Metso has chartered a new path in India after announcing plans to extend its manufacturing capacity of mobile track-mounted crushing and screening equipment.
The company will expand its manufacturing operations in Alwar in India. The Alwar facility will be 35 per cent bigger at 340,000 square metres.
The Alwar facility is one of Metso’s biggest manufacturing facilities. The site employees 1300 people with a production ramp up expected to continue into the next year.
The factory, which originally opened in 2008, was showcased on September 19 with the new expansion. Key features, according to Metso, include automated warehousing, automated assembly lines, modern painting lines and 13,000 solar panels installed to enable increased energy production. After the extension, solar energy covers 85 per cent of Alwar’s total power generation, which is the maximum permitted as per state government guidelines.
President of the Aggregates business area of Metso Markku Simula said the expansion was key for Metso.
”With the increased manufacturing capacity, Alwar becomes the major Metso site for increased domestic business in India and exports to Metso’s customers globally. Additionally, significant investment has been made in engineering and R&D resources, making it one of our key global engineering hubs,” he said.
The increased capacity in India will be used for the manufacturing of mobile McCloskey and Tesab equipment. At the same site, Metso is also producing wear parts and pumps for the aggregates and mining industries.
Metso has announced an expansion of its process piloting capabilities in Finland to keep up with the needs of the battery industry.
This expansion has involved Metso modernising its pilot facility at the Metso Research Centre in Pori, Finland, with expanded capabilities for lithium hydroxide and other battery chemicals process testing.
Metso has also opened a battery materials precursor pilot plant as part of the expansion, which is now available for customer trials.
“Pilot run requests for battery minerals like lithium, nickel and cobalt have increased significantly during the last three years,” Metso director for hydrometallurgical research and development Janne Karonen said.
“Currently, we are working on several battery black mass recycling and precursor projects and have several lithium and other battery chemicals project pilots on our laboratory schedule.”
Metso said the pilot facility expansion complements its front-running piloting capabilities for minerals processing and metals refining, as well as enables minerals and battery industry customers to have end-to-end testing and having its piloting services and technology and equipment deliveries come from one supplier.
The Finland expansion ties into Metso’s 20 year experience in developing sustainable hard rock lithium soda leaching technologies.
The engineering company announced earlier in the week the opening of new manufacturing facilities in Alwar, India.
City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder councillors have voted to lease council land to BHP for temporary worker accommodation, with a total of 1152 new rooms to be built.
Located in Somerville, the three-year lease agreement is touted to bring in $1.3 million a year to the council in rent and rates.
The camp has also been granted three one-year options after the initial leasing period.
BHP will now seek building approval for the camp, which will house workers for the construction of a furnace rebuild for the company’s nickel smelter as part of its Nickel West division.
“This is a big decision for the city, and we want to do what is best for our community long term,” City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder mayor John Bowler said.
“BHP have advised that 60 per cent of its workforce for its Kalgoorlie nickel smelter renewal project would be housed in the temporary village and this would not only ease the burden on residential housing but also have significant benefits for the local economy.”
BHP’s submission was recommended to the council due to the significant financial return it could create in terms of future services for ratepayers.
These funds will be held in city’s future projects reserve for the development of the area as traditional residential housing.
Kalgoorlie-Boulder deputy mayor Glenn Wilson told the ABC the camp is necessary to reduce pressure on the city’s housing market.
“We’ve already got $900-a-week rents in Lamington and that will only increase, putting further strain on family budgets,” he said.
BHP’s WA operations supply nickel to world markets for use in electric vehicle batteries and other growing technologies with an aim to support global decarbonisation.
BHP employs 2500 people across its Nickel West operations, a large portion of which are fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers.
Onetrak has officially opened its Sydney branch in Moorebank, located 27km from the Sydney business district and nearby the M5 Motorway and M7 interchange.
The new Sydney branch is the eighth Onetrak branch. The company has locations around Australia including Bridgewater in Tasmania’s south, Somerset in Tasmania’s north, Hallam in Victoria, Tumut in New South Wales, Albany in Western Australia, Mt Gambier in South Australia and Caboolture in Queensland.
Onetrak is home to large brands within the earthmoving, forestry, material handling and extractive industries. The business offering includes new and used machine sales, rental equipment, service and parts.
Onetrak’s brand portfolio includes Hidromek, Tigercat, Striker, Anaconda, Dressta, Terex Fuchs, EIW Nirox, Alicon, Timber Max, Veriga and Rotobec nationwide and additionally it has Hyundai in Tasmania only.
The company’s regional manager for QLD and NSW, Brad Madden, will be heading the branch and is looking forward to being a part of Onetrak’s growth in the Sydney area.
“Onetrak have had a presence in Sydney for the last three years gradually stepping into the market as we grew,” he said.
“The time has now come to commit to our own facility, and we are excited and serious about providing service and support for our customers. We are currently running two fully maintained service vehicles, have a sales team and parts support for the area. The move into our new facility at Moorebank provides us with a large yard, plenty of hard stand area, office space to accommodate our team and a large warehouse.
“We will be able to hold more parts to make a quicker turn around for our valued customers along with a large workshop space to better service our customers machinery. I personally am excited about the growth we are seeing in Sydney and am excited to be a part of the Sydney journey.”
Onetrak managing director David Hazell said it was important to establish a presence in Sydney as part of the company’s business plan to become a truly national heavy equipment dealer.
“With the help of our loyal customers and fantastic brands, Onetrak has grown beyond our original expectations, and it was important we established a full-time presence in Sydney to better support our growing client base and key franchises in this important region,” Hazell said.
“We are extremely fortunate to have some of the most talented and dedicated employees in the industry working for Onetrak and it’s the company’s family feel and commitment to providing exceptional customer service that has allowed us to grow and prosper in what is otherwise a saturated and competitive space.
“We really look forward to growing and expanding the business further in conjunction with our people and providing a level of customer service that is recognised with our Onetrak brand”.
The Sydney branch is located at 9 Helles Ave, Moorebank, and can be contacted at 02 8729 8400.
Evolution Mining has released an updated mineral resource estimate for its Ernest Henry project.
Ernest Henry is located 38km north-east of Cloncurry, Queenslandand is a large-scale copper-gold operation. Its mine life was extended in June of this year.
As of June 30, the Ernest Henry mineral resource is estimated at 101.5 million tonnes at 1.25 per cent copper and 0.73 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 1.3 million tonnes of contained copper and 2.4 million ounces of contained gold.
This is an increase of 6.7 million tonnes, 76,000 ounces of contained gold and 63,000 tonnes of contained copper compared to the December 31 2022 mineral resource estimate (MRE).
The new MRE was said to be informed by results from 26 new drill holes completed from January 1 to March 8.
The new MRE will now inform the Ernest Henry extension feasibility study engineering work following the results of the mine extension pre-feasibility study that demonstrated an opportunity to extend the Ernest Henry mine life by 17 years to 2040.
“Ernest Henry continues to demonstrate its world class status with additional mineral resource growth since the previous estimate with the addition of only 26 new holes,” Evolution Mining chief executive officer Lawrie Conway said.
“This is the fourth increase in the first 18 months of 100 per cent ownership, with a net increase of 41–44 per cent in contained metal over this period.
“Resource increases outside the mine extension feasibility study footprint highlights the excellent potential for further resource growth and the potential to operate the plant at full capacity over the full 17-year mine life extension to 2040.”
WA Limestone wanted a rock breaker with some “meat on the bones” to handle its hard rock quarry in Onslow.
Western Australia’s northwest is a rugged environment, characterised by gruelling conditions and tough rock. It is here where WA Limestone, one of the state’s biggest aggregate suppliers, can be found.
Steven Della Bona, director at WA Limestone, said the material is a very hard rock to mine, because it is so dense, abrasive, and hard.
“The wear factors and the damage that it does on your machines is pretty horrendous,” he said.
“You need the right machinery and the right wear parts on your machinery.”
The family-owned company found Kobelco’s SK500XD to be the answer for a heavy-duty machine that can handle abrasive aggregate.
Kobelco’s SK500XD weighs in at 52,200 kg, making it one of the heaviest machines in its class.
It features a heavy-duty boom and arm set as well as factory-fitted, triple-plated, hardened steel applied to all key structural sections.
This includes the boom-to-arm connection, the boom centre, and the end of the arm, providing a high level of durability and longevity to the attachment structures.
A specially designed full-length rock guard is installed on the inside of the dipper arm, on top of additional steel plating.
A quadruple track guide frame and reinforced heavy-duty 600mm triple grouser shoe provide reliability in rocky underfoot conditions, making easy work of rough terrain.
The durability of the track links has also increased, while the idler frame has received substantial double reinforcement plating inside and out, resulting in improved undercarriage reliability which prevents premature wear.
The heavy-duty steel bolted underbody guard protects vital machine components and provides additional weight for greater stability.
The additional metal, which helps the SK500XD handle the Onslow quarry site, is a key feature for WA Limestone.
“I was pretty impressed by the extra steel on the track frames and the extra steel and reinforcement around the arm, the excavator frame and the dipper arm,” Della Bona said.
“Being in the conditions that we operate in and especially with the hard rock you need a machine that can handle the bumps, hard rocks and all the stresses and pressures.
“The machine has worked really well and hasn’t let us down at all, it’s been reliable and done everything that we asked it to do.”
It is powered by a Hino Toyota engine, alongside Kawasaki pumps and hydraulics, which delivers 257 kW of power and an average fuel consumption of under 30L per hour. This helps the SK500XD generate a breakout force of 293 kN, and slew torque of 183 kN.
The hydraulic system notifies the operator if
filter performance is compromised which helps manage maintenance and reduce downtime.
“They’re a proven hydraulic pump and hydraulic system so there is no reason why we wouldn’t get a good run out of them.
The company has road-tested several machines over its five decades in the industry. Della Bona, who has been with the company for 38 years, understands what makes a quality machine.
“I was trying to find a dedicated rock-breaking machine and I rang a couple of clients who run them, and they had nothing but good words to say,” Della Bona said.
“I was able to buy that machine pretty quickly and get it up and running and that was a big part of the decision-making.
“I am keen to see how it continues to perform but we’re really happy with it.”
Kobelco has confidence in the machine’s ability to handle the demanding conditions of the Australian worksite providing an extended major component warranty of four years or 6000 hours.
Mark Johnson, Kobelco Australia’s general manager of product and distribution, said the machine has all the tools to be a hit.
“It’s engineered for the most extreme environments around the world,” he said.
“It also builds on Kobelco’s excellent reputation for machine reliability, taking it to a new level by providing a factory-installed, comprehensive set of structural reinforcements—not to mention class-leading digging performance and fuel efficiency.
“The result is a machine that is the perfect choice for quarry work.”