Conveyor belts tackle Botswana diamond mining conditions

1st September 2017

Conveyor belts tackle  Botswana diamond mining conditions

RELIABLE RESISTANCE The ContiTech ForstressXP provides essential cut and gouge resistance

Rubber and plastics technology specialist ContiTech’s conveyor belts are in use by Botswana’s largest diamond producer.

ContiTech’s conveyor belt technology is known for its high-impact-resistant conveyor covers, providing an extended belt life in real-field applications, that use advanced developments in rubber compounding and reinforcement technology. The company says its local manufacturing capabilities and Botswana-based service branch have made ContiTech the preferred critical and high-abuse conveyor belt supplier in Botswana.

ContiTech Botswana branch manager Ben-Piet Terblanche explains that two comparative tests were conducted at the mining company’s southern Botswana mine to prove that ContiTech’s abuse-resistant FortressXP conveyor belt and MonsterHide impact- and puncture-resistant conveyor cover would outlast a competitor’s belts and covers.

The first comparison involved ContiTech testing its premium textile-reinforced conveyor belt, FortressXP, with the mining company’s existing textile belt. The belts carry sharp-edged 300 mm diamond-bearing ore in short cycles at high speeds and are a critical belting operation for the mine. ContiTech reports that its FortressXP was able to withstand the mine’s everyday diamond abuses, owing to its patented twill weave fabric design, which provides first-rate cut and gouge resistance. After the test was conducted, ContiTech’s conveyor belt outlasted the mine’s existing textile belt. ContiTech’s belt lasted 18 months, compared with the competitor’s, which lasted three months.

The second test compared cover compound wear rates between ContiTech’s new MonsterHide conveyor cover with a competitor’s standard M-grade cover. The M-grade cover is an industry standard used for heavy-duty service, suitable for conveying large-sized lumps and sharp, rugged materials. The test was conducted by placing the two covers on textile-reinforced belts used to convey ore from the primary crusher to the stockpiles, another integral belting operation prone to cutting and gouging. “The standard M-grade cover lasted one year, while our premium MonsterHide cover, with its higher Shore A hardness, elongation and gouge-impact resistance, continues to operate two years on,” Terblanche reports.

The test outcomes, combined with ContiTech’s at-mine services, have resulted in ContiTech becoming the proven and preferred critical, high-abuse conveyor belt solutions supplier to the diamond producer, says the company.

ContiTech claims to have the largest conveyor belt service branch in Botswana and conducts the majority of the mine’s splicing and repairs. The company also employs and trains local technicians to conduct all belt installations and services, from pulley lagging to vulcanising maintenance repairs. This is done in an effort to uphold the company’s commitment to uplifting local communities.

ContiTech’s Botswana branch is based in Francistown, while all ContiTech conveyor belts are manufactured at its Uitenhage facility, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Terblanche emphasises that, in this time of cost-saving efforts in the mining industry, conveyor belts that last longer give companies a competitive edge. “Through our holistic service agreements, our belts are set to increase a customer’s productivity and reduce downtime for years to come.”