Modern Mining December 2024

An image of Kal Tire’s WheelJaws.

TireSight inspection stations are placed in strategic positions on the mine.

Kal Tire at work.

International Manufacturing Innovation: New Product Award at the Electra Mining Africa 2024 event, held on September 5th. Recycling facility Since Kal Tire opened its mining tyre recycling facility in northern Chile in 2021, with the express purpose of converting scrap OTR tyres into reusable products, the tyre specialist has taken the project a step further and is currently adding an upgrading facility to refine one of the key recycling outputs, carbon ash, into recycled carbon black (rCB) using proprietary technology. Kal Tire’s recycling technology uses heat in the absence of oxygen to convert tyres into their base elements (fuel oil, steel and carbon ash, and almost 100% of the tyre can be reused. “After the primary thermal conversion process, we are left with a carbon ash that has a certain level of impurities. This requires a further step in order to process it to a grade where it can be used in compounds,” says Terry Galvin, Vice President Recycling Services at Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group. “We are currently expanding the facility to incorporate this stage.” The expansion is expected to be up and running by the last quarter of this year. What this means for Kal Tire, which remains firm on its agenda, is generating products of the highest and best use. “We are seeing growing demand for our rCB with tyre manufacturers and compounders already waiting for supply of the refined product,” concludes Galvin. n

of the mine’s 33 trucks had to stop for at least 30 minutes every time the trucks needed inspecting, with inspectors only able to observe about half of the earthmover’s tyre given the sheer size of the machine. TireSight allows us to zoom in and remotely monitor issues undetectable to the human eye. Moreover, customers have actionable summaries at their fingertips while TireSight and our tyre experts work to maintain safe productivity and reach goals.” KalPro WheelJaws At Electra Mining Africa 2022 Kal Tire’s KalPRO WheelJaws innovation was at final design stage. This year, however, the innovation has already been commercialised, says Peter Nilsson, Innovation and R&D manger. WheelJaws are secure, remote-controlled clamps that enable safe tyre removal and ensure the technician is safely located away from the dangerous activity. The technology is designed for wheels and rims from 51 to 63 inches. “The unit on display at Electra Mining Africa is the first commercial unit built, which according to Nilsson, is earmarked for a copper mine in Zambia. Given the benefits associated with the innovation, such as safety, appetite for the product is extremely robust, says Nilsson. Unsurprisingly, the ground-breaking innovation won the

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