Modern Mining September 2019

Modular plants cut capex and offer flexibility

By over-capitalising on capex, mining and quarrying companies the risk of tying up much needed capital that could be better utilised in other areas. This is where Pilot Crushtec’s modular solutions for the min- ing, quarrying, construction and recycling industries comes to the fore as the logical choice for companies across the spectrum. To define the concept of the modular plant, Mark Reeves, sales engineer at Pilot Crushtec, says that the idea is modular by design and implementation. “From a design perspective, you can select the components you need for your specific application. These units are then interlinked with conveyors and a solution is tailored to your specific needs and site specifications. Once the design is defined, all the modules and individual components are sent to site, lifted into place and bolted together – not unlike a Meccano set. “Additionally, should your requirements change at any point within the design process, you are able to tweak the require- ments, so you have exactly the right layout,

equipment, and capacity to get the job done. You get to choose what you need, when you need it, and can add modules as and when required.” Reeves says that modular plants are extremely scalable and, as such, can cater to a wide variety of companies, irrespec- tive of size or application. “We can design and implement a solution that will process anything from 10 tons an hour to 500 tons an hour – and should your requirements change over time, additional units can be slotted in to increase production.” The concept of the modular plant is a seamless integration of Pilot Crushtec’s industry know-how, innovation and manu- facturing capabilities with global machine manufacturer, Metso. As with all the Metso products, the com- ponents come with an industry-leading five-year/10 000-hour extended Equipment Protection Services (EPS) warranty. Reeves makes the point that there is no consistency in what comes out of the ground. “That’s a given,” he says. “A case in

A Pilot modular cone crusher (Metso HP300) installation.

point is a quarry in Port Elizabeth that was working on citric sandstone, a fairly com- petent substrate. After blasting, there was a reasonable, consistent top-size and dust which the crushers could easily handle. Unfortunately, they hit a fracture running straight through the centre of the quarry. The material was pebbles and smaller so did not need crushing, only screening. “The solution to this was to continue mining and crushing the larger substrate on the original stage and then to add a sec- ond module to merely screen the smaller material.” Pilot Crushtec, website: www.pilot crushtec.com

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