Tag Archives: NEPEAN Conveyors

PROK conveyor pulleys to feature at Fortescue’s Iron Bridge magnetite project

Bulk handling, Equipment maintenance, Mineral project development, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , , , ,

Global conveyor components manufacturer PROK has been awarded a major contract for the design, manufacture and supply of conveyor pulleys at the Iron Bridge Magnetite project, a joint venture between Fortescue Metals Group subsidiary FMG Iron Bridge and Formosa Steel IB Pty. Ltd, near Port Hedland in Western Australia.

PROK will produce around 170 complete pulleys from its Bayswater production facility in Perth, Western Australia. The pulleys will be installed across 25 new conveyors at the Iron Bridge site.

PROK says it is an expert in conveyor equipment and specialises in solutions that help mining companies across the globe keep their conveyor systems running efficiently and safely.

PROK General Manager, Wade Guelfi, said the Iron Bridge contract award highlighted PROK’s high level of technical capability and manufacturing experience.

“As a recognised leader in large engineered pulleys, we were a perfect fit for this type of project,” he said. “Our advanced in-house engineering team worked closely with the client to design a pulley solution that meets all project requirements.”

The pulleys range in sizes from 500-1,200 mm diameter and will be delivered in six stages starting in January 2021, the company said.

The contract forms part of Stage 2 of the Iron Bridge project, which involves construction of a large-scale process plant and port infrastructure to support 22 Mt/y (wet) of magnetite production. Stage 1 (pictured), completed successfully, was achieved by building and operating a full-scale pilot plant at the North Star mine site. This pilot project included the use of a dry crushing and grinding circuit, which FMG plans to leverage in stage two.

In FMG’s March quarter results, released late last month, the company said the $2.6 billion project was progressing on schedule and budget, with first concentrate production planned in the first half of calendar year 2022.

“We are excited to be part of this project and proud to be supporting Fortescue with heavy-duty engineered pulleys manufactured right here in Western Australia,” Guelfi added. “We look forward to working closely with FMG as the project progresses.”

ROXON ups durability with new wear parts line

Bulk handling, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, , , ,

ROXON, a part of NEPEAN Conveyors, has released a new range of wear protection products for the mining industry.

The global mining conveyor systems and components specialist says ROXDUR uses the latest wear material technology and innovative manufacturing processes to create a truly unique range of wear products.

With operating facilities in Finland, Sweden and Australia, ROXON specialises in conveyor systems and components, and has over 50 years’ experience servicing the global mining industry.

ROXON said ROXDUR has been developed on the back of research and development from its engineering team and uses a unique composite material that combines extreme hardness to minimise abrasive wear and iron-matrix technology to absorb impact. “The metallurgical bond between the cemented carbide and iron matrix gives a composite material with very high-quality adhesion to the cemented carbide,” it said.

The ROXDUR iron-matrix technology is unprecedented in the industry and can extend the life of fixed plant mining equipment up to 20 times longer than other products, according to the company, which added it has three global patents pending for the range.

The product range includes welding segments, edge liners and wear plates and is suitable for all low- to heavy-duty mining applications, according to the company.

ROXON has developed a standard range of wear plates with a thickness of 30-50 mm but there are also opportunities to customise these depending on the application, the company said.

ROXDUR Product Manager, Oskar Larsson, said productivity losses and unplanned downtime due to wear-related breakdowns cost mining companies’ significant amounts of time and money each year.

“The use of wear resistant products is crucial to everyday operations, particularly in hard-rock mining,” he said.

“ROXDUR is a premium product that has the best durability on the market. We started developing it in 2018 and realised fairly quickly that we needed to combine the durable, but relatively brittle, cemented carbide with some toughness to get the best of both worlds in a whole new material,” he added.

“We are really excited with the new product. When compared to a standard plate of 500 Brinell, we have between 10-15 – sometimes 20 – times longer life. This will make a huge difference for our customers.”

NEPEAN offers mine truck haulage alternative with relocatable conveyors

Bulk handling, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , ,

NEPEAN Conveyors’ New South Wales General Manager, Bill Munday, thinks its relocatable conveyor system will “change the game for materials handling” in 2019.

Munday said this to the Australian Mining publication during a site visit to Port Kembla.

Last year, NEPEAN Conveyors acquired Sandvik’s International Conveyor Components businesses and Sandvik’s Specialist Conveyor Systems business in Hollola, Finland.

NEPEAN’s Relocatable Conveyor system has taken over two years of research and design to develop and “promises to upend the traditional approach to conveyor design on account of its improved mobility, operational flexibility, ease of transport and speed of installation”, the company said.

Instead of building conveyor parts to meet the needs of freight shipping container dimensions, the NEPEAN Relocatable Conveyor is a half-height high cube portal frame configuration certified for standard freight shipping.

This means the conveyor is transportable anywhere in the world as a fully assembled unit, according to the company.

The frames are 12 m long, with the unit inside supporting belt widths of up to 1,800 mm on straight conveyors and 1,600 mm on curved conveyors. Roof-mounted wind guards are also available for each module in a single curve or straight two-piece configuration.

The modules can be triple stacked on a prime mover and unloaded in one bundle using standard container handling equipment, which can then place each module in line for final connection, according to the company.

This approach vastly reduces the total install cost per lineal metre by minimising both time and staff requirements during setup, NEPEAN said.

“One of the areas we really wanted to target was logistics,” Munday told Australian Mining.

“It can turn into a real logistical exercise moving all this equipment from one site to the next and doing so efficiently. The beauty of having a half-height hi cube shipping container format is that they can be multi-stacked on ships, trains or trucks,” he said.

“You can potentially get nine modules per road train at a length of 12 m per module.”

The frame’s integral legs can be set in place by removing a pin, folding them out and replacing the pin to lock the legs in position, minimising ground works.

The foot plates also have holes in for additional stakes to be inserted, which adds stability and security.

Once the modules are aligned to an installation jig on the ground – adjustable for idler spacing and roller configurations – the structure can be super elevated by up to 7° and banked around corners, according to the company.

“All the equipment is pre-designed for a fully functioning conveyor and the container module is just part of the system,” Munday said. “We have also designed a unique one-piece head end that incorporates a drive system up to approximately 4,000 kW, a loop take-up and delivery jib that can be put on a 200-t float to transport around mine sites. It is held in place by large ground anchors — there’s minimal concreting or civil works — you just dig a couple of holes and bury the ground anchor.”

In addition to significantly lowering civil works and installation costs, the NEPEAN Relocatable Conveyors mobility allows it to be adaptable to changes in mining operations and positions it as a true alternative to mine trucks when it is time to move the conveyor on site, according to the company.