BVS CRANES Contributes Increasing Profitability in Mining and Metallurgical Operations

BVS CRANES continues to serve its customers by optimizing speed, efficiency and reducing downtimes considerably in the mining and metallurgical industries besides its environmentally responsible approach.

These 2 overhead cranes, specially designed to highest working class 5m, with 65/35 tons + 10 tons capacity, 32 meters bridge span, 15 meters lifting height, one container revolver hoist, one 8 cubic meters grab hoist and one monorail operate in a 275 meter long train station.

Trains carry the remains of a preliminary copper production in closed top containers to this facility. The Cranes which are designed to work in heavy duty conditions for very long periods handle materials containing cobalt, nickel, zinc and copper for further processing and purification in a secondary process.

All the mentioned elements, especially Cobalt, are very strategic today and it is extremely important to supply international customers needs in times of high demand.

The metallurgy plant has chosen BVS CRANES to achieve higher speeds and very limited downtimes, relying on the material and service quality of BVS. BVS CRANES has a proven past track record in similar applications in the copper, gold, aluminum and steel industries not only in Europe but also in Central Asia, Africa and Australia.

Prior to implementing this system, the customer used a conventional bulk transit system to transport material. The system, consisting of a rotating frame with open top containers mounted on a hopper, is fed to a conveyor belt by a reach stacker. This system was temporary, slow, and inefficient.

If we look at traditional bulk handling operations, a terminal receives raw materials by truck or train. It is then stocked and stored in specialized storage facilities, often via buckets or conveyor systems. Throughout the handling process, there are often multiple drop points that result in loss of mass, deterioration of quality and contamination of local environments. Then there will be a domino effect, for example dust pollution from open stocks or open top containers will cause respiratory diseases for local people. Lost and poor quality goods will eventually cause the profit not to be as high as it should be.

Following the increase in demand, the metallurgy plant had to consider another form of transport and equipment as their existing systems could not meet the high volume levels required.

The customer was looking for a solution that was reliable, quick to install and cost-effective, could be integrated into existing transport processes, had minimal environmental impact and had zero commodity loss when handled. As stated by the plant’s engineering team, cycle times have dropped from 15-20 minutes on a traditional system to less than 3 minutes now.

BVS Cranes is determined to increase its presence in the mining industry in international markets with technologies not only increasing productivity and at the same time developing environmentally sensitive solutions.