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86 E&MJ; • SEPTEMBER 2017 www.e-mj.com SUPPLIERS REPORT scale HPGR to incorporate new design features, such as the flanged tire design and the arch-frame. Metso's largest HPGR provided the Morenci mine with several benefits, in- cluding an estimated 13.5% increase in energy efficiency over similar units based on pilot scale testing, Metso reported. Wheel Manufacturer Launches Facility Upgrades GKN Wheels & Structures launched a multimillion dollar investment program, which, it reported, will go to its seven manufacturing plants. The largest project represents an upgrade to the company's wheels man- ufacturing facility at Telford, U.K. The investment is expected to enhance manu- facturing capability, the company report- ed. It includes the addition of automotive standard electro-coat and powder coat fa- cilities, and is scheduled for completion by summer 2018. Additional investments in welding and painting capability are slated for the com- pany's plants in Lianyungang in northern China and Nagbøl, Denmark. A long-term investment program is slated for this year for one of the company's U.S. facilities. Australian Plant to turn Tires Into Oil A consortium announced plans to open the world's first extra-large tire recycling plant in Perth, West Australia, next June. The consortium is comprised of Tytec Group, Green Distillation Technologies (GDT) and Tytec Recycling Pty Ltd. The plant will use GDT's technology, employing a destructive distillation pro- cess, to recycle end-of-life tires into oil, carbon and steel. Tytec Logistics will transport tires from mine sites around the country to the plant, located on the Tytec facility in the Welshpool area. It will have a capacity of 5,000 mt of OTR tires per year, which will yield more than 2 million liters of oil, approximately 2,000 mt of carbon and 1,000 mt of steel. Stracon GyM Extends Mining Services Contract With La Zanja Stracon GyM, a subsidiary of Graña y Montero Group, extended its contract with Minera La Zanja SRL, a subsidiary of Buenaventura, through 2018. The trans- action is valued at $30 million. La Zanja is an open-pit gold and sil- ver mine located in Cajamarca depart- ment, Pulan district, Peru, and is located between 3,200 meters (m) and 3,600 m above sea level. The altitude poses a technical and human challenge for the more than 500 workers on the project. Stracon GyM launched the project in April 2010. It has since moved approxi- mately 68 million tons of ore and debris. Tata Steel Commissions Solar Power Plant Tata Steel commissioned a 3-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic power plant at Noamundi. It is the first solar power plant at an iron ore mine in India. Set up at a cost of Rs 35 crore ($350 million), the initiative aimed to address climate change issues and other demands on nat- ural resources. The plant covers 19 acres on a re- claimed mining hill. The selected site has a potential of 4.5 MW solar power generation. Solar modules convert the solar radi- ation into electricity, which is converted through inverters to AC power and then fed to the utility grid. In case of a com- plete grid outage, the solar plant has the capability to synchronize with an existing DG bus at the processing plant. Metso to Upgrade SA Foundry Metso announced it is investing 3.5 mil- lion euros in a second melting furnace at the Isithebe foundry in South Africa in an effort to increase its manufacturing ca- pacity of large crusher wear parts castings used in minerals processing. The invest- ment is expected to ensure the availabil- ity of Metso's heavy crusher wear parts globally, the company reported. The renewed foundry will manufacture wear parts for the Nordberg MP2500 cone crusher and Metso and third-party primary gyratory wear parts. During the renovation project, production of castings will con- tinue as usual in the existing facilities. The first product deliveries from the new furnace are scheduled for May 2019. The Isithebe plant is part of Metso's global foundry network, consisting of foundries located in Ahmedabad, India; Prerov, the Czech Republic; Quzhou, Chi- na; and Sorocaba, Brazil. Valmont's Consumables Business Changes Hands Valmont Industries agreed to sell its Aus- tralian mining consumables business to Moly-Cop, a portfolio company of Amer- ican Industrial Partners, a private equity firm headquartered in the United States. The business, known as Donhad Pty. Ltd., was acquired as part of Valmont's acqui- sition of Delta plc in May 2010 and is reported as part of the company's Energy and Mining segment, generating $83.1 million in revenues in 2016. Moly-Cop is a leading global manu- facturer of grinding media used primar- ily by global copper, gold, and iron ore producers. American Industrial Partners is a middle-market private equity firm that makes control investments in industrial businesses serving domestic and global markets. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017, the timing of which is also de- pendent upon receiving Australian regula- tory approvals. The largest of the GKN upgrade projects is at the company's wheel manufacturing facility in the U.K. A new furnace to be built at Metso's South African foundry is expected to begin producing metal for crusher wear parts in 2019.