Mill feed transfer points and scrubber feed chutes are considered high wear and high maintenance installations and engineering the transfer point to ensure optimum presentation of material feed into the mill or scrubber is said to significantly reduce wear and tear and maintenance.

Weba Chute Systems advocates absolute material control in all transfer point applications. The company’s technical director, Alwin Nienaber, explains that the transfer point into the mill or scrubber is critical, with problems often arising owing to the nature of this application. “This area of the plant is subjected to high velocity, which can cause excessive wear and tear and is linked directly to the speed of material being transferred through the chute.”

Large quantities of water required for the milling process are fed with the material into a mill or scrubber chute. In ball mill applications, steel balls are also fed through the chute into the mill itself. Traditionally, mills are lined with either cast high chrome, manganese or rubber liners and, even though mill feed chutes may have similar lining materials applied, these may not always be sufficiently robust to counter the excessive wear caused by uncontrolled discharge of materials.

“Another challenge in this application is the interface between the stationary chute and the rotating mill,” Nienaber says. “Uncontrolled discharge of bulk materials and water will escalate the cost of maintenance, and could result in other related problems, all of which could add up to unnecessary expenditure and added aggravations for the engineers concerned.”

Weba Chute Systems & Solutions is able to assess individual applications and provide solutions that meet operating parameters, with the aim of achieving the lowest cost per ton for a mine.

“By leveraging the Weba Cascade Chute design we can ensure the most appropriate configuration in the head section of the chute and achieve full control of the material with a significant reduction in wear, ” asserts Nienaber.

The design enables customers to limit the impact into the lined feed spout section where the water is introduced through a separate flood box and aims to significantly reduce the high wear rates that are traditionally experienced in a mill feed spout, resulting in a reduction in the associated costs related to transfer points.

Weba Chute Systems & Solutions has more than 5 000 custom-engineered chutes and transfer points operating across of a range of minerals and applications globally and has local representation in all major mining regions internationally.