Combining decades of experience with its leading R&D and manufacturing capability, Multotec has developed a high-impact screen panel that cuts plant downtime and boosts mine productivity.

The Ceradox panel – incorporating both Hardox blocks and alumina ceramic tiles – boasts more than double the wear life of traditional rubber panels. The innovation was developed during 2019 in response to a request from an iron ore mining customer in Australia’s Pilbara region. Three months of testing delivered results that exceeded expectations, said Multotec screening product manager Shawn Faba.

“The customer needed a panel with an extended wear life, so that they only needed to conduct replacements during the regular maintenance shut-down every 12 weeks,” says Faba. “Our testing demonstrated that the panels were lasting 24 weeks and longer.”

Through a close collaboration between Multotec South Africa, Multotec Australia and the customer, an innovative solution was developed and proved for a demanding application on scalper screens.

“Designed for the impact area of the scalper screen, the Ceradox panel must withstand the impact of material up to 300 mm in size, falling from a discharge height of up to three metres,” he says. “It must also resist high levels of abrasion from the ore.”

The resulting design leverages the impact strength of the Hardox blocks and the abrasion resistance of the ceramic tiles, embedded in Multotec’s proprietary rubber formulation which helps absorb the energy of the falling material. The panels are manufactured locally at Multotec’s high-volume facilities in Gauteng, which include a rubber mixing plant run by experienced rubber specialists.

Faba notes that the 305 mm square Ceradox panels can be manufactured to different thicknesses from 50 mm to 100 mm.

“With our local manufacturing capability, we can achieve short lead-times and deliver to anywhere in the world,” he says. Multotec already supplies about 35% of the screening media to the iron ore mines in the Pilbara area.