Grupo Galvani’s industrial complex in Paulina, Brazil.

New design elements boost throughput and efficiency of the new
HRC-3000 HPGR, according to Metso.

“Operating costs are increasing through-out the industry, with power being a key component, and our customers are looking for more efficient technology to achieve the best returns in these circumstances,” said Andy Lingenfelter, Metso’s global key account manager for Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold.

The HRC-3000 will perform tertiary crushing for the Morenci plant’s com-minution circuit, which includes crushers and ball mills also supplied by Metso. Metso said the HRC-3000’s ability to meet the demands of this application is a result of its innovative design, which sur-passes throughput and efficiency performance of existing HPGR technology. Over 8,000 hours of testing—including 4,000 hours in a pilot plant operating at Morenci—have proven the design and efficiency of the HRC, according to Metso.

Design features include a new arch frame to eliminate downtime, and flanges to maintain wear and increase throughput. Metso said the machine’s patented arch frame design creates an even gap setting across the width of the tires, limiting skewing that results in downtime for mining operations. This anti-skewing arch frame also prevents damage to the roller bearings (caused by misalignment) that often occurs with tra-ditional HPGR designs.

Flanges—used in place of spring-loaded cheek plates—help maintain even pressure while crushing ore, according to the company. This even pressure mini-mizes the amount of material that bypass-es the crushing zone, enabling greater cir-cuit capacity and increasing overall crushing efficiency. The flanges also dis-tribute wear on the surface of the tires evenly, providing an increased life for the machine’s most significant wear part.

These design changes, said Metso, were implemented precisely for the type of application in which the HRC-3000— scheduled to be online by early 2014— will be operating: high-tonnage tertiary crushing of hard rock. The incentive for operators, thanks to improvements in efficiency at increased throughput, is cost savings. “One of the reasons [our customers] are looking at HRC technolo-gy is because they see how our design can provide long-term benefits in operat-ing costs,” said Lingenfelter.

Metso also recently announced it was selected to supply grinding and bulk materials handling equipment for Galvani Group, a Brazilian family-owned company active in mining, fertilizers and construction businesses. Two separate contracts signed with Galvani Group include the supply of a travelling stack-er, a bridge reclaimer and two yard conveyors, two rod and two ball mills, as well as field services for assembly, start-up and commissioning. Equipment will be delivered to the company’s new phos-phate processing plant in Serra do Salitre, Minas Gerais—a greenfield project with projected production of 1.2 million metric tons per year (mt/y).

The supply agreement includes a 1,920-mt/h-capacity, bridge-type buck-etwheel reclaimer; a 2,880-mt/h stacker; an 830-m belt conveyor which will feed the stacker; and another conveyor for receiving material from the reclaimer at 1,920 mt/h. In addition, the agreement calls for delivery of two Metso 14 x 20-ft rod mills and two 18 x 33-ft ball mills.