Minerals & Mining Industry: Bulk Handling and Conveyor Systems (2024)

Opencast Mining Systems

Transportation in mines

The excavation of ores, coal, and minerals leads to ever-increasing distances between the excavation site, the shaft haulage, and the belt conveyor. These fluctuating distances are a big challenge for the mining industry, requiring flexible transport systems to move the bulk material from the excavation site to the overland conveyor. Grasshopper conveyors (or “jump conveyors“) are mobile belt conveyors used to bridge short and medium distances. With this system, the sites’ operators can adjust the length of the conveyor line to the actual on-site requirements by adding or removing individual modules. Stockpile, spreader and discharge conveyors also help with the bulk material’s haulage. Our latest project in this context was the installation of a radial spreader for gypsum in the United States.

Open-belt and closed-pipe conveyors operate quietly, and their environmental impact is extremely low. They are the energy-efficient hauling choice for the mining industry, especially compared to transportation by truck. Before installing any conveyor system, we determine the optimal route for your project by using drones and modern measuring technologies. Our systems easily master steep inclines, rivers, and roads. Coal, ores, and minerals can be transported on the conveyor belt from the mine to the blending bed in just one hour, even on winding routes up to 25 km long.

Energy-recovering systems along the way can utilise downhill sections of your route and feed electricity back into the public grid. In addition to creating electrical power, the conveyor unit also provides a wealth of data that we will use to further optimise our conveying technology for the mining industry.

Storage and hom*ogenization of raw materials

In the mining industry, the temporary storage of raw materials occurs in longitudinal, circular, or radial warehouses. Here, the available space on site and the volume of raw materials determine the types of storage and conveying technology needed. Bulk materials are stacked by stackers, e.g., storage units on rails. Their booms can be liftable, rotatable, and doubled (twin booms). A blending bed allows for uniform mixing (hom*ogenization) of the raw materials through layer-by-layer juxtaposition. Reclaimers such as bridge scrapers, gantry scrapers, semi-gantry or side scrapers, and bucket wheel reclaimers remove the bulk material and discharge it for further transport. Our latest project for Slovakia’s mining industry was installing a storage and discharge system in a circular coal storage facility.

Conveying technology for the mining industry

Raw materials excavated in mining are hauled across long transportation routes above ground. The conveyors hauling these materials must often cross inhabited regions, environmental protection zones, and mountains. To do this in the most environmentally friendly, silent, quick, and economical way, conveying technologies for the mining industry require modern engineering. However, the industry is about more than the mining. There is the transportation, storage, and hom*ogenization of the materials in blending beds as well. Following that, there is the process of loading the production onto ships and trains. We deliver reliable industrial solutions to the mining industry along the entire value chain. We offer project planning, installation, and customer support services as a system provider. We’re here to ensure the sustainable operation of your facility.

Ship loaders fill ships with raw materials, from inland vessels to the Valemax class. These ship loaders can be equipped with pivoting, liftable, extendable, and shuttle booms. A ship loader’s construction is determined by the quay’s properties. Rail-mounted crane systems cover a more extended loading zone. In addition to fixed ship loaders, we also design individual types and sizes.

Ship Loader

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