Custom engineered chute systems have been installed at Zimbabwe mine Zimplats, and are said to have significantly reduced dust levels while increasing productivity at the mining operation.

Weba Chute Systems’ tailormade installations are used for a range of applications including conveyor onto conveyor transfer chutes, apron feeder discharge chutes, mill feed chutes, conveyor onto bins transfer chutes, screen over and under size chutes, silo chutes, and transfer chutes at the crushing and screening stations.

The company recently secured another contract to provide ten custom-engineered transfer chutes for the expansion of an underground crusher station at Zimplats.

Weba Chute Systems project manager Ted Cruikshank says that these chutes will handle the transportation of run-of-mine material from the ore pass to the underground crusher and from the crusher to the outgoing conveyor. He says the engineering and construction of these chutes will ensure a fit-for-purpose robust solution with the height of the chutes ranging from two to six metres.

Cruikshank explains that the chutes before the crusher are designed to manage large material up to 650 mm in size from a vibrating feeder, with a maximum tonnage of 1 100 t/h. “Other chutes will transport the feeder's undersize, less than 180 mm in size, at 550 t/h, while still others will be employed in conveyor-to-conveyor applications, feeding 1 500-mm-wide belts with up to 1 350 t/h of material and a maximum lump size of 250 mm.”

The company notes that its chute design philosophy, based on the cascade system, extends the wear life of the chute through the strategic placement of dead boxes, creating a layer of ore for the moving material to flow over. Replaceable lips are incorporated on the dead boxes to facilitate easy and quick swap-out at the necessary intervals. Accessible inspection doors also facilitate ease of  maintenance. The design is said to be particularly effective in reducing dust levels.

Hilmax, Weba Chute Systems' local agent in Zimbabwe, will oversee the chute installations and provide spare sets of wearing lip liners for each chute.