Two iron ore miners, one in West Africa and the other in Canada, are looking to increase their plant efficiency with high-capacity bulk material handling solutions from FLSmidth. Execution of the projects is well under way with the large stockyard machines scheduled to arrive at both customer sites in 2022.
FLSmidth will deliver a bucketwheel reclaimer, including the yard conveyor system, with handing capacity of more than 6,000 metric tons per hour (mt/h) and one combined stacker-reclaimer with up to 10,000 mt/h. For the stacker-reclaimer, a special scissor-type tripper car, allowing for two different bypass options for material transfer, is part of the delivery.
The two orders extend FLSmidth large installed base of mobile balanced machines, supporting its position as a leading provider in this area of mining industry.
The solutions will deliver multiple efficiency benefits to the customers, through energy efficient drives for smooth machine control on both machines, high throughput and an optimized maintainability. The transfer chutes are designed as retractable modules for simple and quick maintenance. Whole drive assemblies, including the motor, can be changed as single units to increase the uptime of the machines.
The Canadian order also included BulkExpert, a specialized automation system designed to optimize stacking and reclaiming operations and allow for unmanned operations. It consists of a highly accurate positioning and laser scanning application that creates a model of the stockpiles combined with a unique software solution for intelligent machine control. The BulkExpert delivers optimized throughput, reduced time for operations and cuts employee risk when it comes to health and safety.
