SBM Machinery have received an order for the gyratory crusher from phosphate producer Foskor, at its Phalaborwa mine.

The order reaffirms that SBM is the primary supplier of new primary gyratory crushers in Southern Africa.

The Phalaborwa phosphate-rock mine has placed an order for Japanese steel specialist EarthTechnica’s Kawasaki KG 15525 HD-F primary gyratory crusher to be installed near its south pit, by July 2009.

A site survey and confirmatory testwork by SBM form the basis for the development of the primary gyratory crusher to be delivered to Foskor.

The primary gyratory crusher will have a throughput of over 4 000 t/h and will feed a 3,5-km overland conveyor, linking it to the existing processing plant.

Foskor currently processes pyroxenite from the north and south pits, and reclaims fosko-rite from depleting surface stockpiles, all of which contain phosphate.

The phosphate rock is used to produce phosphoric acid, which, in turn, is used in a number of applications, including fertilisers, animal feed and food preservatives.

Owing to the need to replace depleting foskorite reserves, production from the south pit will be increased initially to 10-million tons a year to replace the foskorite ore source.

However, the crusher has been sized with the possibility to ultimately increase pyroxenite production to 20-million tons a year, says Foskor project director Anton Nienaber.

“The internal configuration of the crusher is designed to enhance efficiencies in processing the ore, which ranges from very hard dolerite to soft phlogopite,” says IMS Engineering marketing engineer Stean Barrie.

Commissioning of the crusher is scheduled for July 2009, and production is expected to begin in September 2009, says Nienaber.

According to Barrie, the crusher will be required to crush run-of-mine material of +200 mm to 800 mm, or up to 1,3-m edge length, down to –200-mm pro-duct, which would be acceptable to the secondary crushers installed at the Foskor plant.

IMS Engineering will be responsible for the manufacture, testing, installation and commissioning of the crusher, which is similar in size to the two EarthTechnica Kawasaki primary gyratory crushers that have been operating successfully at the Orapa diamond mine in Botswana, for a number of years.

The 10-m-high crusher will weigh 473 t, and will be powered by a 750-kW electric motor. It will largely be manufactured locally, though some of the components, such as the main shaft, the spherical bearing, and the gear and pinion, will be produced by EarthTechnica, in Japan.

SBM will manage the supply of the crusher, and will support Foskor with suitable technical support and backup after installation and commissioning.

Nienaber says that the decision to award the contract to IMS Engineering and Foskor was based on commercial as well as technical grounds.

Upon completion of the Foskor contract, IMS Engineering and EarthTechnica will have
supplied the majority of the new primary gyratory crushers sold into the Southern African market in the last ten years.

In addition, SBM has installed the new primary gyratory crusher at the Sishen iron-ore expansion project, in the Northern Cape. The company will also deliver a gyratory crusher to the opencast operations of the world’s biggest nickel producer, Norilsk Nickel, at Tati Nickel, in Botswana.