Durban-based materials handling equipment supplier Big Lift Trucks (BLT) has launched the MDS M412 trommel, which offers cost-effective solutions for smaller production requirements in mineral processing and recycling applications.

BLT Africa and Indian Ocean Islands MD Ken Mouritzen says the machine is lightweight, has a compact design and is able to efficiently handle various materials, from compost recycling to blasted rock.

“The M412 trommels have interchangeable screens for rock sizes between 10 mm and 500 mm. The screens can produce four products concurrently at an output rate of 150 t/h,” he adds.

According to Mouritzen, dep- ending on customer preference, the machines are available as static units or on tracks.

“Other features include the hydraulic push feeder mechanism, an electric or hydraulic power system and an easy to operate control panel. These trommels can be used with conveyors and are also fitted with a washing system as an option.”

The M412 trommels weigh 18 t and each has a 1.25 m drum diameter and 4.5 m drum length, and can be economically transported in a container.

Additional machines in the MDS trommel range include “robust” mobile and semimobile units and heavy-duty static machines for maximum output. Also available are static and tracked trommels for light- and heavy-duty recycling.

Heavy-duty MDS trommels, which are available as mobile or stationary units, have output capacities of between 250 t/h and 1 000 t/h and can handle rock sizes of up to 1.5 m. BLT notes that the M515 is the most popular in the MDS range and can produce three products concurrently at more than 400 t/h. The M515 track trommel, with a 30 t hopper capacity, is supplied with fold-out stockpiling conveyors and is ideal for moving around the quarry and from one site to the next. Mouritzen said in May that, in a project this year, the M515 removed fines of up to 120 mm using the swivel fines conveyor at its rear. A midsize product (120 mm to 250 mm) was produced by the left conveyor and oversize materials (250 mm to 750 mm) were expelled from the front of the machine.

“MDS trommels and apron feeders, which are available from BLT for purchase or rent, are supported by a technical advisory and maintenance service throughout Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands,” Mouritzen says.

In May, Mining Weekly reported that BLT had been appointed the official distributor in Africa for global trommel screens and apron feeder specialist MDS International.

The development was in line with BLT’s “carefully structured” expansion programme to extend the company’s range of materials handling equipment to meet exact market demand in Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands.

Mouritzen has described MDS trommels andapron feeders as flexible systems used to remove small fractions or fines from a waste stream to make the remaining material easier to handle for operators or processing equipment.

Trommels are used in the classification of solid waste, the treatment of wastewater and the recovery of valuable minerals from raw materials. They are also used in the screening process of composts and in the food industry to sort dry foods of different sizes and shapes. MDS trommels can be designed and manufactured to specification and will, therefore, vary in terms of width, diameter and the aperture of the holes in the trommel’s cylinder. The size of fines removed by the trommel screen is predetermined by the holes in the trommel drum and varies depending on the operation, waste stream, volume of material and product specifications.