Modern Mining May 2023

CRUSHING, SCREENING AND MILLING

Leveraging quality to build crushing, screening plants

Positive commodity demand has spurred mining development in recent years, with many projects expanding process plant capacity and drawing, not only on Weir Minerals’ range of screening and crushing solutions, but on its design and project management capability for a complete plant.

T heo Hendricks, Product Manager for Comminution at Weir Minerals Africa, notes that many companies have looked to deploy smaller crushing and screening plants – on a constrained budget. These facilities are usually lim ited to throughputs of around 500 tonnes per hour, so need to be completed cost effectively and within relatively short lead times. “We are well known for our range of Trio jaw and cone crushers, Trio feeders, Enduron high pres sure grinding rolls (HPGRs) and Enduron vibrating screens,” says Hendricks. “However, our capability extends well beyond this, as we have the in-house design capacity to provide the entire solution – from the run-of-mine (ROM) hopper onwards.” He emphasises that these projects focus on modular solutions – on a smaller scale than the large, fixed installations required in major mining operations. Despite the size, there is no compro mise on design standards, says Karabo Moalamedi, Advanced Applications Engineer at Weir Minerals Africa. “We apply best practice in our engineering and design,” says Moalamedi. “This not only ensures optimal performance of all the equipment, but also gives operators safe and ready access to all compo nents for maintenance purposes.” Engagement with customers therefore begins with gathering as much data as possible on the application and material to be processed, explains Hendricks. With many smaller companies, he notes,

Theo Hendricks, Product Manager for Comminution at Weir Minerals Africa.

Enduron HPGR crushers offer a low energy consumption, low maintenance crushing solutions.

there may not have been detailed sampling of the material – and here Weir Minerals Africa is also in a position to help. “Because we have been operating for so long – and in so many different areas of Africa – we have an extensive database of our equipment in the field and the material it has processed,” he says. “We are therefore able to offer valuable insights into the con ditions that customers’ plants will encounter.” Moalamedi adds that there is also a depth of experience in the Weir Minerals Africa team when it comes to plant design and this includes metallur gists, mechanical engineers and process engineers. The legacy of their combined working experience feeds into the design and ensures a high level of confidence in those assumptions on which technical decisions must be made. An important element of the design quality is the

Weir Minerals offers a range of Trio cone crushers and screening equipment.

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Weir Minerals in South Africa is the technology hub for designing Enduron vibrating screens which are locally manufactured.

28  MODERN MINING  May 2023