Mining companies want lower capital costs with fewer pieces of equipment and higher capacity from each unit even if the equipment is disposable after a reasonable service life.
Operating cost efficiency is an important factor driving change.The globalisation of the mining industry and rationalisation of equipment vendors has also seen technology development and diffusion on a global scale.Metal prices have fallen in real terms, ores being mined are lower grade with higher throughputs although power and labour costs have increased significantly.
There is also a trend for vendors to work closely with the end user and provide technical and after sales support while feeding operating data back into the design of new equipment.Hongxing Minerals' Asia distribution general manager John O'Reilly told Australian Mining another trend for vendors has been to move from equipment supplier to solution provider.'Minesites don't want machines, they want results,' O'Reilly said.'If someone is an iron ore producer, they don't just want a crusher or a screener, they want iron ore. They want a solution that can help them achieve maximum gain with minimum effort.'
According to O'Reilly, a good relationship between supplier and client is paramount. If there is no relationship, there is no business.'A lot of companies will supply a mine with a piece of equipment and then it is up to the minesite to employ a contractor or the like to operate the machinery. This can often result in double handling. Our website: Grinding Mill, Crusher
'Turnkey solutions are definitely the way of the future. Suppliers are not only able to supply the equipment but also design, engineer and build a project from the ground up,' O'Reilly said.'Turnkey solutions remove the double handling and save a minesite a lot of confusion and a lot of hassle.'
Advancing design
According to CSIRO Minerals' Processing and Agglomeration research program leader Jonathan Campbell, the biggest developments in crushing and grinding practices over the last decade have been increased research and take-up of high pressure grinding rolls technology.
'Other big developments include the increased use of on-line plant instrumentation coupled with advanced process control,' Campbell said.The level of process control and automation has increased in many crushing, grinding and screening practices.'Automation removes personnel while at the same time reduces downtime and increases yield,' O'Reilly said.
'Today and into the future, we will start to see more machines interconnected using Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). These devices provide instant feedback on the productivity and effectiveness of the machine.'Clients no longer need to wait a week for results to come in. They can get a birds-eye-view of what is happening in real-time. This gives them ultimate control, which paves the way for greater productivity, increased yield and greater reliability. By interfacing each machine with the next, clients are able to maximise the use of the machine,' he said.
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