Tag Archives: Nordberg

Metso brings new Nordberg HPe crusher to offering

Metso is introducing the latest unit, the Nordberg® HP350e™, to its Nordberg HPe crusher series launched in 2023, saying the crusher offers enhanced performance, higher uptime, easier and safer maintenance, and a series of other improvements.

The Nordberg HPe crushers are engineered to meet the evolving and constantly increasing performance needs of the aggregates and mining industries, according to Metso, with the new Nordberg HP350e being the perfect choice for diverse rock processing operations.

Ilkka Somero, Product Manager of HP Cones at Metso’s Aggregates business area, said: “The launch of the Nordberg HPe crusher series during CONEXPO-CON/AGG trade show last year was a success, and now we are proud to bring to the market our latest addition to the series, the Nordberg HP350e cone crusher. Compared to the first crusher on the series, HP200e, the new crusher, HP350e, belongs to a larger size class of crushers. We are excited to expand the Nordberg HPe series to bring to the market a wider offering of these high-performance crushers fit for different production purposes.”

The Nordberg HP350e cone crusher offers several unique benefits, according to the company, including:

  • Enhanced performance;
  • New enhanced kinematics and more efficient chambers;
  • Up to 10% performance in secondary and tertiary application (as compared with the HP300);
  • Improved uptime and serviceability;
  • No-backing liners for quick, easier and safer liner change;
  • Head anti-spin brake extends liner wear life;
  • Optional ring bounce monitoring feature for active overload protection;
  • New feed cone lifting tool, for safe lifting and handling;
  • Wider application coverage;
  • Three alternative kinematics to choose from;
  • Alternative speeds;
  • Exceptionally wide chamber offering: 10 innovative application specific no-backing chamber designs for secondary, tertiary and quaternary stages; and
  • Efficient parts lifetime economy.

Fully covered aftermarket support as most parts are common between the earlier HP300 design and HP350e and the rest remain either interchangeable or upgradable, Metso says. Current HP300 owners can purchase Metso’s HPe upgrade kits, enabling economical access to some of the new HPe features, including enhanced kinematics, head anti-spin brake and ring bounce monitoring, as well as monitor and no-backing liners via head and bowl upgrade. If need be, the new HP350e can also use older-generation HP300 backing liners features.

Nordberg HPe series crushers will be also available as US-compliant Nordplant™ Pre-designed Crushing Modules. These modules provide convenient all-in-one delivery with quick assembly for replacing crushing stations or in new applications, the company says.

Furthermore, Metso is also introducing the first HPe series crusher on tracks for improved mobility. The Lokotrack® LT200HPX™ is equipped with a Nordberg HP200e cone crusher and a two-deck pre-screen with up to 40% higher capacity than the LT200HP.

The new HP350e is being showcased at AGG1 2024 at Metso’s booth, being held this week in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Metso reflects on ‘benchmark’ contract win in Chile copper space

Metso has been awarded a major order worth some €55 million ($59 million) to deliver key concentrator equipment for a copper mining project in Chile.

The Metso delivery scope consists of high-capacity Nordberg® MP1250 secondary cone crushers, MF Series™ vibrating screens and energy-efficient Vertimill® VTM1500 regrinding mills.

For the flotation and separation circuit, Metso will supply multiple TankCell® and ColumnCell™ flotation cells featuring several of the largest available 630 cu.m TankCell units, as well as HCT™ High Compression tailing thickeners. In addition, Metso’s scope includes four MHC hydrocyclone clusters, of which two will be among the largest in the world.

Most of the products in the delivery scope are part of Metso’s Planet Positive offering.

Fernando Samanez, Vice President, Minerals Sales for South America at Metso, said: “Working together with the customer and the engineering company on an open collaborative model has been an extraordinary experience. The model enhanced the efficiency of the engineering process and contributed to the alignment of all parties on the targets set by the end customer. This will be a benchmark to be followed in similar projects all over the world.”

Metso to deliver Nordberg cone crushers to WCS’ Simandou iron ore project

Metso says it has received an order exceeding €10 million ($10.9 million) from Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) for the supply of key crushing equipment for its concentrator plant at Simandou Iron Ore Blocks 1 and 2 in the Republic of Guinea.

Metso’s scope of delivery consists of 16 Nordberg® HP900™ secondary and tertiary cone crushers, a crusher series that has over 10,000 installations worldwide in the aggregate and mining industries.

Xun Fang, Head of Metso’s Minerals Sales in Greater China, said: “We are pleased to be chosen as the supplier of the state-of-the-art crushing equipment for the Simandou iron project by WCS. We will leverage our global knowledge and resources to support the success of this project.”

Winning Consortium Simandou has been set up by the founders of SMB Winning Consortium, namely Winning International Group from Singapore, China Hongqiao and UMS Guinea. WCS won the public tender to develop Simandou Iron Ore Blocks 1 and 2 in November 2019 and signed a Base Convention agreement with the Guinean Government in June 2020.

Simandou Blocks 3 and 4 are held by Simfer S.A., which is owned by the Guinean State (15%) and Simfer Jersey Limited (85%). Simfer Jersey Limited is a joint venture between the Rio Tinto Group (53%) and Chalco Iron Ore Holdings Ltd (CIOH) (47%), a Chinalco-led joint venture of leading Chinese SOEs (Chinalco (75%), Baowu (20%), China Rail Construction Corporation (2.5%) and China Harbour Engineering Company (2.5%)).

Metso wins major flotation cell order from First Quantum for Kansanshi S3 expansion

Canada-based First Quantum Minerals (FQM) has placed an additional order with Metso for the delivery of minerals processing equipment to its Kansanshi copper mine S3 expansion.

Metso’s scope of delivery includes apron feeders, Nordberg® MP800™ cone crushers, TankCell® e630 and TankCell® e300 mechanical flotation cells, high-intensity Concorde Cell™ units, ColumnCell™ units, HRT thickeners and a clarifier.

Most of the separation equipment are part of Metso’s Planet Positive offering.

Last year, Metso was awarded an order for two Premier™ grinding mills, with a total installed power of 50 MW, including Metso Megaliner™ and metallic mill linings for the expansion.

The First Quantum Minerals Ltd Board of Directors signed off on the S3 Expansion last year, bankrolling a project that could see Kansanshi’s life pushed out to 2044. Once the expansion is completed, copper production from Kansanshi is expected to average approximately 250,000 t/y for the remaining life of mine.

Metso says the value of the order exceeds €20 million ($21. 8 million).

Antti Rinne, Vice President, Flotation at Metso, said: “Kansanshi’s flotation flowsheet combines the well-proven, energy efficient TankCell flotation cells with the new Concorde Cell, unlocking the potential for further improved flotation performance. Concorde Cell high-intensity, forced-air pneumatic flotation cells allow operations to enhance fine and ultrafine particle selectivity.”

Metso boosts comminution power at Zijin Mining’s Julong copper concentrator

Metso says it has been awarded an order for key concentrator plant equipment by Zijin Mining Group for its Julong copper project in the Tibetan Autonomous region.

The value of the order is approximately €85 million ($93 million).

The comminution circuit will be one of the highest powered in China, including a Superior™ MKIII primary gyratory crusher, a geared Premier™ SAG mill and gearless mill drive (GMD) Premier ball mill with 24 MW of installed power, as well as four Nordberg® HP900™ cone crushers, Metso says.

To ensure efficient and sustainable concentrate separation, Metso will deliver 24 TankCell® TC630 flotation cells, five HRT Hight Rate Thickeners, and two Larox® FFP2512 filters. Thanks to their superior energy- and water-efficiency, most of the equipment are part of Metso’s Planet Positive offering, the company added.

Xun Fang, Head of Metso’s Minerals Sales in Greater China, said: “We are very pleased to have been chosen as the partner to deliver the concentrator plant equipment for this ambitious project. The Julong copper mine is located on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau at an altitude of 5,300 m, one of the highest mining sites in the world. The elevation of the plant places tough requirements for the equipment. This is one of the reasons Zijin Mining chose Metso, as our technology is known for its sustainability, reliability and high performance. The delivery includes a GMD ball mill, the first GMD mill to be delivered to China and the most powerful ball mill ever made. TankCells and High Rate Thickeners to be delivered are high-capacity equipment, reducing embedded carbon and increasing overall plant availability. Two of the thickeners are for tailings and are 100 meters in diameter. In addition, our local service capability is highly appreciated by the customer.”

Metso Outotec to demo ‘groundbreaking innovations’ at CONEXPO 2023

Just one of the expected highlights from Metso Outotec’s CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2023 upcoming presence in Las Vegas, USA, will be an evolution of its Nordberg HP cone crusher.

The company will show off its latest innovations at the international construction trade show, taking place on March 14-18, 2023.

Juha Yli-Petäys, SVP, Global Distribution Management at Metso Outotec, said: “Throughout the whole aggregates and construction industry, sustainability is gaining ground and has become a big driver for innovations and operations. For us at Metso Outotec, sustainability and improved performance are among our key goals with our customers and present in every R&D project. At CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2023, we will demonstrate our groundbreaking innovations that address our customers’ key challenges like energy consumption, uptime, safety or carbon footprint reduction.”

The special previews for CONEXPO-CON/AGG visitors at Metso Outotec’s booth include:

  • The HPe range – evolution in motion: The most popular modern cone crusher in the world, the Nordberg HP cone crusher, is undergoing an evolution, Metso Outotec says. The new range is even more efficient, meeting the varying and ever-increasing performance needs of the aggregates and mining industres. The new Nordberg HPe range offers higher performance and uptime in a more sustainable way. The kinematical crushing action and crusher cavities have been further developed and optimized, resulting in significantly higher performance and grade of application flexibility. Significantly, the crusher liners can be installed without backing material. This not only makes the liner changes easier and shortens the time needed for service breaks, but also has a positive impact on the environment and operator safety.
  • The iconic Lokotrack® range and the vision for the future: Lokotrack track-mounted crushers and screens are renowned for their outstanding performance and dependability when it comes to aggregates production, the company says. At CONEXPO-CON/AGG, it will display the latest version of the Lokotrack LT120. The LT120 features the proven Nordberg C120 jaw crusher and is equipped for optimised performance and extended wear life. It includes the Planet Positive hybrid composite MX jaw dies, a rock breaker, rubber lining in the feeder, a belt cleaning set for the long main conveyor, as well as the latest intelligent crushing solution and the new Metrics remote monitoring platform. Additionally, Metso Outotec will provide a sneak peek at the future vision of the next generation of Lokotracks, which, it says, will continue to transform mobile crushing.
  • Aftermarket solutions to optimise performance: With the OEM quality parts and digitally powered services, Metso Outotec can optimise the performance and uptime of aggregates producing equipment at every phase of the production lifecycle. Metso Outotec’s aftermarket solutions help operators reduce cost per tonne and decrease their energy consumption and carbon footprint. The digital solution, Metso Outotec Metrics, which enables a wide range of services targeting improved performance, availability and equipment lifespan for different aggregates applications, will also be showcased at the event.

Metso Outotec introduces new ’Xtreme’ crusher head for Nordberg cone crushers

Metso Outotec has introduced a new crusher head to complete the portfolio for its Nordberg® MP800, MP1000, MP1250, HP800 and HP900 series of cone crushers.

The Xtreme (forged) head is the most robust head on the market, designed to handle the most demanding applications, according to the company.

Chad Smallwood, SVP Crushing Products at Metso Outotec, said: “Metso Outotec now has a complete range of crusher heads in the portfolio and our customers can choose the level of durability based on their application and needs. The new Xtreme forged head is the most reliable crusher head in the industry. The OEM design ensures optimal crushing even where equipment may be pushed beyond design limits.”

The new Xtreme head provides customers with an option for the most extreme conditions. The Xtreme head complements the Enhanced (heavy duty) head and the Elect (traditional cast) head in this range of crusher heads, Metso Outotec says.

The customer can match their price point and duty level to get the most life out of their components, according to the company. Maximising and extending the life of the components allows for a more sustainable operation overall.

Key benefits of the Xtreme head include:

  • Advanced geometrical features to assure consistent bearing loading within machine design parameters;
  • Complete one-piece forged material;
  • A sustainable design and capabilities to provide safe and reliable operations; and
  • Offers a three-year warranty.

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.”

Los Andes Copper engineers a Vizcachitas alternative

It is a combination of improved technology, reduced fine grind requirements and maintenance benefits that led to Los Andes Copper replacing the SAG and ball mill crushing circuit proposed in its Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum project preliminary economic assessment (PEA), with a three-stage crushing circuit that uses high pressure grinding roll (HPGR) technology in the tertiary crushing stage, according to Executive Chairman, Fernando Porcile.

In the middle of a prefeasibility study on the Vizcachitas project, Los Andes recently issued an update on the study progress.

A delay of PFS publication to the March quarter of 2021 due to the onset of COVID-19 impacting some of the metallurgical test work and field work at the project might have been the key takeaway for investors, but those in the mining technology game will be focusing on the revised process flowsheet being put forward at the Chile project.

One of the big changes was seen at the front end on the comminution side.

In the close to year since issuing the June 2019 PEA, and with the arrival of Porcile and his team, the company’s understanding of its orebody characteristics and the technology available to it as a new greenfield project owner has grown.

Porcile said the ore at Vizcachitas is very suitable to this energy efficient HPGR technology, with metallurgical test work showing an HPGR circuit can reduce the sensitivity to changes in hardness, providing a product that is more consistent in size. This will help reduce major process fluctuations downstream – where there have also been some changes.

The P80 target grind size of 240 microns hasn’t changed much – moving up to a P80 of 240-300 microns – but the SAG and ball mill circuit has been replaced with a three stage crushing circuit using secondary crushers in open circuit and HPGR as a tertiary crusher in closed circuit.

On the preliminary comminution process flowsheet, this includes the use of a Metso Superior™ MKIII primary gyratory crusher, feeding three Nordberg® MP2500™ cone crushers, which move into 40,000 t crushed ore bins. This material is then conveyed to two Metso HRC™ 2600 HPGRs.

Los Andes says the configuration of secondary cone crushers in an open circuit avoids the use of a coarse ore stockpile and recirculation conveyor belts – reducing dust emission sources – while the closed reverse grinding circuit allows less production of fines, which is helpful for the follow-on thickening and filtration stages.

On top of this, the secondary crushing and grinding plant in this setup is close to the primary crusher, which also reduces coarse ore conveying costs.

Porcile said HPGR technology has moved on a long way in the last decade and now represents a more reliable proposition than using the SAG and ball mill circuit previously proposed.

“There is much less risk associated with using HPGRs in a new operation,” he told IM. “Large SAG mills not only take up lots of space within the plant, they can also come with teething problems during start up.”

He added: “HPGRs used to come with lots of wear problems, meaning you had to replace the rollers often. The maintenance on them is that much better now; the rollers do not wear out as quickly and, when they do, you can easily replace them.”

On top of the obvious benefits in energy consumption that come with using HPGR technology, there are positives that can be felt further down the process flowsheet.

“We are very confident that HPGR is the best alternative for our project due to the nature and quality of our ore,” Porcile said. “We produce very little fines, which has an impact on the way we deal with tailings.”

The combination of a lack of fines and low presence of clays (mainly kaolinite) has helped filtration performance in test work, indicating that a dry-stacked tailings solution may be viable at Vizcachitas, Porcile said.

This could provide an up to 50% reduction in water consumption compared with the PEA at Vizcachitas. It could also see some 82% of water recovered throughout the process, in addition to a significant reduction in infrastructure requirements.

“We go from having infrastructure in two valleys in the PEA to one in the PFS,” Porcile said on the latter point.

One may think creating a dry-stacking operation at a 110,000 t/d throughput mine would prove costly and difficult, but the lack of fines and low presence of clays already mentioned means the process is a lot simpler to other dry-stacking projects currently on the table across the globe, according to Los Andes.

Test work to date has indicated that coarse material from the plant (plus-400 microns) could produce a cake with 14%-18% moisture through the use of belt conveyors. This material currently makes up 87% of the envisaged tonnage.

Only 13% of tonnage classed as fines (less than 400 microns) would have to go through pressure filters to produce a 16-19% moisture cake, according to the company.

Porcile says these belt filters work just as well as pressure filters on the coarse material from Vizcachitas but are that much more cost effective.

“Belt filters come with high filtration rates, are low cost (in terms of capex) and are reliable,” Porcile said. “In the study, we envisage saving pressure filters only for the very top level of material.”

While it is too early to talk about the impact these changes will have on the capital expenditure and net present value numbers to be included in the PFS, expect the $1.87 billion and $1.8 billion (after tax and with an 8% discount), respectively, to change.

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.