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Web Exclusive: Tailings management
Rheomax from BASF is an innovative tailings-management technology that allows the aggregates and mining industries to rapidly restore mine sites to their natural state. The Canadian patent office recently granted the company a patent for this technology. Rheomax offers a solution to an industry that continues to be challenged by issues relating to the use of water and the impact of exploration, extraction and disposal activities on the environment. These include minimizing water consumption, maximizing recovery of process water, reducing land area consumed by tailings and minimizing the costs and time required to rehabilitate such land. Rheomax is suitable for use in mineral and metal processing, including oil sands processing. “We are very pleased that we have been granted this patent so that we can put this technology to use here in Canada as it has been used in several other locations including in Australia, Europe and South America,” says Chalmers Reed, sales manager, Mining Chemicals North America. “This allows the Canadian mining industry to meet the environmental challenge of… Keep Reading
Web Exclusive: Operator safety
Caterpillar Inc. says its Cat Detect enhances safety by enabling improved awareness of mining operations – both in the areas immediately surrounding equipment and the overall mine site. Detect, a capability set within Cat MineStar System, provides both operators and mine managers with a comprehensive overview of all assets. The Cat MineStar System is a comprehensive, scalable and integrated mine and mobile equipment management system purpose built for the mining industry. Detect itself is also scalable and offers a range of capabilities – Vision, Object Detection, Proximity Awareness and Personnel – so mines can choose the size and scope of system that best meets their needs. Starting with Vision, mining operations can install camera-only systems on mobile vehicles, allowing operators to view the area surrounding the machine via an in-cab display. Building on Vision, Object Detection adds radars and in-cab software that provides notification to the operator when an object is detected within the radar coverage area. Proximity Awareness adds Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) capabilities that allow Detect to… Keep Reading
Web Exclusive: Extend the life of motors and gearboxes
Bearings operating in harsh environments such as mining must perform well at higher speeds with heavier loads. Traditional ball bearings, depending on their position and load, may not offer optimal performance in extreme applications like this. Sometimes, reliability can be increased by replacing them with cylindrical roller bearings. Large horsepower electric motors illustrate the shift away from ball bearings. Often, the drive-end bearing is a ball bearing. However, many applications require the bearing on this end to carry a high radial load, via shaft-mounted pulleys or gears in certain cases. Ball bearings may not have the required capacity to yield a satisfactory life. Substituting a cylindrical roller bearing could allow the motor to perform more reliably under high loads. Like the electric motor, many high-speed applications combine a cylindrical roller bearing with a ball bearing on the shaft, since there are key similarities between the two bearings: • Dimensionally, ball bearings and cylindrical roller bearings are interchangeable. For example, an NU310 cylindrical roller bearing shares the same bore, O.D. and… Keep Reading
Web Exclusive: P&Q Roundtable – Part 2
Participants John Bennington, GreyStone Jim Brown, Breaker Technology Inc. Darren Constantino, Pit & Quarry Michael Duffy, Dyno Nobel Rick Everist, L.G. Everist Inc. Rob Fuller, Power Transmission Solutions Jeff Gray, Telsmith Michael Heenan, Ogletree Deakins Mike Hinrichsen, Caterpillar Mark Krause, Lafarge North America Ron Kuehl, Polydeck Screen Corp. Bill Malone, Sandvik Jim Panter, Fenner Dunlop George Reddin, FMI Irik Sevin, VantaCore George Sidney, McLanahan Corp. Julian Smith Jr., Orica USA Kent Starwalt, Tennessee Road Builders Assn. Bill Warr, Thompson Tractor Co. Mike Wedding, Nugent Sand Co. CONSTANTINO: In some parts of the country, producers are finally beginning to recover from the recent recession. Maybe not as much as we'd like to see, and now there's talk we may be headed for another dip. How are things in your market and for your company? HINRICHSEN: Where I see the greatest improvement or the continued investment in businesses is in shipping by rail or by water. If you can move your markets a long distance relatively cheap, that seems to… Keep Reading
Web Exclusive: P&Q Roundtable – Part 1
Participants Brian Barlow, BMG and BMG Green Wilhelm Brau, Bridgestone Americas David Chereb, David Chereb Group Evan Clarke, Kleemann Florian Festge, W.S. Tyler John Garrison, Terex Jeff Heinemann, Sandvik Mining and Construction Tom Hingst, North American Limestone Corp. Mike Johnson, KPI-JCI Darin Matson, Rogers Group Deborah Nicely, FLSmidth Blaine Pressley, Volvo Construction Equipment Brian Richesson, Pit & Quarry Magazine Jody Richey, Orica Ric Suzio, York Hill Trap Rock Quarry Co. Josh Swank, Philippi-Hagenbuch Megan Tanel, Association of Equipment Manufacturers Hal Williford, Memphis Stone & Gravel Co. RICHESSON: It’s a roundtable tradition to start with talk about economic conditions. In some parts of the country, producers are finally beginning to recover from the recent recession, and now there is talk we may be headed for another dip. How are things in your market and for your company? NICELY: Obviously, we’ve all felt the recession in the aggregate industry. But internationally is where a lot of people are still having some success. In the U.S., the midwestern states seem to be… Keep Reading
