The mining companies growing interest in mineral crushing and transportation at the site was one of the reasons that drove IM Events, of International Mining, to organize the international forum In-Pit Crushing and Conveying (IPCC) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. At the balance, Paul Moore, IM editor and the conference director, affirmed that expectations were exceeded, especially due to the quality of the participants and the presentations.
The international event had more than 130 delegates from companies such as BHP Billiton, Codelco, Vale, Los Pelambres, Samarco, Escondida, CSN, Barrick, and Gold Fields, among other. Representatives from important solution provider companies also participated, such as Sandvik, P&H, Metso, FLSmidth, ThyssenKrupp, and MMD.
Among the subjects addressed in the different cases and technical presentations, there were: Achieving Growth Aspirations through Mass Material Movement, a presentation by Simon Williams, BHP Billiton Senior Manager, who spoke about future challenges in material movement and how IPCC solutions can be useful. Doug Turnbull, from Sandvik, presented the subject IPCC – a View on Total Cost of Ownership. The first day, different IPCC designs and options were also addressed in detail in studies presented by Takraf, RWE, and Terra Nova.
The second day started with a session on transportation systems and waste management using these solutions. With regards to waste handling, a case in the Peruvian site Antamina was addressed.
Trend
Paul Moore explained that this renewed interest in IPCC development is largely the result of the mining companies need for a better productivity of their deposits and the search for continuous mining processes. Also, companies are interested in reducing the high costs associated to fuel consumption by their mining truck fleets. The vehicles also require a larger work force and important expenses in inputs, such as giant tires, “while an IPCC system (crushing and transportation at the pit) may function with a relatively small group of operators, without or with a few trucks,” he affirmed.
An evidence of this interest, he added, is the fact that currently there are completely mobile solutions developed by the six major equipment manufacturers in this field, and important orders are being built for delivery in 2012.
Notwithstanding the above, fix and semi mobile crushing and transportation solutions still play a prevailing role and are used in almost every open pit mine, where the number of fully mobile systems is still small. But, in the opinion of the event organizers, as this technology is tested in more sites, it will continue to gather momentum. “The best machine design, a better planning and computer programming of the mining production stages, the mine design around the IPCC, and a clearer understanding of the circumstances in which this technology is the suitable one, are helping to promote this concept.”
In addition to the 25 technical presentations, the conference program included a visit to Sandvik a transportation system component factory in the Vespasiano industrial district.
Paul Moore indicated that choosing Belo Horizonte as the location for this first conference is based on the fact that it is the center of the iron mining industry in South America. Another factor was the large amount of work carried out in the region on the IPCC technology application potential.
IM Events will hold a second IPCC conference in 2012, this time in Indonesia. For more information on the event, please contact Paul Moore, paul@im-mining.com, or Emma Clements, events@im-mining.com.
|
