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and service search facility, is also avail- able at the association's website at www.camese.org. To obtain a copy of the compendium, contact CAMESE at 101 - 345 Renfrew Drive, Markham, Ontario, Canada, L3R 9S9, Tel: 905-513-0046, Fax: 905-513- 1834, E-mail: minesupply@camese.org.
McLanahan Buys Universal Engineering McLanahan Corp. reported in January it had acquired Universal Engineering Corp., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA. McLanahan said its product line, which includes roll crushers, feeder breakers and rotary breakers to process minerals such as coal, salt and trona, will expand with the Universal acquisition to include hardrock crushing and apron, pan and wobbler feeders.
McLanahan also manufactures poly- mer wear parts and provides foundry and machining services. Founded in 1835, McLanahan is headquartered in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, USA, and has locations throughout the U.S., U.K., and Australia.
Pipe Cladding Projected to Save Operator $1M+ The NanoSteel Co., a supplier of coating technologies, recently highlighted an installation in which inside diameter (I.D.)-clad wear pipe in a uranium mine has been projected to last more than 17 years by mine engineers, saving the cus- tomer an estimated $1 million or more in replacement costs.
According to NanoSteel, a uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan has been experiencing severe wear in a critical pip- ing system which delivers concrete to underground mining operations. The cur- rent system utilizes API L80 steel pipe which requires replacement every 16 months because of continuous slurry abrasion. Seeking an alternative that would significantly boost wear resistance and endure throughout the remaining life of the project, the Saskatchewan mine installed a delivery system with NanoSteel's SHS 9800 alloy welded to the I.D. of the steel pipe. Mine engineers have projected the I.D. clad wear pipe to last 17.5 years, an increase in wear life by a factor of more than 13.
"When you consider increases in out- put and revenue due to reduced down- time, along with the elimination of man-
www.e-mj.com NanoSteel's I.D.-clad pipe includes threaded male and female joints to speed pipeline assembly on site.
power and installation costs for at least 12 replacement pipelines, savings can be well over $1 million," said Dave Paratore, president and CEO.
NanoSteel wear pipe I.D. cladding is applied in a process developed by Trimay Wear Plate Ltd. using technology under license from NanoSteel.
Brick by Brick: Block Modeling, Playground Style If a recent event at software develop- er Mintec's Australian office is any in- dicator, Lego toys aren't just for kids any more.
At least that's what the staff at the
company's Perth branch is discovering since they took delivery of a replica block model made of Lego bricks.
"As soon as we got it, one of the engi- neers in the office wanted to take it away and play with it," said Ian White- house, branch manager of MineSight Applications Australia. "It can't help but attract attention."
About 70 cm long, 40 cm wide and 20 cm high (27.5 x 15 x 8 in.), the model weighs 17 kg (38 lb) and is built to scale based on a computer-generated block model. "It's color-coded using RGB colors from Lego, and every block represents a grade," said Whitehouse. "To create a cross-section view, it's cut down the mid- dle and separates into two halves, which is just as well because it's quite heavy."
MineSight commissioned master Lego builder Ryan McNaught, from Mel- bourne, to create the block model for a recent seminar in Brisbane. "We're always looking at ways to do
things differently, and this helps to make something surreal more real," said Whitehouse. "When we contacted the guy, he really didn't know what the heck we were talking about at first. But we explained it all and it took him about a week and a half to do." That's considerably quicker than the eight months it took McNaught to build a replica of a Qantas A380, the world's largest passenger jet. And Mintec's Lego block model must have been a surreal leap from his most recent assignment. Mintec, headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, USA, is the developer of MineSight, a software solution that pro- vides comprehensive mine analytical, planning and design tools.
Orebody model built with Lego bricks. FEBRUARY 2012 • E&MJ; 71
