Rio Tinto’s Gudai-Darri mine in Western Australia.
Established in 1873, Rio Tinto has become the world’s second-largest mining company, and chief executive Jakob Stausholm recently took time to reflect on the group’s legacy.
Rio Tinto was founded when a group of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto river in south-western Spain. Within 10 years, Rio was the largest copper producer in the world.
“The Rio Tinto copper deposits have been mined on and off for more than 5000 years,” Stausholm said at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) last week.
“Many civilisations, from the Phoenicians to the Romans, were drawn to Spain by the wealth of those mines. However, by the time the Romans left it was thought that the accessible deposits had been exhausted, and the site was largely abandoned.
“The mines were reopened in the 19th century by a Spanish king who was desperate for cash, but they were badly run and losing money. When the king eventually lost his throne, the new government decided to sell the mine.
“Buying a loss-making mine with a depleted resource in a country recovering from civil war was seen as mad at the time. But a group of investors in London saw an opportunity. And on 29 March 1873, they formed the Rio Tinto company to purchase and develop the mine.”
Stausholm said the investors introduced modern mining techniques, equipment and infrastructure to turn a “run-down operation” into one of Europe’s most profitable mines.
“New technology allowed them (the investors) to extract copper from what others had dismissed as waste,” he said. “And within 10 years, the Rio Tinto company was the largest copper producer in the world.
“This story illustrates the importance of vision, and the potential for innovation to transform entire industries. The ability to recognise potential, use innovation and achieve success has been key to Rio Tinto over 150 years.”
Stausholm said the company’s initial vision is still apparent in the Rio Tinto of today, where there is one overarching purpose: Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs.
“Our purpose speaks to our drive for innovation, continuous improvement and impeccable ESG (environmental, social and governance) performance, and connects our contribution to everyday life, our customers, the communities where we operate, and society at large,” he said.
Stausholm highlighted Rio Tinto’s Safe Production System (SPS) as a key driver of company innovation and performance. SPS aims to unlock the potential of Rio’s employees, their skills and expertise to create stable, predictable operations.
“I’ve been impressed by our progress in 2022, achieving a number of operational records, including a record second half performance across the Pilbara iron ore mine and rail system,” he said.
“We now have 30 deployments at 16 sites and 86 Kaizens, which are rapid problem-solving activities, completed or in progress.
“Where we have been deploying the SPS, we have sites that are safer, more engaged employees, and assets that are more productive. We will continue to deploy the SPS to more sites in 2023.”
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Martin Engineering, a global leader in high-performance conveyor components, has introduced a new standard in wear liner technology.
The Manufactured Canoe Liner is made from durable urethane molded around a rugged steel plate to absorb impact and abrasion from the punishing bulk handling environment.
With the protective plate integrated directly into the urethane liner, the design delivers superior shielding of the skirt sealing system and chute wall from heavy, fast-moving cargo. The result is extended equipment life, longer periods of dust and spillage control, improved safety and less maintenance, reducing the overall cost of operation.
“This is a shift in the engineering and role of wear liners,” Martin Engineering manager of conveyor products Dave Mueller said.
“Like most conveyor components, the design has evolved into a component that is more effective, safer to maintain and more reliable.”
Previously, most wear liners were sheets of steel welded onto the internal chute wall of the conveyor loading zone. These protected the wall from the punishing effects of splashing, shifting and abrasive material. But since they are wear parts, periodic replacement of these early designs involved enclosed chute entry and hot work using a blow torch, which required certification and supervision, while running the risk of igniting explosive dust.
The steel plates generally did not effectively protect the rubber skirt seal, leading to more frequent skirt replacements. Moreover, the wear liner’s position often left a gap between the liner and the skirting, which captured small lumps of material that could damage the belt. These design issues resulted in excessive downtime, premature equipment replacement and extra labor to monitor and maintain.
The Martin Manufactured Canoe Liner is an engineered urethane strip molded directly around a protective steel plate. The unique approach avoids the bonding issues common to previous designs, preventing urethane separation from the plate that could damage the belt and enclosure.
Each section has a series of two inch (51 mm) long bracket holes for vertical adjustment. The bottom belt side of the liner is cut to an optional 20º, 35º, or 45º angle to maximise belt sealing and protect the softer material of the skirt seal from premature wear.
Depending on the weight and abrasiveness of the conveyed material, customers can choose a urethane thickness of 1.3-2 inches (33-51 mm).
Delivered in storable cartridges 48 inches (1219 mm) in length, the units can be cut on site to match the needs of the chute. The cartridges can also be installed vertically on top of one another to accommodate taller chute walls or raised enclosures. Like the lower sections, the upper units can be adjusted as well.
As material gradually erodes the Manufactured Canoe Liner, the bottom trough angle continues to protect the skirting. If there are significant gaps between the belt and liner, each individual cartridge can be adjusted by a single technician using a socket wrench.
Replacement is easy by simply removing the worn units, mounting each new cartridge, and cutting the end piece to fit. This reduces what used to be a one or two day job to one to two hours.
“Martin is constantly seeking to innovate every aspect of the bulk handling process with the goal of making it safer, more effective and easier to maintain,” Mueller said.
“The introduction of the Manufactured Canoe Liner achieves our objectives by improving efficiency and lowering the cost of operation.”
Weir Minerals, manufacturer of the Warman slurry pump, has released the latest edition of its Warman Slurry Pumping Handbook.
The sixth edition, compiled by one of the most trusted names in slurry pumps, features detailed engineering data required for most slurry pumping applications.
Drawing on decades of Weir Minerals’ in-house expertise in innovative engineering and slurry pumping technology, the new handbook has updated reference material based on new information, improved understanding and technological developments within the mining industry.
With customers always in mind, the handbook aims to empower engineers to achieve optimal performance from their Warman slurry pumps. An increased global focus on the environment, energy consumption and water conservation will influence slurry pump design and considerations – making this latest handbook an essential tool for all current and future pump engineers.
“Pumping slurry has many challenges and I’m excited to publish our latest handbook, packed with fundamental theory, application advice, standard practices and latest Warman learnings from the field, all aimed to help our customers, present and future, deliver with excellence,” Weir Minerals slurry pumping technology group director Marcus Lane said.
Weir Minerals are continually striving to shape the next generation of smart, efficient and sustainable solutions with cutting-edge science and innovation. The comprehensive handbook includes over 140 pages of detailed information, including performance charts, impeller design, part configuration, assembly and slurry considerations, all fully supported by accurate technical renders and specifications.
“The high quality of the reference material in this essential resource reflects the leading status of the Warman slurry pumps,” Weir Minerals global engineering and technology vice president John McNulty said.
“As the industry leader, we have a responsibility to develop our future engineers; we will make the latest version of the Warman Slurry Pumping Handbook available not only to our customers, but also to the leading schools worldwide, so they can learn from the best in the industry.”
As part of Weir Minerals’ commitment to investing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and developing the next generation of engineers, copies of this resource will be gifted to the leading mining and engineering educational facilities around the world, including the winner of the 2022 Warman Design & Build competition, Deakin University in Australia.
By paying close attention to the sealing solution used in the gland area of slurry pumps, mining operators can increase productivity – and profitability.
Slurry pumps are the workhorses of mining operations, helping to efficiently transport ore in the form of slurry throughout the site. Unfortunately, they are also often one of the more trouble-prone parts of many plants, with the abrasive nature of mining slurries taking a high toll on pump components.
A particular stress point is the gland area, where mechanical seals or packing are used to prevent leakage. Sealing solutions that are of poor quality or that are ill-suited to the application at hand can greatly increase maintenance demands, and lead to unplanned stoppages and excessive water use.
Mining operators looking to increase the efficiency of their slurry pumps – and in turn the whole operation – should spend time analysing their slurry and choose a tailored sealing solution that can cope with the inherent stresses.
Some of the factors to consider when analysing the slurry include the hardness and abrasiveness of the slurry; the amount and weight of solids being carried; and the salinity, chemical composition and temperature of the slurry. These can all impact heavily on component wear.
Armed with this information, operators can make a more informed choice about what kind of features are required from a sealing solution, be it a mechanical seal or packing. While uptake of mechanical seals is varied across mining settings, they have the potential to extend time between maintenance intervals by up to four times compared to packing. However, a slightly higher level of training is required among maintenance staff.
How to choose the right seal and packing
So, what factors should be considered when choosing a mechanical seal?
A good seal should have a stationary sprung design with non-clogging springs and micro-polished dynamic O-ring surfaces. It should also have the flexibility to add erosion protection features, like polyurethane in applications where the slurry is extremely abrasive.
Additionally, a good mechanical seal should also be flexible enough to add support features to prolong operating life, such as quench/drain and flush. It should have line-to-line seal faces, and be designed with generous cross sections and a robust drive mechanism that can mount on hardened pump sleeves.
For packing, the yarn needs to be sufficiently strong to prevent the slurry from penetrating into the fibre. It should be woven in a manner that creates a torturous leak path.
The packing needs to be low friction for low energy consumption and to reduce any damage to the rotating shaft, despite the presence of slurry. It should also be flexible enough to transfer the axial energy into radial load and maintain a positive seal for prolonged periods. Thereby reducing the amount of follower adjustments required during the life of the packing.
In conclusion, slurry pumps play a crucial role in mining operations. By examining operating conditions and requirements and choosing an appropriate sealing solution, pump uptime can be increased, water consumption reduced, and high productivity maintained.
Want to know more?
To find out how to choose the best pump sealing solution for mining slurry operations, download the white paper.
Lance Brett has been working in mechanical seals for over 35 years. Now a national product manager at Seal Innovations, he is excited to bring the new Heavy Duty Slurry Seals onto the market for Australian customers.
“We’re really pleased with the quality of these seals and how they stand up in terms of wear life and reliability,” he said.
“It perfectly complements the rest of our product range and offers new potential for our involvement in the mining and quarrying sectors.”
The role of a sealing application cannot be overlooked, especially in resources where they act to secure valuable materials while they are being processed. Slurry is formed when water combines with ferrous and non-ferrous raw material, such as rock and soil between 1mm and 25mm thick. In mining, there are several types of pumps used in the transport of large volumes of slurry to mineral processing plants, where it then undergoes a separation process.
The solids within slurry can often prove highly abrasive, contributing to the accelerated wear life of critical parts, including seals. This problem can be amplified in a hyper saline environment, which may cause crystallisation of material around the surface.
The new Heavy Duty Slurry Pump Seal from Seal Innovations can withstand the harshest operating environments, providing maximum seal life in mining, quarrying and dewatering applications. The abrasion resistant metal components, along with silicone carbide faces, create an open design which reduces flush water and product dilution.
“This seal unit has been specifically designed for handling slurry concentration of up to 40 per cent solids by weight,” Brett said.
“It is an incredibly robust construct mechanical seal which is best suited to rugged mining and quarrying environments. Differently to standard O-ring designs, it is a rotating assembly, offering accurate installation with no special tools required.”
What’s more, the smooth, elastomer-coated cone spring increases the product’s reliability with an even spring load to the seal’s faces. This ensures minimal wear or clogging, in operating pressures up to 300 psig (20.7 bar).
“We have introduced this product to fill a prominent need in the market for mining-suited slurry pump parts,” Brett said.
“It’s a really exciting addition to our portfolio of industry leading seal products, and we’re already taking it to some of our most valued customers as an upgrade solution on troublesome equipment.”
He adds that, in addition to a comprehensive catalogue of sealing products, the business also provides aftermarket engineering and repair services from some of their centrally located branches.
“We can repair and overhaul slurry pump units as well as seals from our workshop in Brisbane, and we can repair any type of slurry seal from our Melbourne workshop,” Brett said.
“Everything is repaired back to manufacturer specification, and thoroughly tested for performance before re-entering the field.”
Technicians from Seal Innovations regularly visit customer sites, utilising their comprehensive knowledge of seal engineering to carry out audits, training and installation services. In line with its motto – “keep industry moving” – the company strives to meet each customer’s unique requirements and offer a one-stop-shop for all sealing needs.
The extraction and processing of aluminium metal can be broken down into three key stages: the mining of bauxite ore, refining that ore to recover alumina, and then the smelting of alumina to produce aluminium sheets or ingots. This type of metal is prized for its strong yet lightweight properties, as well as its resistance to rusting.
Although aluminium is the third most abundant element to be found in the Earth’s crust (after oxygen and silicone), it has only been widely utilised over the last 100 years. This is because it does not exist in nature in a pure state, and must be extracted from compounds through an intensive refining process.
Australia’s aluminium industry is the world’s largest producer of bauxite, despite having only been in commercial operation since 1955. It is a major contributor to employment and the national economy, generating around 21 million tonnes of alumina material each year.
Michael Greelish, national accounts manager for mining at Motion Australia, worked recently with a Victorian aluminium smelting business to implement NTN’s angular contact ball bearings on various machinery parts to great success. The company itself produces approximately 300,000 tonnes of aluminium every year, adhering to robust environmental management plans and sustainability targets.
“We are proud to support such a forward‑thinking player in the Australian mining space, supplying them with the best quality bearing components to ensure that they meet efficiency targets,” Greelish said.
“CBC carried out assessment on their application where part failure was becoming a costly issue, and recommended the angular contact ball bearings from NTN as a premium, long-term solution that could promise reliability.”
These non-separable bearings are incredibly useful, due to their ability to support simultaneous radial and single‑direction axial pressure. Because of this, they are usually used in pairs or sets to transmit load between raceways along a radial plane. Popular with OEM customers, these NTN units have been generating widespread positive feedback following extended operating life on different sites.
“Put simply, the NTN product is one of the best on the market, and can be fitted without fuss if the situation calls for efficiency,” Greelish said.
“When you have got a failure on a generic bearing, or need to carry out maintenance change-overs, the last thing you want is extended downtime. These angular contact ball bearings also feature a ‘flush ground’ finishing method, which allows for universal pairing and back-to-back arrangement if required.”
Resistant to premature fatigue, this product has proven longevity in harsh mining conditions and under extreme pressure peaks. The steel bearing cages are set to maintain rolling elements at a uniform pitch, so that the load does not fall onto the cage directly. This prevents the rolling elements from falling out when the bearing is handled by fitters or technicians.
“Their design is seriously smart, and addresses the concerns of every-day industrial operations,” Greelish said.
“Pretty much any application requiring angular bearings could benefit from this product, because they are available in such a broad catalogue of sizes and arrangements.”
Since 1971, CBC and NTN have operated under a joint venture partnership, delivering expert engineering products to the Australian mining market and beyond. As one of the top five bearing manufacturers in the world, NTN sets an international standard for end-to-end logistical service and supply.
Features and benefits of the NTN Angular Contact Ball Bearings • Peak performance in high or low temperature settings • Lower starting friction coefficient • Low lubrication consumption • Internationally standardised and readily available through CBC • Improved pre-loading due to bearing rigidity • Accessible and efficient product numbering system • Can simultaneously support radial and axial loads
Terex has rebranded its recently acquired brand of trommels, apron feeders and conveyors – MDS – as it expands the company’s facilities and product range.
MDS was established in 1995 and grew to deliver its first mobile model by 2015.
In July 2021, Terex acquired the company to expand its own range in the crushing, screening and environmental industries with products that complemented its existing portfolio.
The rebrand comes as part of “major positive changes” following the acquisition, which Terex has stated will continue for the foreseeable future.
“We have been making significant investment in our facilities and have added to our team to help us deliver aggressive production growth goals so that we can meet ever growing demand for MDS products,” the company stated.
“Alongside this, we have been expanding our distribution footprint to help position us for long term growth.”
MDS products are distributed across Australia through Tricon Equipment which has eight branches nationally, as well as one in New Zealand and one in Fiji to satisfy the Asia-Pacific region.
The rebranding incorporates elements from the history of both Terex and MDS.
“History, as with all Terex Brands, remains a very important part of MDS,” Terex stated.
“The colours used in the new logo represent Terex and the values represented by that part of MDS, but the logo also showcases the MDS heavy duty drums which is the unique feature of MDS products and what we are synonymous with.”
The company believes this new look will help it to stand out as it continues to expand across Australian quarries.
“This is an exciting time for MDS and this rebranding allows to continue our upward trajectory,” Terex stated.
“We hope this new look will help strengthen our brand awareness and our unique identity as the leading provider of heavy duty rock trommels.”
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