is also “tightly linked” with ongoing product development, Furtenbach says, singling out Skega™ Life mill lining rubber as an example.

Introduced in November 2023, Skega Life offers up to 25% longer wear life compared with the predecessor premium rubber, Skega Classic. It was developed in Metso’s own laboratory and validated by field studies, also being part of Metso’s Planet Positive offering.

Furtenbach expects the mill lining recycling service to grow in terms of production and product offering, saying Metso’s existing capacity has significantly increased with the current expansion into three regions.

“This is all part of Metso’s plan to do what is needed to make the industry more sustainable,” he concluded.

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

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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.

Metso boosts wear life on premium rubber offering with Skega Life

Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , , , ,

Metso is introducing to its mill lining portfolio an innovative rubber, Skega™ Life, with, it claims, up to 25% longer wear life compared with the current premium rubber, Skega Classic.

The new rubber type is developed in Metso’s own laboratory and validated by field studies. Skega Life is a part of Metso’s Planet Positive offering, enabling increased sustainability and safety, optimised throughput, and increased uptime due to improved wear resistance and lower maintenance, the company says.

Fredrik Johansson, Global Product Manager, Rubber and Poly-Met mill linings, Metso, said: “We are excited to introduce Skega Life rubber to our mill liner portfolio. The new rubber is specially developed to have a very good wear resistance in grinding mills processing high abrasive ores. It can be used anywhere where a customer has a rubber application, but it is most beneficial in ball mills larger than 14 ft (4.3 m), AG, and SAG mills of 18 ft or smaller.”

Lars Furtenbach, Director, Research & Technology Development, Metso, added: “Mill liners play a crucial role in the mining process and Metso’s liners are always designed by our experts to meet the customers’ production targets and the mill conditions and enhancing overall process reliability. Field studies and tests have shown that our new rubber compound can have up to 25% longer wear life. The longer wear life reduces CO2 emissions and less liner material will end up in the tailings.”

Metso calls itself a world leader in developing and manufacturing high-performance mill liners. It pioneered the use of rubber linings and invented Poly-Met™, Megaliner™, and Orebed™ mill linings. New products are constantly being developed to enhance customers’ ever more advanced processes, it says, adding that the recent innovations include 3D wear scanning, a full Megaliner range, trommel deflector, Turbo Pulp Lifter, Liner Positioning System and a mill liner recycling service.

Metso to supply SAG mills and mill liners to Origin Mining’s Mineral Park project

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Metso says it has been awarded orders for the delivery of grinding plant equipment to Origin Mining Company’s brownfield Mineral Park Mill Restart project in the US.

Origin Mining is managed under the Waterton Global Resource Management umbrella of investments, with Mineral Park in a historic, copper-rich mining district next to Kingman, Arizona. The total value of the order is €16 million ($17.4 million).

Metso’s scope of delivery includes two Planet Positive Premier® SAG mills and Skega Poly-Met™ mill liners, and the possibility to supply other comminution and beneficiation process equipment technologies later.

Jack McMahon, President of Origin Mining, said: “We have been impressed with Metso’s commitment to support our vision to grow the USA copper supply. Metso’s leading comminution and beneficiation process equipment technologies will help us do our part to contribute to the transition to an electrified future.

“Metso has actively supported the project in a time responsive, technical and open manner, allowing for ’fit for purpose’ process solutions. We also value Metso’s ability to provide the necessary value added after-sales services in Arizona to support our operation.”

Tim Robinson, Vice President, Minerals Sales in North and Central America at Metso, said: “We are very excited to support Origin Mining in their drive to develop and supply locally key battery minerals, like copper, in the USA. Our industry-leading products and large service team in Arizona is committed to supporting them in this quest.”

Metso Outotec adds mill lining recycling to latest Boliden Kevitsa service agreement

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Metso Outotec says it has signed a Life Cycle Services (LCS) contract with Boliden for its Kevitsa mine in the Sodankylä region of Finland, which will see the OEM offer the mining company a novel Planet Positive mill lining recycling service for used liners.

The 3+2-year agreement covers the supply and optimisation services of the Megaliner™ liners for four mills with advanced discharge systems, supported by shutdown planning and execution services of the mill linings.

The contract is a performance-based cost-per-tonne agreement, with the common target to ensure the availability of the grinding circuit and to maximise valuable production time, striving for a common sustainability goal that benefits both parties, the company said.

The value of the order is about €35 million ($34 million) and the first part of the contract has been booked in Minerals’ September quarter orders received.

Anssi Poutanen, Senior Vice President, Mill Lining business line, Metso Outotec, said: “We are very excited to expand cooperation with Boliden in Finland. Metso Outotec is committed to supporting Boliden’s operative and sustainability targets and further increasing their liner wear life. When it is time to replace the worn liners, our innovative mill lining recycling service will dispose of the worn liners in a sustainable way.”

After over a decade of intensive development work and pilots for worn mill liner recycling, Metso Outotec says it is ready to introduce its latest circularity innovation, a unique separation line to process rubber, Poly-Met™ and Megaliner liners of all sizes. For customers, the new mill liner recycling service solves the problem of disposing of worn mill liners and offers a way to reduce CO2 emissions and improve environmental efficiency, as less material is being sent to landfills unprocessed, according to the company.

The first-of-its-kind service aims to recycle and create value from used mill liners on an industrial scale. It enables the separation of different liner components so that they can be either reused or recycled in the most optimal way.

Lars Furtenbach, RTD & Engineering Director, Mill lining business line at Metso Outotec, said the new separation line has already processed more than 200 liners.

“We are also exploring ways to increase the number of recycled materials in our liners to further close the circularity loop,” he added.

In the first phase, the recycling service using the new separation line is available for mill lining service contract customers in Europe. The recycling service will be expanded to new markets in 2023.

Weir Minerals’ Vulco rubber compound proves its mill lining worth

Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining consumables, Mining maintenance, Sustainable mining, , , , , ,

Close to four years after release, Weir Minerals Vulco® 67 rubber compound is providing exceptional wear life and reliability in mill lining systems, according to the OEM.

These abrasion- and impact-resistant rubber compounds have been developed with advanced technologies by the Weir Minerals’ team of expert engineers and material scientists who are continually refining Vulco rubber products to keep them at the forefront of mill lining systems technology, the company says.

Having identified a need for higher-wearing rubbers for mill lining systems, the material science experts commenced developing an industry leading, premium-grade rubber compound with superior wear life and performance in mill lining applications. The result was the Vulco R67 rubber – a material manufactured with proprietary new compounds and innovative methods of processing to deliver outstanding wear life and longer uptime, Weir Minerals says.

Extensive field research, compound testing and site trials were conducted to ensure it was not only able to withstand severe abrasion in typical mill system applications, but that it is best in class, the company said.

“In fact, it has been the most wear-resistant rubber compound that Weir Minerals has ever developed for mill lining applications,” Weir Minerals said. “The R67 compound boasts a high hardness, elongation, tensile and tear strength, and is suitable for lifter bars, head/shell plates and grates. When it’s utilised in conjunction with metal cap mill liners, the result is a versatile, economical and efficient product that weighs up to 50% less than steel alone.

“The added benefit is a lighter product that’s faster, easier and safer to install.”

Revolutionising wear lining

Since its launch in 2018, many mining operators from around the globe have implemented the R67 compound into their mill lining systems, according to Weir Minerals. They have reported as much as 20-40% improvement in wear life, which is resulting in fewer mill lining replacements and longer mill campaigns. This reduction in shutdowns has a dual benefit of increased cost savings and improved plant availability.

With a liner that can run significantly longer, operators have experienced a wide range of benefits including:

  • Improved wear life;
  • A measurable reduction in mill downtime;
  • Increased uptime and processing;
  • Easier and safer installations; and
  • Reduced maintenance costs.

In-field success

Extensive global trials and commercial installations in the market have resulted in several successful outcomes across a variety of different grinding applications.

As an example, a high-grade nickel and copper mining project in the US had a problem where the liners in one ball mill were wearing out too quickly, leading to continued downtime and reduced processing. The operation was looking for a product significantly superior to the elastomer it was using. Initially there was reluctance from the mine, as it had loyalty to its original mill supplier, however after Weir Minerals conducted a series of trajectory simulations and discrete modelling – to optimise the design and deliver the best process performance for the mill – it agreed to trial the R67 liners.

At the end of the trial, the R67 showed 30-40% better performance than the incumbent liners and the customer installed a full set of R67 liners in its mill.

Another trial in the US took place in an iron ore mine with several dozen ball mills in operation. Here, Vulco R67 liners delivered a 17% increase in life compared with the failed shell plates from the mine’s original mill lining system supplier. The company has since installed a complete shell liner in its ball mill.

Moving to Chile, a copper mine was keen to trial the R67 compound to see if it could improve the wear time of a competitor rubber liner. After a three-month trial, all liners were physically measured showing the Vulco R67 liners fully worn wear life projected from the actual wear would be 80% longer compared with the incumbent liners.

Another copper processing plant in Chile trialled R67 composite liners in its SAG mill against two other compounds commonly used in the industry. After 12 months, there was a 48% and 62% wear life improvement on the other liners – proving the R67 composite liners could withstand the highly abrasive environment.

Vulco R67 mill liners are made exclusively at Weir Minerals facilities in North and South America, Australia and South Africa, with plans to expand production into more regions in the future.

Multotec looks to optimise SAG mill liner performance, milling efficiency and liner life

Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, , ,

As the mining industry moves to larger semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mills for higher productivity, Multotec says it is developing and applying innovative liner designs to optimise liner performance, mill efficiency and liner wear life.

“Our strong analysis capabilities in the design process – including discrete element analysis (DEM) and finite element analysis (FEA) – allow us to continuously evolve the application of our composite liners,” Sam Hearn, Global Sales and Business Development Manager at Multotec, says.

Hearn highlights how Multotec uses DEM software to simulate the interaction between the mill charge and the liners, and to evaluate liner profile over the life of the liner.

“The DEM analysis considers a range of variables such as the ore’s bond work index, its specific gravity, the size of the grinding media, the mill speed and the slurry density,” he says. “Sophisticated simulation capability allows us to accurately model the performance and wear of our mill liners. This includes predicting the liners’ wear life, to avoid unscheduled downtime and to extend the time between replacements.”

Emphasising that no two mill liner applications are identical, Hearn says this simulation can guide very specific refinements in the liner design for each customer. A detailed understanding of the operating conditions is vital to ensure that the final solution delivers optimal results.

He notes that the traditional use of steel liners in large SAG mills presents a number of challenges. For instance, there may be bending stress inside the steel liner due to inexact fitting on the mill’s curved surface, and the higher rigidity of steel, compared with rubber, makes it less than optimal for absorbing the energy of rock material inside the mill.

“This is where our composite liners come into their own,” he says. “These innovative liners combine the impact resistance of Hardox 500 steel inserts and the absorption capacity of our specially formulated wear-resistant rubber compound. Through the simulation, the structural integrity of the liners can be verified, while the geometric layout of the liners can be optimised.”

The composite liners are locally manufactured at Multotec’s extensive facility in Spartan, Gauteng, South Africa, in an advanced process that includes its unique submerged cutting technique to preserve the surface hardness of the liners.

“We combine our innovative design capacity with the latest tooling capability and production technology for large-scale manufacture,” Hearn says. Following the design and manufacturing process, Multotec conducts field trials to compare with the relative performance of composite liners and steel liners.

“We are confident that, given our product improvement processes and simulation ability, the wear life of our liners will achieve and often exceed expectations,” he says.

Miners able to pick ‘n’ mix with latest FLSmidth mill lining components

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FLSmidth says it has launched redesigned mill lining components engineered to suit the specific functions and differing operating environments of the mining industry with its.

The new PulpMax™ mill liners are designed to increase the throughput of semi-autogenous (SAG) mills and substantially boost the wear life of liners, the company said.

FLSmidth said: “Delivering on a promise to provide increased productivity to the mining industry, the composite design incorporated in FLSmidth’s new PulpMax mill liners ensure that users enjoy reduced downtime and maintenance, increased throughput and improved worker safety.”

With lighter weight mill liners, installation is faster and safer as each liner is easier to manipulate, according to the company. There are also fewer parts, and, hence, fewer movements are required to perform a reline, resulting in a significant decrease in scheduled downtime.

The composite nature of the liner reduces its weight by almost 50%, according to FLSmidth, which allows the plant to increase its ball charge level without increasing the total weight of the mill.

This higher ball charge further contributes to the higher throughput.

“The lighter weight of these liners has an important impact on size, design and installation time,” the company said. “Each liner can now be larger – subject to the size of the mill opening – and the mill can be lined with fewer of them, reducing the downtime required to conduct replacement.

A lighter liner means fewer bolts to hold it in place, a factor further reducing installation time, according to the company. This shorter downtime also means less time for contractors inside the mills, leading to a faster and safer liner changeout.

Another important benefit of the composite material used in many of FLSmidth’s redesigned liners is it is not necessary to torch the liners, as is sometimes required when removing old steel liners, the company said. “This torching process in the mill is best avoided, as it can cause costly damage to the mill shell,” FLSmidth explained.

Finally, there has also been the development of composite material shell liners bolted from the outside of the mill, once again, speeding up installation and reducing risk.

Jack Meegan, Product Line Manager for Comminution at FLSmidth, said: “As mines increasingly recognise the positive financial impact derived from just a few more percentage points in throughput improvement, many are looking beyond conventional steel cast liners for mills. FLSmidth’s innovations, based on combinations of steel, rubber and ceramic components, allow the liners to be thinner, resulting in a larger volume inside the mill, making higher charge levels possible.”

He continued: “Responding to the continuous assessment of customer needs, FLSmidth has launched a mill liner solution based on extensive data on mill operations, shutdowns, wear profiles and other factors. These have been used to develop a high-end technical and financial solution.”

Following installation, an ongoing measurement of actual wear, tonnage processed and estimated wear life is conducted so further recommendations can be made to improve performance, Meegan explained.

FLSmidth’s SAGwise makes an impact on mill consumables

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Just over a year since launching its SAGwise™ total process control solution for semi-autogenous (SAG) mills, FLSmidth is putting some savings statistics behind the sensory and process optimisation system.

SAGwise is designed to optimise the use of the three main consumables in SAG milling: power, media and liners.

Winston Mokoena, Key Account Manager at FLSmidth, said the solution reduces critical impacts inside the mill by up to 45%. This adds life to wear liners and grinding balls, helping to prolong liner life between maintenance and giving mills more uptime, he added.

“SAGwise can improve mill production by 6% and substantially reduce process variability,” Mokoena said. “This ensures that the mill provides a constant and optimal feed to the next stage of the process, effectively facilitating better performance of downstream operations.”

Among the challenges mill optimisation tries to address is too little material in the mill, or too much. Too little leads to critical impacts between the grinding media and the mill liners, damaging both elements without producing value. If the mill is overfilled with mined material, on the other hand, this results in grinding inefficiencies.

“The SAGwise system uses four or eight unidirectional or bidirectional audio sensors located in close proximity to the mill, which detect the analogue sounds and convert them into digital signals for analysis by a processing unit,” FLSmidth said. “This unit uses the sound patterns and other process variables to determine the necessary adjustment to the mill’s feed, speed and pulp density.”

So direct are the improvements that can be achieved by this solution that customers can pay back their investment in less than six months, depending on the commodity value and the specific mill environment, according to FLSmidth.

“The parameters that are monitored by SAGwise include the mill’s power consumption, load impacts, mill load and pulp density,” Mokoena said. “The system then responds to these parameters by controlling the mill speed, the feed rate and the water to achieve the ‘sweet spot’ where the mill runs at optimum efficiency.”