Modern Mining July 2020

first two stages of crushing, which are able to run at an average of 220 tph, while the tertiary stage was capable of up to 200 tph at most, were able to crush at full capacity. This made quicker work of the material pro- cessing and in doing so, decreased the cost of production. The first two stages of crushing could fin- ish daily production targets in a shorter time instead of being bottlenecked by the tertiary crushing and screening stage. This translated into less fuel and wear costs, while also increasing the residual value in the equipment in the first half of the train by ensuring the units run less hours to process the same amount of material. This is often never considered by site operators but can be a smart strategy which in many situations, can benefit breaking the process into two sections, which ultimately, easily outweighs the costs of dou- ble handling. What FLRM Mining has experienced is that a world of increasing uncertainty, the plans that we put so much effort and research into, can be turned

on their heads at a moments’ notice when working with raw materials. If we want to remain efficient and profitable, we need to adapt at quick notice and be willing to innovate, even the tiniest details, which make the difference between success and failure. 

Pilot Crushtec worked closely with the client, Franco Le Roux Mining, to get the better of site challenges.

Key takeaways  Franco Le Roux Mining has managed to find success in an application which would intimidate most mining contractors  The opportunity is a contract for remining of an old, untouched ROM stockpiles at a large iron ore mine  The contract was initially drawn up based on a few assumptions regarding the material properties, which were later proven to be quite far from reality  The assumption made regarding the material properties was that among the ROM stockpiles meant for remining, there would be an average of 37% natural fines (below -8 mm) that could be recovered and sent directly to the smelter  Pilot Crushtec International’s 30 years of experience, with the help of Metso’s well trusted process simulation software, Bruno, led FLRM towards further 10-15% gains in production

July 2020  MODERN MINING  19