Diversified engineering group Metso launched its new rock crushing technology at the Conexpo-Con/Agg 2017 industry event in Las Vegas, in the US, last month.

The Metso MX cone crusher is based on the company’s patented Multi-Action crushing technology, which combines the piston and rotating bowl into a single crusher. Metso states that the new crusher provides a “giant leap” in profitability by cutting operational costs by 10% and enabling 10% higher uptime, compared with traditional cone crushers.

“Aggregate producers are facing increasing pressure on efficiency and cost management. Therefore, to meet these demands, we rethought the crushing basics and combined our long experience in different cone crusher technologies with our extensive engineering knowledge.

“Two individual crushing methods based on the piston and rotating bowl were conjoined and, as a result, we created the MX Cone with Multi-Action technology,” elaborates Metso global sales and product support VP Jouni Mahonen.

He comments that the new technology is designed for the “most demanding” rock conditions and, with a special focus on automated adjustment features, the MX enables “extremely” cost-effective and safe operations.

Mahonen remarks that it also provides a high reduction ratio with a premium end-product shape and consistency critical in aggregate applications. Further, he points out that its robust design also makes the MX suitable for demanding mining applications.

Mahonen highlights that key benefits of the company’s patented Multi-Action technology include its easy underload setting adjustment and wear compensation without having to stop the process. He notes that this can be combined with extended wear life and better mechanical protection.

Mahonen points out that the optimal cavity design, stroke direction and effectively distributed crushing action leads to the “ultimate rock-on-rock crushing motion”. He says that this, combined with the innovative Multi-Action technology, results in extended maintenance intervals and higher production.

Additionally, Mahonen highlights that the MX also provides for maximum tramp release distance with high protection against uncrushable objects and overloading. He says the crusher can use up to 70% of the mass of new wear parts, which Mahonen claims is “a record-breaking use rate”.

Further, Mahonen says, owing to the intelligent design of the crusher, the quality characteristics of all sized end-product fractions remain consistent throughout the lifetime of the wear parts.

“After 10 000 hours of rigorous testing, we are proud to say the MX meets our targets for increased profitability by allowing 24/7 crushing with minimum downtime,” he concludes.