South African large screens for Nigerian iron-ore mine

Large screens designed and manufactured in South Africa are being supplied as part of a process solution for an iron-ore mine in Nigeria.

Weir Minerals Africa is supplying a range of solutions to the mine, including equipment for screening, washing and grinding, as well as two of the largest screens built by the company.

The company notes that the two 51-t Enduron double-deck banana (DBHG 43/97) screens were built on the designs of its existing screens range. The large machines measure 4.3-m wide and 9.7-m long and can process 1 750 t an hour.

Weir Minerals explains that the customer’s production requirements demanded large screens and that the design was optimised by minimising mass without compromising structural integrity. “We conducted extensive finite element analysis (FEA) on the whole machine but focused on the main structural elements, ensuring that the units were fit-for-purpose while still being light enough to be driven by the exciters,” says Weir Minerals Africa separation technology group leader Steven Hunter.

The size of the units required the design and manufacture of Weir Minerals Africa’s largest exciter yet – the Enduron LTX 10. With 120 t of excitation force at maximum setting, these units are set to drive the screens at a stroke of 9.4 mm and a gravitational force of 4.6 G.

In addition, the screens will be fitted with the company’s industrial Internet-of-Things platform, Synertrex, designed for remote monitoring to assess the machine’s performance and any deviations that may require proactive attention.

The order for Nigeria also includes two Trio jaw crushers, two Trio cone crushers, two large 2-m by 8-m Trio apron feeders, two Trio pan feeders, eight Enduron vibrating screens and an Enduron high-pressure grinding roll.

For the clay washing circuit, Weir Minerals Africa will supply the mine with a Trio twin-shaft blade mill and Trio twin-shaft coarse washers as well as Warman slurry pumps.