Bulk materials handling systems manufacturer Weba Chute Systems of Wadeville, Johannesburg, has clinched a R10,5-million order for its patented transfer point system for Anglo Platinum’s Potgietersrust Platinum (PPRust) North replacement project.



A total of 29 Weba Chute Sys-tems are in design at present.



The first delivery was in March 2007, with the final chute system destined for delivery by July, and commissioning in August and September 2007.



MD and developer of the Weba Chute System, Werner Baller, attributes the company’s success in securing the order to the fact that it already has 100 Weba Chute Systems in various Anglo Platinum operations and projects.



A particular challenge posed by PPRust is that the product to be conveyed is extremely abrasive.



“Anglo Platinum turned to us owing to our considerable practical experience in various installations and applications,” comments Baller.



Cascades, also known as dead boxes or rock boxes, have been used traditionally in areas of high wear. Weba Chute Systems has combined the advantages of the rock-box system with its own design principles to create its patented cascade-type transfer point, which controls the materials flow and velocity through a supertube effect.



Special attention is paid to the flow characteristics and variances in materials volumes through the chute so as to discharge the materials with minimal impact and at the correct speed, as well as in the direction of the outgoing conveyor.



A three-dimensional computer-aided design package is used to calculate the profiles of the rock boxes so as to create a boundary layer effect through the chute, as well as achieving optimal belt, screen or crusher loading at the discharge point.



“The end result is a transfer chute that addresses and solves, most or even all of the problems associated with transfer points. “This results in significant cost savings for the end-user,” says Baller.



In 2006, the Anglo Platinum board approved the PPRust North expansion project, which will increase milling capacity at PPRust from the current 385 000 t/m, producing 200 000 platinum ounces a year, to 985 000 t/m and producing an additional 230 000 platinum ounces a year.



“This is a significant order for us, and cements our 16-year track record in the local industry, with almost 2 000 Weba applications to date. Weba is now a well-accepted and proven brand. We are not a conveyor company manufacturing chutes; our entire focus is on the Weba Chute System,” says Baller.



The Weba Chute System has established itself as a local manu-facturer of systems for bulk materials handling through the development of its custom-engineered transfer points.



It has also been active in the US market over the past three years, with business picking up significantly in the past 18 months.



“We also got a toehold in the Australian market in July, supplying a Weba Chute as a retrofit for a Rio Tinto iron-ore mine in Western Australia,” says Baller.



Weba Chute Systems specialises in the custom design of transfer point solutions.



Its systems are designed using the principle of conveyed materials impacting on surfaces that already contain materials and are configured to control the direction, flow and velocity of the calculated volume and type of materials pro- cessed. Systems are custom- designed for specific applications, taking into account factors such as belt width, belt speed, materials sizes, shape and throughput.



The Weba Chute Systems are locally manufactured and the company has completed about 2 000 successful installations handling a variety of different materials.