As in the rest of the world, Germanys key

suppliers of solutions to the mining

market have had to adapt to market

demand and lower sales of new systems and

machines due to reluctance in the industry to

place orders, with continued low raw material

prices and uncertainty of future demand for

mined materials in key markets, China in

particular. Other traditionally strong markets for

Germanys suppliers, such as the coal industry in

Poland and Russia; and the coal and iron ore

industries in Ukraine, have also suffered for both

economic and political reasons.

Therefore the focus has moved to maintaining

existing equipment reliability and performance.

That said, there remain opportunities for sales in

certain markets, particularly where long term

investments have already been committed. The

downturn and the corresponding gaps in factory

utilisation, also offers an opportunity to focus on

R&D and the development of next generation

solutions for when the market returns to

normality.

Large shovelsKomatsu, the leading manufacturer of large

hydraulic mining shovels which is headquartered

in Japan but manufactures shovels up to the

largest PC8000 model in Dusseldorf at Komatsu

Mining Germany, told IM it continues to listen to

the needs of its customers to allow it to adapt to

market demand.

Komatsu says it is aiming to design and

produce machines with optimal productivity, low

running costs and reliability. In order to meet

international emission regulations, Komatsu has

updated its engines and extended oil change

intervals. As Komatsus shovels are working all

over the world, operating day and night under

the toughest of conditions, a variety of tailor

made solutions are being offered to support

miners all around the globe.

Continuous product improvements are being

implemented to new machines directly. Komatsu

says it is working closely with clients and

supporting customer efforts to reduce costs,

while improving performance, as the key to the

mutual partnership.

The PC4000 Super-Shovel,

for example, recently

received a number of new

features and design changes,

which provide more reliability

and advanced productivity.

Furthermore, the electrical

system has been completely revised and

simplified using a lowest cost-per-tonne

approach, reducing the number of electrical

parts like controllers, relays and circuit breakers

by up to 59%. With the latest PC4000 model a

new generation of KomtraxPlus, Komatsus

remote condition and health monitoring system,

has also been implemented. The new monitoring

system features additional data storage as well

as instant monitoring capabilities of the

machines condition and performance. Via

00 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2015

Adapt and evolve

Germanys engineering expertisecontinues to be reflected in theimportance of its equipment andtechnology solution providers inthe mining market worldwide,reports Paul Moore

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY

Minimal dust emissions is a major part ofBEUMER Groups offering to the miningindustry

The Komatsu PC4000Super-Shovel recentlyreceived a number of newfeatures and designchanges, whichprovide morereliability andadvanced productivity

Komatsus satellite system, the data is directly

transferred to a database, which allows for

better scheduling of maintenance and

operations.

Liebherr is headquartered in Bulle,

Switzerland and manufactures its mining shovels

just over the border in Colmar, France but its

original factory and spiritual home remain in

Kirchdorf an der Iller, Germany, where the

company was founded and where it retains a

large facility producing hydraulic excavators,

material handling machines and articulated

trucks.

The company states: Because every project is

unique, Liebherr always strives to offer the best

solution to meet our customers' needs. As a

result, Liebherr has developed a large range of

options for our mining excavators in order to

optimise machine performances, reduce

maintenance time, minimise noise emissions and

further improve operator comfort. Thanks to the

optional features, Liebherr is helping customers

reach their ambitious expectations in terms of

economical performance and safety.

Extreme temperatures can impair machine

performance if they are not adequately prepared

for them. To face freezing temperatures as low as

-50C, Liebherr offers an Arctic package designed

to facilitate diesel engine start-up, maintain

optimal viscosity of the hydraulic oil or grease or

even program cab pre-heating. For high-altitude

applications, optional features are also available

to maintain the high level of performance of

Liebherr excavators.

To maximise machine uptime, Liebherr also

offers optional features designed to reduce

maintenance time by making service access

easier. As an example, for 100 t class excavators

(R9100, R9150) all fluid refill points can be

relocated to be accessible directly from ground

level, making service faster and easier, with

guaranteed safety.

Liebherr says it has also developed a full

range of protection for undercarriage-related

components (belly plate, rock protection for idler

wheel, track chain guide) in order to maximise

their lifetime, as a result of being often exposed

to the risk of falling rock or debris. Cover

protection is also available to prevent cylinder

piston rods from being damaged by rocks in both

backhoe and face shovel configurations.

When excavators must be operated close to

residential areas or protected natural areas,

Liebherr is also able to fit excavators with

additional sound attenuation packages. These

optional features significantly reduce generated

noise emissions while maintaining peak machine

performance.

Lastly, operator comfort and safety remains a

top priority. In addition to the many devices

already fitted in standard configuration, optional

comfort features include seats with built-in

heating and climate control, sun-visors, bottle

coolers and 4-point seat belts. Safety features

are complemented by the powerful dual-agent

fire fighting system (with foam and powder) so

that the operator and service staff can work

effectively and in complete peace of mind.

Thickened tailings project in SiberiaIn 2014, Moenchengladbach-based Engineering

Dobersek GmbH commissioned a plant for two-

stage thickening, dewatering and closed water

circuit treatment for Alrosas Nyurbinsky

diamond mine in Yakutia. After the separation

stage, the tailings had been transported to the

disposal dam along with a large amount of

process water. This water had to be pumped

back after settlement of the particles in order to

use it again and to reduce fresh water

consumption which was connected with

increasing costs. However, due to very low

temperatures it was not possible to do so during

winter time. It became necessary to build new

tailings dumps which consumed in general 10-

50% of the total mine investment as well as

covering large areas of valuable land. The power

consumption for the hydraulic transport of the

tailings and recirculated water was 30-50% of

the total power consumption of the processing

plant.

Nyurbinsky asked Engineering Dobersek to

suggest the optimal solution for the problem and

the company looked at all the different

possibilities. One of the possible ways to reduce

capital costs was to extend the service life period

of the tailings dam by increasing the design

height of the dam which would not require a

significant capital investment but would lead to

an increase in operating costs and would still not

solve the winter problem.

Another option was the implementation of

cone tailings storage which would require capital

investment, but would mean a significant

reduction in operating costs.

Finally an option was to use dry tailings

storage which again required more capital for

purchasing of equipment, but would not require

further tailing dumps construction and almost

completely remove the requirement for

additional water for the process.

The dry tailings option was chosen.

Depending on the tailings characteristics, the

density of the tailings slurry at the factory output

had to be considered and the optimal scheme

and the thickening degree selected. Thus, when

the solids content in the initial tailings pulp was

up to 10%, a single-level thickening circuit was to

be used. If the solids content was more than

10%, a two-stage circuit could be used. The

thickening degree, the flocculant consumption

and initial data for the design of the equipment

were determined in a tailings test stage. The

laboratory studies conducted by Engineering

Dobersek showed that it was possible to

produce a filter cake which would allow tailings

transport by conveyors and trucks. To receive

such a filter cake for dry tailings storage a two-

stage thickening plant combined with chamber

filter presses was required.

In a two-stage thickening circuit all tailings are

pumped to the hydrocyclone separation station.

There 50-70% of solids report to the underflow

with a thickening degree of up to 74% solids.

This means that 50-70% of solids are

concentrated without using flocculants. The

cyclone overflow with a slurry density close to

the optimum for precipitation feeds the thickener

by gravity. At the output of the thickener clarified

water is obtained, with a suspension of up to

300 mg solids/litre along with a thickened slurry,

having a concentration of 50-70% solids. The

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY

00 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2015

A Liebherr R9150 at Alrosas Udachnydiamond mine in the Sakha Republicregion of Russia fitted with an arctic

package, piston rock guard for bucketcylinders, a front protective grid, a cab

elevation and customised painting

underflow of the cyclones and the thickened

slurry are fed a chamber press filter station

consisting of several presses for flexibility due to

the variable slurry flow rate from the factory. The

resulting cake is collected on conveyors and

transported directly to the disposal area or to a

truck loading bunker.

Commissioning of the thickening and

dewatering process confirmed all design

parameters with residual moisture of 18-22% in

the cake; internal water circulation of 96% with

water losses of only 4%; purity of the

recirculated water of about 200 mg solids/litre;

and flocculant consumption within the

parameters of the data as investigated during

the laboratory studies.

The exploitation of the traditional tailings

dump was abandoned and the dewatered

tailings were stored in the same areas. The

project showed that the existing supply of fresh

and water to the process was enough to provide

100% of the total water needs, taking into

account the internal circuit. Savings in the first

year of operation amounted to about 23 million.

Bulk handlingBulk materials like mined mineral products and

metallic concentrates are often transported via

motorways, railways, waterways or through

nature reserves. The large quantities of dust

generated during this process can pollute the

environment. Dust clouds can also occur during

loading, filling and palletising. This not only

creates considerable clean-up tasks for mine

employees, but certain mined products can also

present a health hazard. With its conveying,

loading, filling and palletising systems, BEUMER

Group, based in Beckum, says it can ensure

minimal dust emissions.

The BEUMER portfolio includes curved belt

conveyors for fast and cost-efficient transport of

large quantities of bulk material from a mine to

factory or port. The belt conveyors are able to

navigate long distances, high angles of

inclination and tight curve radii, and can be

adapted individually to the belt or pipe conveyor

bulk handling solutions. Depending on the

customer's requirements, BEUMER provides

either troughed belt or pipe conveyor bulk

handling solutions. Open troughed belt

conveyors are recommended for larger

throughputs, higher mass flows and wider

curved radii. Closed pipe conveyors protect both

transported items from environmental influences

and the environment from falling items.

Troughed belt conveyors can also be covered or

encased to minimise dust formation during

transport. This seal guarantees dust-free

transport.

BEUMER's portfolio also includes mechanical

vertical conveyors such as belt bucket elevators.

BEUMER reliably seals the shaft casings of these

bucket elevators, which stops dust from

escaping. Instead, the dust trickles into the

bucket elevator boot that is equipped with a

dynamic bottom. Wet and sticky material cannot

accumulate but is fed back into the transport

process.

BEUMER Group has also developed bulk

loading heads for the quick and dust-free

loading of bulk transporter vehicles. They are

designed according to the double-wall system,

where the material inlet and the dedusting unit

are separated from each other. When the bulk

loading head is placed on a filler neck, its sealing

cone is lowered and the outlet spout opens

simultaneously. The lowering level of the sealing

cone is variable. The mining customer can adjust

the fill level in the vehicle using the fill level

meter. In order to balance out any minor

positional deviations of the vehicle, the operator

can move the bulk loading head laterally during

placement.

The bulk loading head is also available with an

integrated compressed-air filter. This allows the

mine to operate the centralised dedusting units

independently from the dust transporting

devices. The dust removed from the bulk

transporter vehicle is fed again to the material

flow during loading. The compressed-air filter

consists of filter hoses which are positioned

between the inner telescopic tube and the outer

bellows. The suction is carried out by a fan

fastened at the outside. The cleaning is carried

out by timed compressed-air shocks.

BEUMER offers various types of telescopic

loading systems for dust-free loading of open

vehicles. With these systems, the bulk loading

head is lowered to the floor of the vehicle and

the material feed is switched on. A fill level

switch in the lower dedusting hood is activated

by the rising material. This causes the bulk

loading head to be raised automatically. The

edge of the dedusting hood always rests on the

material cone while it rises, so that no dust can

escape. The bellows, or the telescopic tubes for

the dust extraction, are connected to a central

dedusting air system. Corresponding devices or

flow control gates transport the material to the

system. The bulk loading heads can also be

equipped with fill level indicators. Once the

vehicle is loaded, they reliably turn off the

material feed. Different types of fill level

indicators are used depending on the properties

of the material. Some of the criteria used to

select the correct switch are bulk density, flow

behaviour as well as product temperature.

RFID plant tagsEvery mineral processing plant lifecycle phase

and all of the assets installed in a plant require

data. Easy and safe identification of measuring

points - sometimes hundreds of them - is

essential to avoid prolonged plant down times

and failures in data acquisition. Illegible or

unfavourably positioned name plates often

impede or make name plate identification almost

impossible. Correct identification in extremely

dirty or dusty environments often takes a great

deal of time. Here the RFID TAG can be a

convenient solution.

The new Endress+Hauser RFID TAG uses the

established and robust NFC standard. It is a

passive device, license free and available

worldwide. The RFID TAG facilitates convenient

and safe measuring point identification. Visual

contact of the name plate is not required if the

mobile device is equipped with NFC technology.

The integration of this open standard ensures

that TAGs will also be serviceable in future and

that a large number of devices can be used.

Endress+Hauser is headquartered in Reinach,

Switzerland but with its main production site in

Maulburg, Germany.

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY

NOVEMBER 2015 | International Mining 00

The exploitation of the traditional tailings dumpwas abandoned and the dewatered tailingswere stored in the same areas

00 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2015

Devices can be identified without line of sight

and even when a nameplate is no longer

readable. All device documentation can be

locally accessed via the Operations App or Field

Xpert SFX 370; while the NFC (Near Field

Communication) standard is well known and

works with most mobile devices

Interacting with the Endress+Hauser

Operations app and the Field Xpert SFX370, the

system makes technical documentation

concerning spare parts available for any

measuring point on site. This facilitates work

across the entire product life cycle. Costs may be

particularly reduced in installation,

commissioning and maintenance. The

Endress+Hauser Installed Base Audit service

permits not only Endress+Hauser devices to be

equipped with TAGs but also the measuring

points of other manufacturers.

Mine rescue and safetyThe 7th International Mines Rescue Body (IMRB)

Conference was recently held on September 8 in

Hanover, Germany. More than 200 mine rescue

experts attended, with the event, where the main

sponsor was Lubeck-based Drger. CEO Stefan

Drger stated that the IMRB is not only a

community but more like a family. We are proud

to be the sponsor of this event. We are an active

supporter of mine safety, he said.

Drger chose the event to present its new

mines rescue vehicle, the Drger MRV 9000. The

vehicle is the first of its kind in the world and

was developed in cooperation with Goldcorp Inc

to make mine rescue missions even safer.

Getting mine rescuers to the action faster and

safer is one of the biggest challenges in mine

rescue. With this vehicle we are breaking new

ground, said Markus Uchtenhagen,

The Drger Mine Rescue Vehicle (MRV) is an

innovative solution based on the needs of an

ever-changing mining environment. Mine rescue

teams now have longer distances to travel before

they arrive at the location of the emergency and

only a limited amount of time is available with

the breathing apparatus. The Drger MRV 9000

exactly targets this challenge by providing safe

transportation as close as possible to the incident

without needing to activate the breathing

apparatus. Consequently, the mine rescue teams

have more time for their on-site mission.

Both the drivers cabin and cassette are

equipped with an air purging system. This

system is independent of the ambient air and

provides breathing air for the onboard personnel.

Once the team has exited the vehicle equipped

with personal breathing protection, the air flow

in MRV 9000 can be manually reduced for the

remaining occupants. As a result, breathing air

from the onboard cylinders can be conserved to

provide additional time for the overall mission.

Once the team returns to the MRV 9000 and the

drivers cabin and cassette have been

successfully flushed, their individual breathing

apparatuses are no longer required.

External and internal gas monitoring reliably

measures the concentrations of oxygen, carbon

dioxide and carbon monoxide in the ambient air

and inside the vehicle. If thresholds are

exceeded or fall short, the onboard personnel

will be warned by visual and acoustic signals.

Additionally, the measurement values are clearly

visible in the front and in the rear of the vehicle.

Thermal imaging cameras installed outside of

the vehicle support the orientation in a dusty,

smoky environment and can help detect trapped

miners.

The chassis of the Mine Rescue Vehicle has

been designed by Paus, and is well-tested, strong

and robust for harsh underground mine conditions.

In addition, cooperation with a specialised

manufacturer enables low maintenance levels as

Paus only uses components from other specialised

mining industry suppliers. By combining the

knowledge and expertise of Paus together with the

well-known competence of Drger in the field of

rescue and refuge solutions, breathing protection

and gas monitoring, the MRV 9000 provides both

quality and industry-specific design. Close

cooperation with our customers initiated and drove

the development of a mine rescue solution based on

the current and future challenges of a mine.

Solids handling and pumpsUS group Hillenbrand recently agreed to acquire

ABEL Pumps for 95 million, but the company

retains its base in Buchen, Germany. ABEL is

globally-recognised in diaphragm pumps. It

specialises in designing, developing and

manufacturing piston diaphragm and piston

pumps as well as pumping solutions and in

providing related parts and service. Mining is

one of its key markets. At the completion of this

transaction, ABEL will join Coperion, Rotex and

TerraSource Global in Hillenbrands Process

Equipment Group.

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY

The Drger Mine Rescue Vehicle (MRV) is aninnovative solution based on the needs of anever-changing mining environment

ABEL Pumps recently delivered a big cone valvesolid handling pump of the SH series for a goldand silver mine in Peru

00 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2015

ABEL has expanded its South America

business to continue to focus on its original core

competence of mining. In late 2014 two large

cone valve solid handling pumps of the SH series

left the headquarters with the destination being

a gold and silver mine in the heart of Peru at

4,800 m above sea level. The pumps will be used

for the backfilling of paste tailings in

underground mine cavities. The capacity per

pump is 95 m/h paste against a pressure of upto 100 bar. Commissioning of the pumps was

planned for September 2015. Furthermore ABEL

also dispatched two large membrane pumps of

the HMQ series in December 2014. The

destination is also South America, to a gold and

silver mine in Chile. In this case the pumps will

be used for tailings transfer.

Underground longwallsOver 150 years ago, the successful story of the

EICKHOFF group began in the German city of

Bochum. More than 450 shearer loaders of the

current SL series have been brought into service

with customers in 15 countries since that time.

According to evolving customer focus in terms of

cutting height, available motor power and

automation features, Eickhoff expanded its

shearer loader portfolio to a total of six models

covering a cutting range from as low as 1.2 m up

to 7.1 m. A modified version of the machine type

SL1000 with an extended cutting height of up to

8.6 m has been offered to Chinese customers.

At the end of July 2015, a new longwall No

1747 with a seam thickness of 1.6 m was put into

operation at Polysaevskaya Coal Mine of OJSC

SUEK-Kuzbass. The face is equipped with an

SL300 shearer loader made by EICKHOFF

(Germany), new shield supports and a new

armoured face conveyor.

Thanks to the automation of the mining

process, a technology allowing for the so-called

unmanned method of coal extraction has been

incorporated for the first time. It is the result of a

joint development between EICKHOFF, Marco,

and Becker Mining.

The automation process of a shearer loader in

longwall mining is subject to a multitude of

different factors. For this reason it is

indispensable that the automation software

offers greatest possible flexibility so that it can

be adapted at all times to the requirements. The

EiControlSB program developed by Eickhoff is

based on the proven EiControl system and has

been completed with a state-based system

which can be altered and extended at the users

discretion. The underlying principle is the fact

that the shearer loader is always in a certain

state. Every state defines precisely how the

shearer loader is supposed to work and what

event is required to enter into the next state. A

state table is generated by a succession of

multiple states. An arbitrary sequence of mining

operations is thus programmable for the shearer

loader. All these mining operations, when taken

together, yield a complete mining cycle. The

processing of the state table is thus dependent

on the process routine, and the machine

responds to changing events with different

automation sequences.

The EICKHOFF SL300 shearer loader has been

equipped with additional transducers and

sensors for automated operation. Process data is

exchanged between the shearer loader and the

data transmission gate end box via a high-speed

data connection. In this way, monitoring and

control of both the shearer loader and the face

equipment are ensured. Video cameras with spot

lights in the ranging arms of the EICKHOFF SL300

and cameras in the shield supports help monitor

the mining process. It is furthermore also

possible to perform monitoring and control of

the face equipment from a remote control station

which is located in the ventilation gate road

away from the longwall.

Further data interfaces between the involved

systems from Marco, Becker and EICKHOFF allow

for visualising the data in the mine control centre

on the surface. Important process data is

archived so that error messages can be promptly

analysed. This not only expedites the planning of

repair deployments, where necessary, but also

reduces repair times.

The main advantages of the unmanned

method of coal extraction are safety in the

mining operations, improvement of the miners'

working conditions, and better quality of the

extracted coal.

EICKHOFF states: The incorporation of this

cutting-edge automation technology into the

mining process enables the transition to a higher

technological level in coal mining.

Underground development equipmentIn early 2015 Deilmann-Haniel Mining Systems

GmbH (dhms), based in Dortmund, delivered a

roadheader of model dh R60t for roadway

development at a new hard coal mine in Turkey.

Two more roadheaders of the model dh R75t

followed in April and July 2015. All three

machines have been ordered by Hema Energji

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY

Above ground compatibility test of theEICKHOFF SL300 shearer loader with the faceequipment at Polysaevskaya mine

Automation software EicontrolSB running insimulation

00 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2015

Inc, an affiliate of Hattat Holding Enerji

Group, which is building a new coal mine

with three vertical shafts, called the

Amasra Hardcoal Project, on the Black Sea

Coast in northern Turkey. In a depth of

approximately 700 m high quality hard coal

will be extracted mainly for a thermal power

plant. It is the biggest new construction

project in hard coal mining in Europe. The

mine has a reported reserve of 573 Mt.

Due to the challenging development

conditions with rock strengths (UCS) up to

120 MPa heavy powerful roadheading

machines with low-height design was

needed. Special characteristics of the

chosen roadheaders are an onboard drilling

and bolting device; telescopic cutting boom; low

machine height; external water-mist sprays on

the cutting head; automatic stabilisation system

for improved stability during cutting; and low

floor pressure relative to the machine weight.

The low machine height ensures that the same

equipment can be used to drive low-profile and

high-profile roadways, such as main gates and

tail gates, as well as arch-section and

rectangular headings and coal face development

headings with low roof heights.

The wide-based chassis and the resulting low

floor pressure facilitate manoeuvring on soft

roadway floors. The telescopic cutting boom also

allows the cutting head to sump into the heading

face, thereby reducing wear and tear on the

machine chassis and helping to protect the

roadway floor.

The integrated drilling and bolting system

enables quick and accurate hole positioning

every time. As well as conventional bolting

positions in arch-section and rectangular

roadways the drill feed can also move to any

conceivable drilling angle in the drivage

direction, as may be required for exploration and

reinforcement work or additional blasting. High-

performance hydraulic rotary drills from the dh

DR series or the dh DP15 drifters ensure short

drilling and bolting cycles no matter what bolting

method, bolt length or bolt design will be

applied.

The scope of delivery for each of the three

roadheaders consists of one tailor made bridge

belt conveyor system and a dedusting unit. For

training of the local mine staff and to support the

roadheading operations the machines will be

accompanied by dhms technicians during the

first four months.

Shaft sinking companies are showing an

increasing interest in the use of shaft drill rigs

equipped with high performance hydraulic rock

drills. Therefore dhms told IM it has developed

all-hydraulic shaft drill rigs with three or four drill

booms. The rigs are available in flameproof or

non-flameproof versions.The first all-hydraulic

shaft drill rig with four booms will be delivered to

the China Coal Mine Construction Group

Corporation (CCMCGC) in Hefei, Anhui province,

China by the end of 2015. It is planned for use

during sinking of new shafts for development of

new mines or mine extensions.

The new all-hydraulic shaft drill rig dh SDH4

provides a number of benefits compared to

conventional pneumatic or semi-hydraulic

versions regarding following aspects:

increased drilling speed during blasthole

drilling

increased drilling speed and drill depth

during extension drilling (eg injection holes)

simple and quick change between rotary or

rotary percussive drilling mode and therefore

easy adaption to varying rock conditions

improved drilling control (collaring, anti-

jamming system)

avoiding of lubrication oil mist

reduced noise level

reduced compressed-air consumption

(compressed air is only needed for drifter

lubrication or flushing).

The high drilling speed achieved by using

hydraulic rock drills means that the rig can

operate with fewer drill booms. Thus time for

erecting at shaft bottom and number of

operators can be reduced.

The drill feeds fitted to the new rig feature a

cylinder system that delivers high thrust and

pull-back forces. They also come with a hose reel

and can be equipped with a hydraulic clamping

device for extension drilling and a dust suction

hood for air flushing. A choice of rock drills is

available and clients can opt for the powerful dh

DP15 drifters or rotary drills of the dh DR series.

Rock drills can be changed with very little effort.

One or two tailor-made electro-hydraulic power

packs are installed on the shaft platform to

provide the drive energy. Special measures have

been put in place to protect the power packs

from water ingress. The drive station can be

coupled to the drill rig after the latter has

passed through the lower shaft platform and

then uncoupled again for the return trip. The

connections comprise two hydraulic pressure

lines, one return line and one oil drain line

plus the supply lines for flushing water or air.

Zero-leakage hydraulic quick-couplers are

used.

The electrical connections comprise a

power cable for the 24 V DC supply and a

data transmission cable. Special connectors

are used for the interconnection points,

while control commands are sent from

wireless remote controls. A separate console

is provided for each drill boom and each control

console can be switched over between the

different booms.

Like the compressed-air equipment the rigs

can be folded up in an umbrella-like configuration

for in-shaft transport and are designed for a

maximum transport diameter of only 1,900 mm.

After reaching the shaft bottom the dh SDH4

is positioned in the shaft centre and braced by

three struts to the shaft wall. Then the drill

booms are brought into drilling position. To

match uneven shaft floor conditions the tripod

can be adjusted hydraulically.

Mineral lab equipmentIdar-Oberstein-based FRITSCH offers a sieve

range which it says is the focused answer to all

typical sieving tasks in the laboratory. It has

three well-conceived instruments for every

application, with FRITSCH concepts that make

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY

Idar-Oberstein-based FRITSCH offers a sieverange which it says is the focused answer to alltypical sieving tasks in the laboratory, here theANALYSETTE 18

The new all-hydraulic shaft drill rig dh SDH4from Deilmann-Haniel Mining Systems providesa number of benefits compared to conventionalpneumatic or semi-hydraulic versions

00 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2015

the work simpler and faster, easy to

operate, reliable and long-lasting.

FRITSCH Sieve Shakers are described

as ideal for dry, wet and micro-precision

sieving; measuring the quantitative

particle size distribution of solids and

suspensions; and separating and

fractioning. They offer simple, ergonomic

operation; fast, reproducible results;

sample quantities between 0.05 g and 15

kg; sieve diameter from 100 mm to 450

mm, mesh widths from 5 m to 125 mm;and they can be used as testing

equipment in accordance with DIN EN ISO

9001.

The range also offers automatic sieve

evaluation with the FRITSCH software

AUTOSIEVE.

The high performance Vibratory Sieve

Shaker ANALYSETTE 3 PRO offers fast

determination of quantitative particle size

distribution in the laboratory. It is a

shaking sieve system with an

electromagnetic drive that oscillates the

sieve stack into regulated vertical oscillations,

and is the ideal solution for sieving sample

quantities up to 2 kg and a measurement range

from 5 m to 63 mm. The ANALYSETTE 3 PRO isperfectly suited for quality control of incoming

and outgoing products, offers user-friendly

operation and is low-noise, robust and long-

lasting.

Vibratory Sieve Shaker ANALYSETTE 3

SPARTAN is offered for simple sieving for all

typical sieving tasks in the laboratory with

optical adjustment of the amplitude on the

running instrument. It comes complete with the

practical FRITSCH sieve stack tensioning system

EASYTWIST and the FRITSCH evaluation software

AUTOSIEVE for evaluation of the sieve analysis.

Finally, the ANALYSETTE 18 is a robust, Heavy

Duty Analytical Sieve Shaker which can sieve up

to 15 kg of material between 20 m and 125 mm.The three-dimensional sieving motion ensures

particularly fast sieving results without manual

re-sieving, and also optimal reproducibility.

Specialised millingDsseldorf-based Loesche designs vertical roller

mills, plans and delivers individual equipment,

complete grinding preparation and drying plants

as well as turn-key plant units. The key

competence of the company is the design and

development of individual concepts for grinding

and drying plants for the cement, steel and iron,

power, ores and minerals industry. The service

portfolio ranges from first concept to

commissioning augmented by maintenance,

repair, training as well as modernisation of

grinding plants and spare parts activities.

LOESCHE Energy Systems recently

successfully signed a contract to supply five

LOESCHE coal mills type LM 35.3D with LSKS

Classifiers to Rafako SPV for a New Power Unit

for TAURON Wytwarzanie SA and the Jawzorno III

Power Plant in Poland.

Rafako is the largest manufacturer of utility

boilers in Poland, and nearly 80% of utility

boilers currently in operation in Poland were

supplied and installed by Rafako. The Jaworzno

III power unit will have a 910 MW gross power

and will be equipped with supercritical once-

through pulverised fuel boiler for bituminous

coal. The power station is designed to have high

efficiency levels and to meet stringent European

emissions standards.

The pulverised fuel throughput required to

achieve boiler maximum continuous rating will

be achieved with 4 + 1 LM 35.3 D mills, wherein

four mills will be in operation and one will be on

standby.

LOESCHE Energy System says it won the order

amidst stiff competition as the LOESCHE Mill

delivers lower mill different pressure and

consequently, lower auxiliary power

consumption than competitors mills. Strategic

design improvements in LOESCHE Mills have

been made over the last few years. The mills will

be delivered to Jawzorno III site in 2017.

A repeat order has been made by JFE Steel

Corporation in Japan, ordering a LM 28.3 D,

which produces the pulverised coal for injection

into the blast furnace, for its integrated iron and

steel works in Fukuyama. Fukuyama - JFE Steel

Corporation already uses three LOESCHE

coal mills in its works. Alongside the types

LM 23.2 D (2 mills) and LM 28.2 D, from

the years 1997 and 2000, now a fourth

LOESCHE vertical roller mill of the type LM

28.3 D is to be used for grinding coal in

JFE's Fukuyama works. The customer was

impressed above all by the excellent

performance of the type LSKS LOESCHE

dynamic classifier. The improved grain size

distribution made the difference here and

was the most important deciding factor for

JFE Steel.

The new LM 28.3 D vertical roller mill

will grind 70 t/h of coal with a fineness of

25% > 0.074 mm and consequently

increase the performance of the existing

PCI plant for pulverised coal injection into

blast furnace number 5.

The LSKS dynamic classifier has the

great advantage of reducing oversized

particles, therefore improving combustion

in the blast furnace: the injection rate of

ground coal into the blast furnace is

increased and the use of expensive coke is

reduced.

Commissioning of the LM 28.3 D in the JFE

Steel Corporation works in Fukuyama is planned

for mid-2016.

Handling equipmentThe JD Neuhaus company has been designing

and manufacturing handling equipment for over

two and a half centuries based in Witten, and

pioneered the use of compressed air for

powering handling equipment in the early 1950s.

The latter development ensured that their lifting

and pulling equipment was suitable for use in

hazardous areas and environments where there

was a potential explosion risk.

Their products, which now also include

optional hydraulic powered operation, are used

worldwide in mining and other heavy industries.

With a range that covers lift capacities from 250

kg up to 100 t, they offer high performance,

reliable products, 100% duty rated, that can be

used wherever light, medium or heavy industries

require the safe lifting, moving and precise

placement of loads. These Ex rated hoists

ensure the highest levels of safety for operating

in potentially explosive or other dangerous

atmospheres which can occur in coal mining

locations.

Over the years, the JDN company says it has

developed many purpose designed products for

use in specific industries, including mining.

JDN hoists are operating in multiple

applications in this area including in longwalls

for positioning of shield supports; stationary

lifting and lowering working platforms in mines;

in horizontal drifts in combination with monorails

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY

A Loesche coal mill type LM 35.3 D, similar tothe five being delivered to with LSKS Classifiersto the Jawzorno III Power Plant in Poland

00 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2015

for transport of equipment; and in vertical shafts

for lifting and lowering of objects such as full

profile drilling machines. Its range also covers

general lifting including tensioning and pulling

tools for works and repair shops; robbing of

mine pillars; other routine coal face operations:

many at the coal face, conveyor belt spanners;

and construction works such as lifting front

loader buckets. Other special applications with

capacities up to 100 t include securing of vertical

full profile drilling machines.

JDN states the typical advantages offered as

standard by JDN mining equipment as being very

robust and low-maintenance, ideal for heavy

duty; having a compact design and low weight

with easy handling; operating air pressure 4 or 6

bar; easy installation; overload protected motor;

100% duty rating; sensitive positioning of loads

when using the relevant controls; non-polluting

by operation with oil-free air (PROFI series);

durable due to high quality materials; and

suitable for use in dirty, dusty and humid

locations. They can be used for oblique hoisting

when special safety precautions are observed

and are insensitive to temperatures ranging from

-20C up to +70C; and are suitable for

applications in hazardous areas as standard

The solutions offer explosion and flame-

proofness with additional spark protection

available if required; have low headroom,

monorail operation for enclosed spaces; and

have two load hooks for alternative pulling of

heavy loads

JDN products designed specifically for mining

and other underground applications include M

series air hoists. They operate off a 4 bar

pressure and can be supplied in lift capacities of

1, 2, 3 and 6 t. Twin chain pulls are provided for

alternate working and all hoists feature a top

hook mounting to accommodate oblique or

horizontal pulling of loads. These products can

be equipped with two optional control systems

for single or two handed operation.

The DS system, which is designed for the two

handed operation, has compressed air

connected to the hand control valve. A built-in

pressure regulator prevents hoist overload in the

event of inadmissibly high air pressure. An oiler,

situated directly at the hoist motor, is operated

from the controller housing to ensure the oil flow

automatically ceases when the hoist stops. The

operating air immediately initiates the motor

when the hand lever is activated. This lever is

spring loaded and returns automatically to zero

position when released. This forced release also

serves as an emergency stop.

The optional PS control is for single handed

use with emergency stop fitted as standard. It

operates indirectly with a compressed air supply

connected to the control valve of the motor. The

control pistons of the motor are actuated by the

hand control push buttons, which automatically

return to zero position. In the control valve of

the motor, a pressure regulator protects the hoist

from inadmissibly high pressure, while the

integrated oiler provides the necessary

lubrication.

The Profi TI series hoists are also suitable for

underground working and operate off air

pressures of 4 or 6 bar, with hydraulically

operated units also available. Lift capacities from

250 kg up to 100 t are available with traverse

trolleys for overhead monorail operation also

available for lift ratings up to 20 t maximum

capacity. These trolleys can be supplied for

manual, reel chain and motorised traverse

movements, with rack and pinion drives also

available. Typical features of these robust

products include:

Sensitive infinitely variable speed control for

the precise positioning of loads

Load chain and hooks manufactured from

high quality tempered steels with a breaking

strength of five times the nominal load

Patented, permanent motor lubrication

during operation, using a high-performance

grease

No additional motor lubrication required

Suited for application in Hazardous Areas

according to EC Directive on Hazardous

Locations 94/9/EEC

As standard: Ex II 2 GD IIA T4 / II 3 GD IIB T4

With increased spark protection: Ex II 2 GD

IIC T4.

A specific mining application of JDN products

include a Profi TI hoist with 37 t lifting capacity

used for the safe and successful handling of an

assembled pipeline string of some 1000 m in

length. This involved the connection of individual

pipeline sections, each 8 m long, to create a

completed string weighing 30 t which had to be

positioned within a mining shaft.

The compact and flexible hoist, offered

excellent weight/load ratios, with the Profi 37 TI

having an all-up weight of 880 kg (with a

standard 10 m chain length) while providing an

impressive 37.5 t lifting capacity. The

elimination of any electrical power supply for

drive mechanisms or ancillary equipment

eliminates the potential for ignition risk, while

increased spark-protection features ensure the

highest ATEX ratings for hazardous area

operation. Hydraulically operated hoists can

also be provided where an air supply may not be

readily available.

EnginesThere is a shift of power taking place in the

global construction machinery market. Chinese

manufacturers as covered in the IM September

2015 issue, are no longer relying simply on pure

muscle to produce plant and machinery more

economically than any western company.

Instead, they are developing their own machines

and acquiring companies. Machines made by

Chinese producers such as Sany, Zoomlion,

XCMG and XEMC are now seen in the mining

industry, and are using high quality components

such as engines from MTU in Friedrichshafen,

now part of Rolls-Royce Power Systems.

XEMC is a good example. The company sold

four haul trucks to the Australian mine operator

Rio Tinto in 2013. The 230 t trucks are used in

the Tom Price mine in Western Australia and

partly owe their ability to withstand the extreme

conditions to the 16-cylinder Series 4000 MTU

engines that power them. Li Jiping, Deputy

Director General of XEMC states: By the end of

2015, we aim to earn a third of our revenue

abroad. At the BAUMA China show in Shanghai

in November 2014, their Chinese competitor

XCMG exhibited the DE400 haul truck, which is

also powered by a Tier-2 rated 20-cylinder MTU

Series 4000 engine.

MTU states: The times when Chinese

manufacturers had little home-grown expertise

and instead adapted the ideas of foreign

producers are to be left behind. That is laid down

in a Chinese government master plan that sets

out the course to be followed up to 2015.

Chinese manufacturers are no longer to put all

their energy into production; they have to start

developing innovative products as wellwhile

European and American construction plant

producers are struggling with the consequences

of the global economic and financial crisis,

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY

A JD Neuhaus Profi 37 TI hoist successfullyhandling a 1,000 m long pipeline stringweighing 30 t, being positioned within a miningshaft

00 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2015

Chinese manufacturers like Sany, Zoomlion,

XEMC and XCMG still show long-term upward

trends, even during the global tight market

conditions during 2015.

The Chinese construction and mining

equipment manufacturers have grown along with

their booming domestic market their share of

the global market increased from 15% in 2008 to

30% two years later. In that same period, the

market share of European, American and

Japanese corporations slipped from 62% to 50%.

By investing in research and development, the

Chinese manufacturers have also improved the

quality and technology of their products. And as

far as the Chinese government is concerned, the

trend should be continued. Although it recently

reduced the state subsidies for infrastructure

development, experts are not expecting order

levels in China to suffer.

The Sany Group no longer develops and

produces its cranes, excavators and concrete

pumps solely in China; it now also has facilities

in the USA, Brazil, India, Poland and Germany. It

also acquired Putzmeister in Germany, the world

leader in concrete pumps. By doing so, it had not

only acquired a global sales and distribution

network but also the technology and a world-

renowned brand.

In 2012, Xuzhou Construction Machinery

Group, or XCMG for short, procured the skill set

of the concrete pump producer Schwing also by

a takeover. For Schwing, already a market leader

for concrete construction machinery in Brazil,

India and the USA, the deal opened the door to

the Far East, while for XCMG it gives them a

foothold in Europe.

All mobile cranes with a lifting capacity over

100 t produced by Sany, XCMG and Zoomlion use

MTU Series 502, 906 or 460 engines. A new

wheel loader from XCMG is also powered by an

MTU Series 904 unit because, with their

increased export activities and international

production networks, Chinese manufacturers

need internationally competitive engines. In

China itself, the China II emission limits are

currently in force and equate roughly to the

Stage 2/Tier 2 standards that applied in Europe

and America until 2012. But if Chinese

companies wish to export their vehicles to

Europe or America, they have to fit them with

engines that comply with the emission standards

in the regions concerned. And not least, of

course, the manufacturers use the globally

established brands of well-known engine

producers to underpin the quality of their

products, explained Frank Buehl, who is

responsible for sales of MTU engines in the

industrial sector.

MTU engines in mining bring a combination of

a rugged engine enhanced by a second-

generation common-rail fuel system, refined

engine management and a practical arrangement

of the air and exhaust system. The most

important advantages are built in: high torque at

low engine speeds yields tremendous engine

power. The robust, individually adapted engine

technology assures the highest availability of

these vehicles which play an integral role in

working the mine.

In mobile cranes they make it possible to

move quickly and reliably on level streets.

Despite their size, the high torque ensures that

they arrive at the site quickly and that they can

safely handle ascents even at the lowest engine

speeds. But MTU engines allow heavyweights

to maintain high mobility and manoeuvrability

even on difficult terrain. And since the availability

of the entire crane vehicle depends on the

reliability of the engines, the drives are also a

crucial economic factor. Furthermore, long

maintenance intervals, maintenance-friendly

designs, and low specific fuel consumption

values keep life cycle costs low. A worldwide

service network ensures the highest reliability,

availability and optimal maintenance. MTU

engines are known as some of the lowest-

consumption engines in the world and they are

robust, stable, and cost-effective. Attributes that

also affirmed Chinese manufacturers in their

decision to rely on them.

Cologne-based DEUTZ produced the nine

millionth engine in its 150-year-plus history this

year, thereby demonstrating that the internal

combustion engine remains the basis for mobile

drive technology. Thanks to continuous

improvements in efficiency and cutting-edge

exhaust aftertreatment systems, DEUTZ engines

are in demand all over the world, including in

many mining machines, such as underground

load and haul products from fellow Germany

company GHH, drill rigs from Polands Mine

Master but also a number of other players,

including key Chinese underground equipment

players, such as Fambition, Nanchang Kama and

others.

We are proud that, having built more than

nine million engines, we are making a major

contribution to the motorisation of the world and

thereby successfully maintaining the tradition of

the DEUTZ brand, said Dr Helmut Leube,

chairman of the Board of Management of DEUTZ

AG. We intend to continue developing

innovative engine systems of the highest quality

in future so that we can remain a leading player

in the market.

Besides the ever-lower fuel consumption and

the extremely compact dimensions of its

engines, DEUTZ has also considerably reduced

the level of pollutants emitted. DEUTZ engines

equipped with diesel particulate filters (DPFs)

that meet the most recent emissions standard

reduce particulate mass emissions by more than

99%. All DEUTZ TCD engines equipped with a

DPF in the 2.9 to 7.8 litre cubic capacity range

thus already meet the next emissions standard

for mobile machinery and equipment in Europe

(EU Stage V), which is expected to apply from

2019. This means that DEUTZ engines have a

minimal impact on the environment and help to

limit particulate matter pollution.

Screens and maintenanceThe new Schenck Process Condition Monitoring

System is helping to maximise vibrating machine

uptime. Inspection and maintenance account for

up to a third of the indirect costs in production

plants. Condition monitoring systems enable

companies to realign their maintenance

strategies around fault detection and prevention

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY

XCMG haul trucks are poweredby an MTU Series 4000 engine

and save money. CONiQ from global mining

screening solutions company Schenck Process,

based in Darmstadt, offers distinct advantages

as a CM system specially designed for vibrating

machines, with unique six-dimensional vibration

measurement. With CONiQ, Schenck process

says it has consolidated its position as a provider

of intelligent Industry 4.0 applications. In heavy

industries such as mining or steel

manufacturing, machines are confronted with

unparalleled harsh conditions, says Jan Schfer,

Product Manager, Schenck Process R&D. Short

maintenance intervals, unplanned machine

breakdowns and the damage that can result are

the attendant consequences. Companies that

until now have relied on corrective maintenance

need to change their thinking in a competitive

environment, in which downtime has become

more expensive than ever.

Particularly in the mining industry, plants are

often in remote locations where there are no

service personnel within easy reach. Thus there

is a growing demand for the strategic

deployment of proactive condition monitoring

and diagnostic systems.

The CONiQ condition monitoring system for

vibrating machines is based on the principle of

predictive maintenance. Damage and wear are

detected and components can be repaired or

replaced before they lead to more serious

damage or stoppages. Significant cracks or

defects of the screen body are also detected.

CONiQ continuously monitors the vibration of

machines and components as well as oil

temperature. These metrics are automatically

analysed compared with preconfigured initial

and limit values, and interpreted for possible

root causes.

With the prevention of a single plant

standstill, CONiQ will immediately recover the

investment costs. The system can be bundled

into new vibrating machinery or retrofitted to a

machine that is already in operation.

As well as preventing breakdowns and

optimising the machines energy efficiency, this

approach offers other significant advantages

compared with maintenance strategies that

involve pre-planned interventions: the service

life of components is maximised and the time

demands on maintenance personnel are

reduced. Unforeseen downtime for maintenance

can be avoided, and maintenance work planned

more effectively. Moreover, operators can gain

machine-specific experience and know-how.

CONiQ also offers a couple of unique

advantages over other CM machines that are

designed for vibrating equipment. It measures

screen movement with a six-dimensional inertial

sensor: three-dimensional linear acceleration,

and three-dimensional rotatory velocity. Six-

dimensional measurement is essential. If you

measure less than six dimensions, it is possible

that you will fail to detect a fault.

Additionally, CONiQ measures mechanical

vibration at both sides of the exciter with

piezoelectric accelerometers. This detects any

possible damage to bearings and gears that

could emit vibrations causing further damage to

the exciter.

Uniquely, CONiQ offers the option of wireless

or non-wireless data communication for these

sensors to the Floor Unit, which carries out

continuous analysis of the measurements. This

combines flexibility of deployment with security

and synchronicity. A wireless-only approach is

not always ideal in environments where there is

a lot of external interference that can affect the

signal, says Schfer.

Separation technologyIn the early 2000s, Duisberg-based

allmineral introduced the allair jig which

works completely dry with air only in the

coal industry. Since then about 80 allair

jigs have been supplied for coal

preparation plants in the USA,

India, Colombia, Spain and Ukraine.

Capacities of these jigs are

depending on the feed size

between 60 and 30 t/h.

The capacities per jig can

be doubled by using the

recently developed allair

type MP fitted with two

jigging decks in one unit

reaching capacities of up

to 120 t/h. The

combination of residual

energy (air pressure and

volume) from the lower deck is used with an

additional small airflow from the main fan (via

bypass) for stratification of the material on the

upper deck.

The big advantage of this design is that

although capacities have been doubled the

footprint of the jig plant remains the same and

jigging air requirement is only marginally

increased compared to the single deck units. The

first allair type MP plant has been commissioned

successfully earlier this year in India where 35

allair jig units are in operation already, the

largest number in a single country worldwide.

Another new development allmineral has

introduced to the market is related to the

gaustec wet high intensity magnetic separators

(WHIMS). While in recent years the increase of

feed capacities was the focus of their R&D work,

which resulted in feed capacities of up to 1,400

t/h per unit, safer and trouble-free operation was

the goal of gaustecs latest development, the

gaustec NoBLOCK screen. This NoBLOCK screen

sits upstream of the WHIMS and avoids the

known, but so far unsolved issue of clogging of

matrix boxes by oversize materials. Such

clogging results in less efficient separation,

capacity reduction and finally plant downtime for

cleaning the matrix boxes which can take days

depending on the number of matrix boxes

installed.

Even though standard screens installed

upstream of the WHIMS provide some

protection, its use has proven that it is a good

but not 100% safe solution. Wear and shape of

the PU panels typically used for these screens do

not prevent oversize particles ending up in the

screen underflow, at least to a certain extent.

Over time any oversized particles in the WHIMS

feed create the above mentioned issues. In order

to achieve the best protection and

more reliable operation a new

concept had to be developed.

Such protection screen had

to be designed to ensure

that once a particle has

passed it, it should also pass through

the matrix box openings. The solution

was to use screen

panels made out

of the same steel

used for matrix

boxes applying the

same shape of the

matrix box gap in order to prevent oversized

particles to enter the process.

This goal was achieved by cutting slices of

proper thickness from the grooved plate matrix

boxes. These screen panels are curved to an

extent suitable to provide a path with an opening

beginning at the standard matrix box gap and

widening gradually towards the output. This

geometry allows for a loose path for the

outgoing undersized particles.

The slurry feed flows inside the rotor and is

screened by the matrix screen panels. The

oversized particles travel inside the rotor at a

speed proportional to the rotor revolutions.

Transport is facilitated by the rotors 10 slope.

The oversized particles are discharged at the end

of the rotor through the oversize output. All other

particles suitably sized for the WHIMS process

pass through the screen gaps to the undersize

output discharge. To increase the protection

grade the gap openings of the screen panels are

smaller than the gaps of the matrix boxes

installed in the WHIMS. Water jets mounted

above the rotor remove the particles which got

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY

00 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2015

The capacities per jig can bedoubled by using the recently

developed allair type MP fittedwith two jigging decks in one

unit reaching capacities of up to120 t/h

stuck in the gaps. These water jets keep the

rotor clean in order to perform its screening

function correctly. Furthermore there is an

emergency overflow output under the NoBLOCK

Screen in case slurry in excess of the rated

capacity flow is fed.

Looking at the bigger picture, more than 750

installations designed in Duisburg by allmineral

for dry and wet processing of primary and

secondary raw materials are currently operating

reliably and efficiently around the globe.

Plant software and controlThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions, the Essen-

Germany plant construction specialist within the

ThyssenKrupp group, has opted to use fellow

German company Siemens Comos plant

engineering and plant management software

solution with immediate effect throughout the

company as part of the further integration of its

global plant construction business. The Process

Technologies unit (formerly Uhde) has already

been using Comos since 1997. Using standard

software enables ThyssenKrupp Industrial

Solutions to handle global engineering

processes and plant management much faster

and more efficiently. The company is one of the

world's leading providers of processing and

handling plants for mining Jens-Michael

Wegmann, Chief Operating Officer and Director

of the Industrial Solutions Business Area,

comments: "For us, Comos is a future-proof

software solution for holistic plant management

over the entire lifecycle of an industrial plant.

Consolidating and harmonising the IT

infrastructure provides us with the basis to make

optimum use of global opportunities for growth

in plant construction.

Andreas Geiss, Vice President, Comos Industry

Solutions: We are delighted at the decision by

ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions to extend our

long-established collaboration to cover the

whole of the enterprise. We will bring our

expertise and long years of experience to bear in

the form of intelligent and individual solution

concepts. Our Comos portfolio helps users to

meet engineering challenges that arise

throughout a plants entire lifecycle.

Comos plant engineering and plant

management software encompasses the process

engineering of components and plants all the

way through to complete automation including

operations relevant to electrical engineering,

measurement and control. The function

planning complies with standards, and is

therefore implemented efficiently and accurately

right through to the automation, by way of the

process design, basic and detail engineering

phases and operations. Comos is a consistent

system landscape from engineering through to

operation. It enables the user to achieve higher

plant efficiency through all phases of the

lifecycle. The uniform data platform of the Comos

software solution gives plant designers,

operators, and installers a seamless flow of

project-relevant data across all company levels

and project phases. This facilitates a

comprehensive software solution concept that

can be integrated globally. Consistent plant

lifecycle engineering with the Comos software

solution intermeshes the engineering and

operating worlds to provide holistic plant

management over the entire lifecycle of an

industrial plant. Workflows become more

efficient, productivity and quality in engineering

are raised. Plant data is always kept up to date

and consistent throughout the entire lifecycle.

Integrated engineering reduces sources of

error as there are fewer interfaces between the

various technical subsystems. It also raises

quality in all steps of the engineering workflow

and cuts times-to-market by means of measures

such as parallelisation. Jobs such as process

engineering or design of the

electricalengineering can be carried out in

parallel with automation engineering. Thanks to

its open system architecture, Comos provides

numerous interfaces to other systems and

seamless integration in existing IT landscapes.

For example, Comos EI&C features interfaces to

major automation systems such as Simatic PCS 7.

Lighting solutionsIn the last nine years KSE-LIGHTS in Gevelsberg

has developed as one of the market-leading

companies for explosion-proof cordless cap

lamps in Europe. KSE-LIGHTS was the first to

manufacture a cordless LED cap lamp back in

2006. The product is used widely in mining and

tunnelling but also in other industries. Beside

their ATEX-approved cap lamps, KSE-LIGHTS

offers a variety of non-ATEX cap lamps.

All cap lamp models of MX-series, the newest

model, can be equipped with an active tracking

tag, which can track a person continuously and

exactly. With these active transponders, it is also

possible to install a system with complete

wireless logging function, to log people into

specified zones.

The rapid development of LED technology is

now also reflected in the companys products. In

2013. It expanded its range to offer modern LED

vehicle and work lights. The LED vehicle and

work lights have been developed for mounting

on mobile mining and other vehicles, on which

they can be flexibly mounted firmly or by using a

magnet. Their robust cast aluminium housing

combined with an extremely strong safety glass

can resist any kind of weather influences and

protects the lamp against all sorts of shocks and

falling rocks.

The latest product from KSE, EXIN-Light, is an

innovative mobile work lamp, which can be

operated independently of the mains. This

system is interesting if no power supply is

available at the minesite, but good lighting is

necessary. This product is available in four

different models, which are characterized by

different light heads, possible operating times

and luminous fluxes. One is also available as an

Ex-proof version. In addition, KSE-LIGHTS offers

a variety of hand lamps, stationary lights and

lighting systems.

In-Pit Crushing and ConveyingadvancesAlready mentioned ThyssenKrupp Industrial

Solutions, the engineering and construction

specialist within the ThyssenKrupp Group, has

won a contract from the Southern Peru Copper

Corporation to supply a primary crushing and

overland conveying system. The new system will

be installed at the Cuajone copper mine in Peru,

which has been in operation since 1976, to

transport ore from the open pit mine to the

concentrator. It will replace the existing long

railway haulage system and is expected to start

operating in 2016. The contract awarded to

ThyssenKrupp includes engineering,

procurement and construction supervision as

well as commissioning support of the complete

in-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) system to

process run of mine copper ore. Christof Brewka,

Head of Operating Unit Mining, ThyssenKrupp

Industrial Solutions: The new crushing and

conveying system will significantly reduce

operating costs and energy consumption as well

as emissions. This makes it a good example for

our leading customiSed solutions for the mining

industry which provide added value for our

customers while at the same time helping to

conserve natural resources. Zlatan Azinovic,

CEO of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (Peru):

As part of our global growth strategy, we are

further strengthening our footprint in South

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY

00 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2015

The latest product from KSE, the EXIN-Light, isan innovative mobile work lamp, which can beoperated independently of the mains

America. Our service centre in Peru enables us to

provide better and faster services to our

customers in the local mining, minerals and

cement industries. Only recently we have also

invested into new service centres in Brazil and

Chile. As part of the new order, ThyssenKrupp is

supplying a semi-mobile crushing plant with

discharge, transfer and two overland conveyors

with a capacity of 120,000 t/d of crushed ore

transported to the existing coarse ore stockpile.

The copper ore will be fed directly into a semi-

mobile crushing plant located in the mine. Truck

ramps made of sectional steel modules provide

access for mine trucks with payload up to 360 t.

The crushing plants main service and operating

areas, including electrical infrastructure, will be

physically separated and independent from the

truck dumping level, which will significantly

reduce vibration, dust and noise levels. The

semi-mobile design is especially suitable for

mine sites affected by frequent seismic activities.

The 63-114 heavy duty ThyssenKrupp

gyratory crusher with its 1,200 kW direct drive

takes the feed material from the feed hopper and

reduces the run-of-mine copper ore to the

required product size. The crushed ore is

extracted from the surge bin underneath the

crusher by means of a heavy duty low speed belt

feeder. The 2,800 mm wide ST 1800 conveyor will

run at a nominal speed of 1.5 m/s and is

powered by one 800 kW conventional drive and a

variable-frequency drive (VFD). A 400 m long

sacrificial conveyor carries the crushed ore from

the semi-mobile crushing plant and crusher

discharge conveyor to two overland conveyors

spanning the 7.5 km distance to the coarse ore

stockpile. The first of the two overland conveyors

will be 1830 mm wide with ST 6800 belting and

will run at 6.2 m/sec. It is powered by two 6,000

kW Siemens gearless drives. The largest of their

kind in the world, these conveyor drives utilise

Siemens Integrated Drive System technology to

provide a high level of availability (exceeding

99%) by eliminating many of the traditional

conveyor drive components such as reducers,

couplings, and motor bearings and their

associated maintenance times and costs. The

applied technology not only significantly

increases the capability of overland conveyors

for ever-higher capacity requirements and higher

speed applications, but it also leads to reduced

overall energy consumption and higher efficiency

of these conveying systems. The Gearless Drive

System has been developed in cooperation by

ThyssenKrupp and Siemens and was first

installed in the Prosper-Haniel coal mine in

Germany in 1985. This technology has been

proven by a long list of successfully completed

projects, with ongoing research and

development. More recent gearless drive

conveying projects provided by ThyssenKrupp

include the dual 3,800 kW gearless driven

conveyor for Glencores Antapaccay mine in Peru,

five 5,000 kW gearless drives for an overland

conveyor system in Chile, and the overland

conveyors powered by four 4,400 kW gearless

drives for the MMG Las Bambas mine in Peru.

In August 2014, TAKRAF GmbH, based in

Leipzig and part of global group Tenova, received

an order from Vattenfall Europe Mining AG for

the supply and installation of a new cross-

conveyor system for the F60 conveyor bridge in

the open cast mine at Welzow-Sd/Brandenburg.

The scope of services included the fabrication

respectively conversion of hopper cars and

chassis as well as the scrapping of system

components which would no longer be used.

The special challenge of the project was the

tight schedule. Thanks to the commitment and

the long-standing experience of all experts

involved in Vattenfall and TAKRAF, the system

could be delivered after ten months, as planned.

Production started immediately after the

award of the contract, and the first parts arrived

at the site after five months. In close

coordination of fabrication and erection team, all

operational obstacles were managed to meet the

demanding schedule. The hopper cars were

relocated from April 2015 onwards. Thus an

important milestone with regard to the mine

operation was reached on time.

By June 2015, the cross-conveyor system had

been further assembled. The scrapping,

conversion and adaptation work, which was

carried out in parallel, was executed with the

help of a TAKRAF transport crawler with a load

capacity of 250 t, which had been supplied by

TAKRAF to Vattenfall earlier. The next milestone

was in May 2015, again on schedule, when the

complete conveyor bridge was moved by about

10 m in order to couple the new cross-conveyor

system to the bridge. The scope of work also

included the renovation of the lubrication system

as well as corrosion protection at the

construction site.

All personnel involved in the project team in

the fields of engineering, fabrication and site

erection worked closely together, thus enabling

the successful realisation of the contract within

the pre-determined schedule, benefitting from

the expertise developed over many years in

complex reconstruction and modernisation

works, such as changing the tension tie rods on

the conveyor bridge in the Jnschwalde open

cast mine. The cross-conveyor system was able

to be completed in June 2015.

After three days of commissioning of the

conveyor bridge complex by experts from

Vattenfall, the conveyor bridge went back into

mine service. TAKRAF says it is already working

on another project at Vattenfall, for changing the

large bogie and the roller table at the F60

conveyor bridge at the Nochten open cast mine.

Another major recent project for TAKRAF is at

Grupo Mexicos Buena Vista, Concentrator II

project in Sonora, Mexico, covering the supply of

21 overland conveyors ranging from 112 m to

4,252 m in length and moving up to 12,000 t/h of

copper ore. Tenova TAKRAF designed, fabricated,

and supplied the system with the TAKRAF USA

office leading the project management.

Underground conveyorsSlope or drift conveyors with continuous

conveying, were used for the first time around

five decades ago in underground coal mining in

Germany. They are the most cost- effective

means of transporting material from

underground to the surface, and if necessary,

from the surface to underground at the same

time. Hamburg-based Phoenix Conveyor Belt

Systems states that convincing evidence of the

extraordinarily high cost effectiveness of these

belt conveyors is now available, and this is

mainly due to the dramatic progress in the

efficiency, durability, and safety of the conveyor

belts used for them. The decisive step in the

success story of slope conveyors continuous

belt conveyors in diagonal shafts was made

with the launch of the world's first self-

extinguishing steel cord conveyor belt in

underground coal mining in Germany in 1977. It

met the very strict safety requirements laid down

in standard DIN 22129. It was a 3 km long

Phoenocord St 4000, which bridged a height

difference of 300 m in the Gttelborn

underground mining complex. The DIN 22129

standard defines all geometrical and physical

parameters with the relevant tolerances of the

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY

00 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2015

The completed C2 conveyor with the underconstruction Quebalix IV conveyor at GrupoMexico Buena Vista; both supplied by TAKRAF

conveyor belt. Regarding the fire safety tests it

refers inter alia to standards DIN 22117 for the

lowest oxygen index (LOI) and DIN 22104 for

electrical properties. Other requirements are

large-scale gallery fire test and a so-called

hygiene test. The general guidelines stipulate

that a conveyor belt must not increase the fire

hazard, must not propagate flames, must not

endanger health und must not decompose to

such an extent as to excessively irritate skin and

eyes or reduce the effectiveness of filter-type

rescuers. The self-extinguishing quality offers

maximum protection against fires primarily

thanks to the use of polychloroprene rubber

(CR). It is of major importance especially for

inclined shafts that connect the underground

area with the surface.

The belt, consisting of the tensile member

steel cords, the top and bottom rubber covers

and the transverse synthetic protection cords,

had the greatest possible wear and damage

resistant properties, in addition to having the

inherent characteristics of resisting the influence

of mine water and other operating hazards. All

materials had adequate fatigue strengths resp.

resistance to ageing. The belt was not replaced

until it had been in permanent use for 20 years.

During this time, 70 Mt of run-of-mine coal were

conveyed.

In 1986, a slope conveyor belt that

simultaneously transports run-of-mine coal from

underground to the surface (on the belt's

carrying side) and tailings from the surface to

underground (on the belt's pulley side) entered

operation for the first time.

Around 7.6 km in length, the Phoenocord St

7500 is the strongest underground conveyor belt

worldwide, and bridges a height difference of

around 800 m, equivalent to 12.3. A large part of

the energy required for uphill conveying is

generated by the downhill conveying. This

special situation makes what is already the most

cost-effective way of bringing coal to the surface

even less expensive.

When the Phoenocord St 7500 entered

operation, it was possible to replace several

vertical shafts because conveying would run

continuously from then on.

The Prosper-Haniel slope conveyor in Germany

is the world's first with a gearless synchronous

drive with cycloconverters. The conveying system

has an impressive availability of 99%.

Gearless drives of this type can also be found

in the Antapaccay copper mine in Peru, where

they move a Phoenocord St 5000 conveyor belt

installed in 2012.

A Phoenocord St 7800 has been used for

downhill conveying in the Los Pelambres copper

mine in Chile since 1999. The system generates

almost 20 MW of energy, resulting from a height

difference of 3,200 m with a conveyor route of

almost 13 km.

The important knowledge gathered from the

development of the underground Phoenocord St

7500 was very useful for the design of the

Phoenocord St 7800. Without this extreme

conveyor belt, this mine in Chile would not have

been feasible.

The Prosper-Haniel mine will be the last of

what was once dozens of German underground

mining complexes that will probably have to

close in 2018 due to a political decision. That it is

the last such mine is due not least to intelligent

use of the slope conveyor with the Phoenocord

St 7500.

In addition to a large number of slope

conveyors in European coal mining, Phoenix

states that a few of these systems outside

Europe are particularly worth mentioning.

China's first imported steel cable conveyor belt,

a Phoenocord St 3500, was the first to meet the

strict safety requirements laid down in Chinese

standards MT 147 and 450. They are almost

identical to the German standards for the same

applications, except that in addition to DIN

22129, a drum friction test had to be passed This

2.7 km belt, which entered operation in 1993 and

bridges a conveying height of almost 200 m,

likewise has an impressive service record. After

over 15 years of permanent use and with a

carrying capacity of 70 Mt of run-of-mine coal,

the belt showed almost no signs of wear. All

technical data were still at the level agreed for

the new belt.

In Australia, the first belt in line with the

increasingly stringent fire safety requirements as

per AS 1334, a Phoenocord St 2800, was

delivered for the Moranbah North coal

underground mining complex in 1998.

It is important to automatically monitor the

conveyor belt continuously and in every regard.

In this way, wear, damage, deteriorating splices

basically almost any change to any component

of the conveyor belt are reported by the

stationary installed Phoenoguard PX system. The

condition of the entire conveyor belt can be

checked from anywhere in the world via

Ethernet. Maintenance work can be scheduled

precisely, downtimes are reduced to a minimum,

and the service life of the conveyor belts is

further extended. This constitutes a further

contribution toward reducing costs.

Surface miningWindhagen-based Wirtgen launched two surface

mining innovations at its recent 2015 Mineral

Technology Days event, hosted at the home of

the its asphalt mixing plant specialist subsidiary,

Benninghoven, in Mlheim an der Mosel. The

new solutions are a camera system for rock

interface detection and a new cutting drum unit

for the flagship Surface Miner 4200 SM that is

set to sustainably optimise the mining of mineral

deposits.

Wirtgen surface mining is an attractive option

for many companies due to its high level of

mining quality and efficiency, optimum

exploitation of mineral deposits and

environmentally friendly process. After all, where

the conventional mining method requires

different equipment for the individual steps

involved be it drilling, blasting, crushing or

loading with a surface miner, a single machine

takes care of everything. Selective mining is a

key feature. Here, Wirtgen surface miners

successively remove up to 83 cm of the surface

material in layers. Because the cutting depth can

be adjusted and