Engineering & Mining Journal

OCT 2017

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

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CONVEYORS OCTOBER 2017 • E&MJ; 61 www.e-mj.com "We utilize the latest drive technology to improve efficiency as well as consider the use of low indentation rolling resistant conveyor belting," he added. "This allows us to not only reduce the power consump- tion of the system, but also reduces the amount of heat that is generated in the un- derground tunnels, which reduces the ven- tilation requirements. The gearless drives are among the largest used for conveyor drives and are considered very reliable." The scope of work also includes wa- ter and air piping for dust-suppression equipment, fire protection throughout the underground conveyor spaces, and all electrical power and control infrastruc- ture needed for the system. Dos Santos International recently an- nounced it would provide two DSI Sand- wich Belt high-angle conveyors, in coop- eration with M3 Engineering of Tuscon, Arizona, for Continental Gold's Buriticá project in Antioquia, Colombia. The DSI high-angle conveyors will serve as transfer conveyors elevating crushed pebble ore; each will deliver at a rate of 135 t/h, op- erating at an incline angle of 45°. Each DSI Sandwich Belt conveyor uses two standard, smooth-surfaced con- veyor belts, face-to-face, to contain the product being carried. According to the company, the design not only makes steep angles possible, it also offers a spillage free, environmentally sound op- eration because the material remains se- cured between the belts. DSI also claims that its Sandwich Belt systems are capable of higher conveying speeds and greater capacities than other high-angle conveying methods, noting that the availability of wider belts and accompa- nying hardware enables capacities of more than 10,000 t/h to be achieved, along with incline angles up to 90° and lifts of 300 m. Because the sandwich conveyors use conventional conveyor parts, the customer is assured of high availability and low main- tenance costs, as well as interchangeability of components and fast delivery of replace- ment parts, according to DSI. This is the second gold project on which DSI has cooperated with M3 En- gineering. In 2010, DSI executed a con- tract through M3 for an overland conveyor system at Goldcorp's Los Filos project in southern Mexico. In April 2016, T was awarded the supply of the principal ore transpor- tation system for the Chuquicamata Un- derground mine project by Chilean copper producer Codelco. Chuquicamata is one of the largest open-pit copper mines and the second deepest open-pit mine in the world. The underground mine project is being developed to access the orebody situated beneath the present open-pit mine and aims to extend mining opera- tions for a further 40 years. The new mine is scheduled to be in operation in 2019. The conveyor system will boast a de- sign capacity of more than 10,000 t/h. TAKRAF's design has to overcome a num- ber of technical challenges, including significant elevation change from the un- derground mine to the surface, and com- prises a variety of uphill tunnel conveyors that transport copper ore from under- ground storage bins. The system will also include a number of feeder conveyors, as well as an overland conveyor feeding into the existing conveying system. The conveyor system will be installed with gearless drive technology, with the up- hill tunnel conveyors rated with the high- est drive power ever to be installed on a belt conveyor. In fact, total installed drive power for the entire system will be around 55 MW. Gearless drives eliminate the need for a gearbox, reducing the number of po- tential wear parts. This results in increased efficiency and reliability, as well as less maintenance. Further advantages include a considerable reduction in the drive sys- tem's footprint and the amount of instru- mentation required. TAKRAF's approach allows all regular chute maintenance to be conducted from outside the chute, with no worker having to enter the chute. Also, in order to manage and dissipate intense heat generated by the system, a complex cooling system has been included in the project that eliminates heat dissipa- tion into the underground environment. TAKRAF, which also manufactures components such as belt pulleys, not- ed that its contract includes the design, fabrication and supply of 39 belt pulleys specifically developed for this project. All pulleys are being fabricated at the TAKRAF facility in Lauchhammer, Germany. The drive and return belt pulleys for this project Two DSI high-angle conveyors transfer crushed pebble ore underground at the Buriticá mine in Antioquia, Colombia. Each moves material at a rate of 135 t/h, at an incline angle of 45°. One of 39 massive conveyor pulleys built by TAKRAF leaves the factory on its journey to Codelco's Chuquicamata underground mine development project in Chile.

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