As the country’s mining sector comes under increasing cost pressures from all quarters of the mine supply chain, it becomes increasingly important to maximise throughputs at the processing end of the business where ore is effectively turned into saleable commodities. In order to achieve the desired efficiencies and increased throughputs, mines need to relook their processing operations and where possible optimise existing infrastructure to eliminate bottlenecks and address reliability issues of the equipment.

Kirby Vermaak, national sales manager of Tega Industries South Africa, and his team of engineers and process specialists, encounter serious design flaws and avoidable bottlenecks on mine processing plants on a daily basis. In most instances solutions are surprisingly simple and engineered solutions can be easily applied to rectify the problems and restore the plant to operate at full capacity.

Eliminating backlogs
“We often undertake studies of plants where workers have grown accustomed to simply “dealing” with problems rather than actually addressing the issues and sorting them out. For example, if a chute gets blocked they simply use a crowbar and remove build-up by hand while the plant stands idle. This type of management of problems is common-place on some of our mines and has huge implications for productivity of the mine in questions.
“For this reason we prefer to work with our customers to help identify process snags and find solutions in the form of hi-tech linings and other specially engineered products that can be tailor-made for our clients’ unique requirements. “Just because a plant has been designed and built by a specialist OEM supplier doesn’t mean that you have to keep using their solutions for ever. In many instances new materials have become available that can radically improve the performance of such plants. If the OEM does not supply these products they will remain happy to supply customers with the old products for ever,” Vermaak says.

Screening efficiency
He continues that in most instances material flow problems are caused by inefficient screening of materials or improperly specified linings. Screens play a major role in allowing only workable materials to enter the process and should exclude items that are too large or that can damage equipment such as crushers, cyclones etc. Rubber scalping panels, for example, remove oversize rocks from crushing and screening processes and can play a major role in the effective operation of a plant and contribute positively to its overall throughput. Yet optimisation of this critical element is often overlooked in favour of other more visible aspects of a plant which often call for more costly screening techniques or even capital equipment upgrades. By removing choking rock debris from entering the process however, many issues can be avoided and process times dramatically improved.

Hi-tech linings
Lining on the other hand need to keep materials flowing at a constant pace throughout the plan. Combinations of different liners for separate tasks within a bulk materials processing plant can drastically improve the serviceable lifespan of equipment and boost the overall performance of a plant tenfold. Rubber, steel, ceramics and engineering plastics have outstanding performance in certain conditions, but have weaknesses in other areas. However, by combining appropriate liners at different points within a process, it is possible to obtain the best possible performance in terms of product movement and durability. For example, rubber can absorb impacts on a transfer point, while flow can be facilitated with the use of polyethylene or ceramics, while steel provides toughness and good flow ability further down a chute, hopper or bunker etc. Any combination of these and other materials can however provide the perfect balance for modern and world-class processing plants.

Plant optimisation
Conveyors and other process related equipment also play a significant role in improving efficiency of a plant. For this reason it is imperative that mines process effectively and save money on the overall operation of the plant. “With cost pressures mounting on a daily basis, it pays for mines to optimise the efficiency of their plants and gain the maximum profit from their processing operations,” Vermaak concludes.