Tag Archives: Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions

Schenck Process Mining to become Sandvik Rock Processing Australia

Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, , , , , , , , , , , ,

The next step in the integration of SP Mining – the mining-related business of Schenck Process acquired by global, high-tech engineering group Sandvik – will see SP mining entities change their names to reflect their new ownership.

On October 1, Schenck Process Australia Pty Limited, which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sandvik in November last year, will become Sandvik Rock Processing Australia Pty Limited. The Australian entity is the largest part of SP Mining’s global business, employing around 450 industry professionals.

Since the acquisition, Sandvik has been focused on bringing together its expertise in crushing with the screening, feeding, weighing and loading know-how of Schenck Process Mining.

According to the company’s President Asia Pacific, Terese Withington, this move is part of an integration process that will eventually see SP Mining become a seamless part of the Sandvik organisation.

“In Australia, we are bringing together our sales and back-office teams with those of Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions to allow our customers to access our combined expertise in crushing, screening, feeding, weighing and loading,” she said. “Together we aim to deliver even better digitalisation, sustainability and productivity solutions to our industry.

“The end goal of our integration is to allow our customers to place combined crushing, screening, feeding, weighing and loading orders with our new legal entity.”

Withington says the scale of Sandvik’s operations and commercial reach will help to accelerate the combined innovation portfolio of Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions and SP Mining.

She concluded: “We look forward to continuing to service the business needs of our customers and remain fully focused on the delivery of high-quality equipment, consumables, OEM spare parts and services to help them achieve their business objectives.”

Schenck Process Mining closes in on key Sandvik integration milestone

Comminution of minerals, Mining equipment, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, , , , , , ,

A little over nine months after being acquired by Sandvik, Schenck Process Mining (SP Mining), the global mineral processing related business of the Schenck Process Group, is close to achieving what it says will be a significant milestone as part of its integration into the Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions Business Area.

Each of Sandvik’s three business areas – Manufacturing and Machining Solutions, Mining and Rock Solutions and Rock Processing Solutions – have several divisions responsible for the R&D, production and sales of their respective products and services.

Since the acquisition of SP Mining, Sandvik has been focused on bringing together its expertise in crushing with the screening, feeding, weighing and loading know-how of SP Mining. According to Sandvik, the union between its Rock Processing Solutions Business Area and SP Mining will allow it to provide even more value to the mining industry.

SP Mining’s President Asia Pacific, Terese Withington, says the scale of Sandvik’s operations and commercial reach will help to accelerate the combined innovation portfolio of Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions and SP Mining. She says that, together, the company aims to deliver even better digitalisation, sustainability and productivity solutions.

“Since we became part of Sandvik’s Rock Processing Solutions Business Area late last year, we have been working through the integration process which will eventually see SP Mining become a seamless part of the Sandvik organisation,” she said. “Our Australian operations are the largest part of SP Mining’s global business, employing around 450 industry professionals. As such, Australia is playing a key role in the overall integration.”

In August, the company will reach a significant integration milestone with around 50 of its Australian employees moving from the combined sales, engineering, services and R&D facility in Beresfield, New South Wales, to the Sandvik Hunter Valley site in Heatherbrae. The Heatherbrae complex houses several Sandvik divisions and, according to Withington, the move provides excellent opportunities for the business.

“The scale of the Heatherbrae complex is impressive. It caters well to the needs of our people as well as to our future growth ambitions,” she said. “This is a very positive move, which will bring our people even closer to our customers in the Hunter region.

“As we move through our integration, we continue to look forward to servicing the needs of our customers and remain fully focused on the delivery of high-quality equipment, consumables, OEM spare parts and services to help them achieve their business objectives.”

Kwatani wins major screening order from Central Asia copper mine

Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , , ,

Competing with leading OEMs from around the world, vibrating screen specialist OEM Kwatani says it has snatched a mammoth export order for over 70 screens from a mining operation in Central Asia.

The order was signed in April with a large copper mine in the region, which boasts a production rate of 35 Mt/y. According to Kwatani General Manager Sales and Service, Jan Schoepflin, the machines will be rolled out and delivered over a tight schedule of just eight months.

Kwatani, now part of the Sandvik group within the Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions division, is already hard at work manufacturing the large and medium-sized screens at its South Africa-based manufacturing facility.

“This is Kwatani’s largest order to date and is probably the largest single order for screens ever placed with a company in Africa,” Schoepflin says. “We are proud to have won such a prestigious bid in the face of intense competition, showing how our global reputation has been growing.”

The order is for large double-deck multi-slope screens, which feed high pressure grinding rolls, as well as for single-deck linear screens feeding concentrators. The screens in this order will be installed on isolation frames to minimise the extent to which dynamic loads affect the plant’s building structures, the company says.

Kwatani says it is well known for its design, manufacture and servicing of large, robust screens which are engineered for tonnage.

“As the largest OEM for vibrating screens and feeders in Africa, we have had great success on the continent and abroad with our large ‘banana’ screens,” Schoepflin says. “These and our other custom-engineered screens have been supplied to over 50 countries to date.”

The stringent and lengthy technical adjudication for this project was conducted for the mine by two leading international project engineering houses. The size and value of the order ensured all the mining industry’s foremost screen suppliers participated in the bid. Other indicators of the order’s scale are that the screens will consume around 700 t of steel, and will altogether be fitted with 21,000 screening panels.

Schoepflin notes that an important consideration for customers is not only the proven quality and performance of its screens, but Kwatani’s ability to deliver on time.

“Any large capital expenditure decision on a mine is taken with time-sensitive factors in mind,” he says. “For instance, the delayed delivery of critical equipment can prevent a mine from meeting its planned production targets. This undermines the financial basis for that decision – an eventuality that no mine can afford.”

The end-customer and the project houses, therefore, had to have full confidence in Kwatani’s capacity.

With growing demand from a buoyant mining sector, the company recently added another 3,000 sq.m to its existing 17,000 sq.m facility in Spartan, Johannesburg. Its design and manufacturing capabilities are ISO 9001:2015 certified, ensuring that the latest order to Asia will comply with the highest global standards, he says.

“We also pride ourselves on the quality and resilience of our supply chain, which underpins our ability to manufacture to demanding deadlines,” Schoepflin says. “We carefully select our supply partners – most of whom are local enterprises – and collaborate closely with them to build their sustainability and responsiveness.”

To keep the project’s schedule on track, dedicated in-house project managers and procurement specialists meet regularly with supply partners to ensure a smooth and streamlined process. This has required alignment of all local and global procurement, including motors, drives and steel. The company’s agility allowed contracts and prices to be tied down for timeous delivery, despite the global supply chain disruption that lingers from the COVID-19 lockdowns, Kwatani says.

Kwatani will conduct training of the mine staff in maintenance and troubleshooting, so that they can fulfil these essential duties independently. The mine will be able to source all the necessary spares from Kwatani, who will also send an engineer or technician to site to supervise and sign off on certain major tasks.

Meeting delivery deadlines and avoiding penalties will require detailed logistical planning for the completed units, Schoepflin notes. The screens will be delivered in batches to a South African port, and shipped as break bulk due to their size. Production of the screens is expected to be complete by early 2023.

Sandvik offers up enhanced three-deck Doublescreen solution

Comminution of minerals, Mining equipment, Sustainable mining, , , ,

Sandvik Mobile Crushers and Screens, part of Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions, has announced what it says is a new first-of-its-kind, three-deck tracked mobile plant with independent screen angle adjustment and hydraulic screen separation in the form of its QA452.

The latest evolution of the Sandvik QA Series products and three-deck Doublescreen technology, the QA452 features two triple deck inline screen boxes with equal size screen decks, each providing 9 cu.m of screening area

Sandvik Doublescreen technology typically outperforms traditional screens by up to 30%, offering a tailored rock processing solution for quarry, recycling and mining industries, Sandvik says.

Screen enhancements on the equipment include an 11% longer bottom screen deck to extract more fines.

“Featuring independent screen angle adjustment, the primary screen can be independently adjusted from the secondary screen, allowing operators to optimise their throughput, screening efficiency and product gradations,” the company said. “The primary screen performs as a fines extractor, whilst the secondary screen performs as a grader. Two processes on one plant, offering exceptional flexibility, excellent separation, accurate grading and massive throughput.”

Sandvik offers hybrid ‘e’ drive with electric plug-in on this solution, meaning operators can choose the most economical and efficient energy source. The QA452 provides a lower environmental impact due to reduced fuel consumption, and the latest powerpack on-board offers less operating noise and low emissions, according to the company. In addition, the hydraulic system has been enhanced to reduce energy wastage, and its hydraulic oil change intervals have been extended from 2,000 hours to 4,000 hours meaning up to 50% less hydraulic oil is consumed over 10,000 hours of machine usage (subject to oil sampling).

The primary screen on the QA452 can also be hydraulically separated to gain better access for maintenance and screen media changes. The addition of a new oversize cross conveyor means greater oversize material extraction, while this cross conveyor can also be reversed to allow the plant to function like a two-deck screen with oversize and mid overs discharged together.

Each screen deck features end tension screen media using Sandvik’s unique mesh tensioning system. This means faster screen mesh tensioning and removal, reducing downtime. The company’s new range of Sandvik WX rubber media, meanwhile, combines the high accuracy of wire screens with the durability of rubber, offering up to 10 times longer wear life and up to 50% faster installation time compared with wire mesh, according to the company. Having equal size panels also means the screen media is interchangeable between decks.

On top of this, thee QA452 comes with Sandvik’s My Fleet telemetry system and seven-year data subscription as standard. This offers 24/7 fleet management, geo-fencing and remote support, according to Sandvik.

Several safety features are included as standard to improve operator and on-site protection. Dust suppression spray bars, on-board water pump, safety pull cords and lighting mast are now fitted as standard for extra peace of mind.

Kwatani’s mill discharge screen expertise to pay off at Namibia gold mine

Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Precious metals, , , , , ,

Namibia’s mining scene is seeing an exciting expansion and technological innovation at a leading gold mining operation, with Kwatani supplying five mill discharge screens – all custom designed and manufactured at its Gauteng facilities.

Kim Schoepflin, CEO of Kwatani, says her company has a long history in Namibia and a strong footprint across various commodities there – including an established presence at this gold mine. It has worked with the engineering, procurement and construction contractor and the end-customer for two to three years on conceptualising the optimal solution.

“The mine is gearing up to increase its production by 50%, to take advantage of the strong gold price,” Schoepflin says. “Our role was to ensure that our discharge screens meet their exact process requirements – with our efficiencies of up to 95% – while delivering mechanical integrity for minimal maintenance downtime.”

The expansion includes the installation of two latest-technology mills – a high-pressure grinding roll (HPGR) and a vertical mill – which will boost production while reducing energy demand. Kwatani’s mill discharge screens, each measuring 3-m wide by 8-m long, will handle the coarse and fine material from the HPGR and the vertical mill. The company will also supply three silo feeders of 1.2 m by 2.5 m in size, to feed material from the silo to conveyors.

“Our screen design optimises the retention time on the deck, allowing for better screening and stratification,” Schoepflin says. “Due to the volume of slurry and water sprayed onto the screens, the added retention time assists with better drainage at lower cut points.”

The coarse screens were designed at a decline, and feature a larger screening media aperture with higher amplitude and stroke. Together with lower speed, this achieves better screening efficiency for the coarser particles. The fine horizontal screens, with smaller aperture screening media for the finer feed, were designed with a higher speed and lower amplitude and stroke; this will optimise the screening efficiency of the finer feed to these screens.

She also highlights the attention paid to the isolation of the vibrating screens. In this case, Kwatani engineers selected rubber buffers, which have higher dynamic loads but are more suited to wet applications and screens with a heavier mass.

“The number and type of buffers were defined according to the mass of the screens,” Schoepflin says. “The selection of rubber buffers for larger screens also assists with start-up and shutdown time, allowing the screens to come to rest more effectively.”

For these five screens, Kwatani, now part of Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions,  designed and supplied custom counter-balance frames to minimise the dynamic load to the plant infrastructure. The company’s screen technology includes designing its exciters in-house. This ensures that screens receive the necessary G-forces for optimal material stratification and screening, matching customers’ process requirements with the best possible efficiencies.

“To make sure our screens cope with the high capacity demands of modern processing plants, we rigorously test all units in our in-house testing facility before dispatch,” Schoepflin said. “These units began their journey to Namibia at the end of November 2021, and our team will support the commissioning when the customer requires.”

Kwatani adds to Northern Cape iron ore reference list with latest screening installation

Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , , , , ,

South Africa-based vibrating screen and feeder specialist Kwatani will soon add another installation to its extensive footprint in the Northern Cape, this time for a new customer in the iron ore mining segment.

“We have over 1,000 screens, grizzlies and feeders in this important mining region, giving us a market share of about 95% of heavy-duty screening applications there,” Jan Schoepflin, Kwatani’s General Manager: Sales and Service, said. “With our well-established branch in Kathu, we are also able to assure our new customer of quick and highly competent service levels.”

The ore characteristics of iron ore demands mechanically robust screening equipment and Kwatani has built a name for itself in these applications, according to metallurgist Frengelina Mabotja, Kwatani’s, Head of Sales for SADC. “Our equipment is engineered for tonnage and continuous throughput, without compromising efficiencies,” Mabotja said.

Kwatani’s scope of work on the 700 t/h dry processing plant includes a 1.5-m-wide grizzly screen to remove fines from the run-of-mine material before it reports to secondary crushing and a 1.5-m-single deck scalping screen. The company will also install two 2.4-m-wide, double-deck sizing screens to separate material after secondary crushing, and five feeders to draw material from bins and stockpiles onto conveyor belts for feeding onto the downstream process.

“Our niche expertise allowed us to, once again, offer high performance sizing screens customised for this unique dry sizing application and optimise material separation by achieving the required cut size for the customer’s desired product size,” Mabotja said. “Our solution optimises the material separation while maximising efficiency and ensuring mechanical reliability for continuous and economical production.”

She highlights the depth of in-house experience – from both a metallurgical and mechanical approach– which allows Kwatani to assist the decision making of customers on equipment choice and specifications.

“Through the work of our design team, supported by our manufacturing and testing facilities, we have ensured that the solution will be fit for purpose and reliable,” she said. “The customer was also able to visit our 17,000 sq.m local manufacturing operation in Kempton Park regularly to see how we work, to check on fabrication progress and to witness the testing process.”

The equipment was completed on a tight deadline of 8-12 weeks, for delivery by year-end in line with the customer’s timeframe, according to the company.

“Our fully-equipped branch in the Northern Cape, staffed by specialists with decades of mining experience, will oversee the installation and commissioning of the equipment,” Mabotja said. “Our team will also schedule regular site visits to monitor on the equipment’s performance and condition, and advise on maintenance requirements.”

To underpin the reliable operation of all equipment supplied, Kwatani will also provide training for the customer’s maintenance personnel in the basic maintenance routines required.

Kwatani became a part of Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions late last year.

Sandvik to form new crushing and screening business area

Automation, Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , ,

Sandvik has decided to spin off its Crushing and Screening division into a new business area called Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions (SRP).

The reason for this structural change, which will happen as of January 1, 2021, is to further accelerate profitable growth within rock processing, based on Crushing and Screening addressing separate parts of the value chain and facing different competition to the other Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology divisions, the company said.

“Sandvik is market leading within rock processing and our Crushing and Screening division is a well-performing business with exciting growth opportunities,” Stefan Widing, President and CEO of Sandvik, said. “The business is today already operating quite independently from the rest of Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, with its own manufacturing, sourcing and aftermarket. By establishing Rock Processing Solutions as a business area we will improve transparency and strengthen our growth ambitions within the area.”

In line with this move, Sandvik has appointed Anders Svensson, President of the Crushing and Screening division since 2016, to President of the business area Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions and a new member of the Sandvik Group Executive Management, as of 1 January 2021. Svensson joined Sandvik in 2008 and has, prior to his current position, had several different management positions within Sandvik and in Metso Minerals.

The crushing and screening business had, as a division within Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, about SEK7.4 billion ($837 million) in sales and a 15.9% operating profit margin in 2019 with about 2,000 employees.

The Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology business area will continue to be led by Henrik Ager and will, as of 1 January 2021, change name to Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions (SMR), the company added.