A new cone crusher featuring a detachable screen and return conveyor on one tracked chassis has been deployed on a chrome mine in Steelpoort, Limpopo, South Africa.

The Metso Lokotrack LT200HPS was supplied to mining contractor Zizwe Opencast Mining by Pilot Crushtec. 

The company says that a three-machine train of Metso mobiles, comprising a Lokotrack LT120 jaw crusher, a Nordtrack S2.11 scalping screen and a Lokotrack LT200HPS cone crusher, is helping to achieve a 200 t an hour production target in the highly abrasive chrome-processing application.  

“The fact that the LT200HPS does the job for two machines was central to our purchasing decision. It features a detachable screen and return conveyor which guides screened oversize material back to the cone crusher. It is essentially a cone crusher, a screen and a conveyor on one tracked chassis,” says Zizwe Opencast Mining crushing and screening plant manager Joe de Beer.

“The added benefit of having a screen post the crushing chamber is that it allows for recirculation of any oversize material back to the cone crusher,” explains Pilot Crushtec sales engineer Yeshen Achary.

This eliminates the need for another machine to work in closed circuit with the cone crusher. Having a single machine doing the job of two machines offers significant cost benefits for the customer, notes Achary.

“Apart from the obvious capital cost benefit, having the cone and screen on a single chassis means that the machine is powered by a single engine, making one less machine to maintain. Having a closed loop on a single chassis also makes it easy to transport the machine between sites,” he adds.

The LT200HPS comes in three different configurations – the standard cone crusher configuration, a model with a pre-screen called the HPX, which is placed just before the crushing chamber and a unit fitted with an overhanging screen called the HPS, located after the crushing chamber.