Australias largest in-pit crushing system taking shape
Four giant in-pit crushers are taking shape at Citic Pacific minings Sino Iron project at Cape Preston in north west WA. They are being manufactured by ThyssenKrupp, with components being fabricated in Australia, Germany and China.
In terms of installation progress, a spokesman from owner Citic Pacific Mining (CPM) told the AJM in mid- February that âthe first two of four crusher pocket slots are completed and the first in-pit crusher is being installed. The bucket wheel reclaimer installation is almost completed.
In terms of start up date, the first shipment of ore is anticipated towards the latter part of this year.
The in-pit crushers supplied will be gyratory, 60″ x 89″, with a capacity of 5,100 tph. They will be powered electrically by the projectâs combined-cycle gas-fired power station and have been integrated into the mine design.
A number of other factors were taken into consideration during the design phase, including the rigidity of the conveyors, energy needs due to the depth of the pit, the layout of the infrastructure, the width of the haul road and traffic management needs.
CPM deputy director operations Andrew Thomson said progressive run-of-mine pads and conveyor paths were designed into the pit. âWhen ready the crushers are un-coupled and moved to the new location using crawler units. They are effectively âplug and play installations and although it is a significant task it is less onerous than a fixed installation, Mr Thomson said.
After blasting, the crushers are fed by a truck and shovel combination. The 200 millimetre crushed ore is then transported by large conveyors to the coarse ore stockpile at the feed end of the concentrator.
ThyssenKrupp invented mobile crushing technology in 1956 and the firm is today a leader in in-pit crushing systems, having supplied over 200 worldwide.
A senior processing engineer from ThyssenKrupp Materials Handling spoke to the Australian Society for Bulk Solids Handling (ASBSH) in February in Perth about the companyâs technology in the area. Christoph Hoetzelâs session was entitled âthe evolution and outlook for ThyssenKruppâs large scale semi-mobile crushing plants.â
There were at least 40 people in attendance and it was an excellent presentation, said Eric Lau, lead mechanical engineer, AMEC Minproc and WA technical convener.
Christophs speech was a joint technical session presented by the Mechanical Branch Engineers Australia WA, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the ASBSH.
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