Mineral sizer manufacturer to focus on turnkey solutions
In line with its aim to provide green mining solutions to the African mining industry to improve efficiencies and increase productivity, mineral-sizing technology company MMD Mineral Sizing Africa has installed and commissioned its mineral-sizing technology at a copper mine in Zambia.
To date, MMD Mineral Sizing Africa has completed more than 300 installations across Africa.
“The latest turnkey project, which was commissioned in April, entailed the design, supply and installation assistance for a MMD 1150 mineral sizer, a MMD D7 apron plate feeder and steel structures over an ore pass,” MMD Mineral Sizing Africa technical director Janis Lombard says.
MMD Africa aims to install another system comprising a MMD 1150 mineral sizer and a MMD D7 apron plate feeder at the mine in the longer term.
Lombard reiterates that this project followed an initial proof of concept of the company’s MMD 850 mineral sizer, paired with a MMD D4 apron plate feeder over an ore pass at the same mine. This system replaced the ‘grizzly’ and rock pick operations, enabling the truck to tip the material directly onto the MMD D4 apron plate feeder.
He explains that in underground mining operations, a steel grate, called a grizzly, is often used together with a rock breaker to size material before it enters an ore pass. The smaller material passes through the grizzly down the ore pass, while the larger material is left on top of the grizzly to be sized by the rock breaker.
However, Mining Weekly reported in September 2014 that the MMD system “has successfully been breaking hard, competent copper orebodies at the Zambian mine since it was commissioned in December 2013”.
MMD Mineral Sizing Africa also received an order to implement its mineral-sizing technology at a graphite project in Mozambique at the beginning of last month.
“This order entails the manufacturing, supply and commissioning assistance of a MMD 500 series mineral sizer and a MMD D4 apron plate feeder,” Lombard says, highlighting that the entire system must be semimobile to be moved around on site as mining operations progress. MMD Mineral Sizing Africa expects to deliver the solution in mid-2016.
MMD Africa MD Martin Vorster adds that a key focus for MMD Africa is to design its solutions for improved modularity to simplify transportation and shipping. The company also conducts a trial assembly of significant systems before delivery to the mines.
Future Focus
While MMD Africa Mineral Sizing’s business currently constitutes one-third African contracts and two-thirds South African contracts, Vorster says a key aim is to increase the company’s business from Africa to 50%.
“Strategic focus areas include further expanding into the mining industry in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as into the Zambian Copperbelt,” Vorster says, adding that the com-pany is involved in a few gold projects as well.
Vorster notes that, while there has been a commodity price slump, with the shelving of some projects, gold projects seemed to master the challenges, thereby balancing the market. He, therefore, cites the advantages of a balanced commodity clientele.
“More importantly, if there is an economic and commodity downturn, it is imperative to consider innovative turnkey solutions for mining operations to reduce the overall operating costs,” Vorster says, quipping that mining has to prevail. In light of this, Lombard adds that the company has designed its mineral sizers to be more robust to handle more competent material, such as copper, granite, kimberlite and platinum.
In its focus on providing turnkey solutions to mines, which traditionally encompassed mineral sizers and apron plate feeders, MMD Africa is also evolving the concept of semimobile sizing stations and fully mobile sizing stations.
“MMD Africa is continuing development into IPSC systems, which means that a system is developed where a shovel loads directly into a MMD primary sizing rig that moves paral- lel to the overland conveyor alongside the shovel. This fully mobile rig advances further down the conveyor alongside the shovel as required without stopping the handling of material. This innovative system does not require any trucks, increases productivity levels and solves the problem of relocation as the mine develops,” Lombard explains.
He concludes that MMD Africa, in determining the potential for these systems, aims to promote the IPSC systems in Africa in the long term.
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