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Company increases presence in South American mining market

26th July 2013

  

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International specialist equipment supplier Multotec is steadily expanding its footprint within a rapidly growing South American mining arena, with a substantial increase in mining capital expenditure expected over the next three years.

The company reports that a project in the region would see it deliver its biggest- ever cyclone order. The company also recently supplied screen panels, which form part of that expenditure, for all screen decks to a gold mine operating at an elevation of 4 500 m above sea level, located in the mountains on the border of Argentina and Chile.

Another recent order saw Multotec supply four of the largest mill discharge trommel screens ever made to a copper mine in Peru, where the equipment has been specified to operate at below zero temperatures, also at 4 500 m above sea level. The Multotec team also provides after-sales support and technical backup for this installation from its branch in Santiago, Chile.

The extractive metallurgy group has been active in South America for the past 25 years, initially working from Santiago and later adding distributors in Peru (Arenas SRL), Argentina (Proglobal) and Brazil.

“We’re building on our long-standing relationships with most of the major indus- try players through equipment supply to capital projects, as well as the supply of consumables and the provision of technical backup. We’re well entrenched in the region, profitable and poised for significant growth,” says Multotec MD Derrick Alston.

He adds that the competition is tough in South America, but that the company is differentiated by its high levels of service and the quality of its products, many of which are the state-of-the-art worldwide.

Further, he says that, to add value to customer operations, Multotec focuses on locally manufacturing the equipment most needed by the market. Most of the technological developments taking place within Multotec internationally are being fed into the region, particularly in regard to screening technology.

Among the latest innovations is Multotec’s new TeePee polyurethane (PU) screen panel, which is poised to usher in significant improvements and cost savings for the South American mining market.

This injection-moulded PU panel is unique worldwide, increasing the open area significantly for the same footprint. The fully field-tested Multotec TeePee screen panel makes it possible to achieve a 50% increase in open area, with slotted apertures of 0.5 mm, 0.63 mm and 0.8 mm – representing a 100% improvement on current PU panel technology.

Multotec’s Saddle Tops are also popular in the mining industry. These patented PU screen runner protectors are fixed to the runners using nylon pins, which ensure accuracy of critical tolerances and improve the wear life of the support runners dramatically – by as much as three to four times. The Multotec Saddle Top can be used to accommodate most modular PU screen panel systems and can be retrofitted to existing screen frames with ease.

“We’re presently increasing our manufacturing capability in the region, including casting of PU that extends to the supply of wetted ends made out of steel-reinforced PU for all types of flotation equipment.

“We also supply a large number of custom-designed trommels into South America, developed by harnessing Finite Element Analysis technology for the steelwork. This technology has positioned us as the supplier of choice to the original-equipment manufacturers of mills supplied for local projects,” Alston concludes.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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