Metso recently strengthened its prominent position as a crushing solutions supplier to mining with the launch of three new primary crushers – Metso Primarok, a next generation in its leading primary gyratory offering; Metso Optirok
, an evolution of the primary jaw crusher; and Metso Durarok which brings large sizers into the mix. It says these are engineered to address the diverse needs of modern mining operations and offer superior capacity, safer maintenance, as well as the lowest capital expenditure and total cost of ownership across a wide range of primary crushing applications and ore types. To get more insight into the three options, IM Editorial Director Paul Moore talked in-depth to Vinicius Vilela, Vice President, Mining Crushers, at Metso.
Q Metso is already a leading global supplier of primary gyratory and jaw crushers to mining – why did you feel the market needed a new set of solutions based on the same fundamental technology?
Yes, you are correct, we have already a global and leading range of gyratories for large capacities, jaw crushers covering smaller to mid range capacities, and for softer rock, we have the Nordberg® NP impactors. But this new range is a new approach – it is actually our most significant primary crusher launch in many years; it’s not just a repackaging or a rebranding. We have put a lot of development into these new solutions. And it is both in response to what we are hearing from customers, but also how the industry is evolving. With primary crushers today, mines are expected to deliver more tonnes, with less downtime under higher safety expectations, and often in smaller footprints and tighter capital constraints. That’s the feedback that we get across the board from owner operators, EPCMs and maintenance teams. Instead of trying to do a one-fit-all solution, we took a step back and recognised that today’s requirements involve a broad spectrum of ores, layouts, and other constraints that will obviously require different answers. So we decided to develop a more targeted portfolio where we have one optimised solution for each specific set of conditions. But all of them are designed around the same core outcomes – performance, availability, safety and low total cost of ownership.
Vinicius Vilela, Vice President, Mining Crushers, Metso
Q Is it not true that in big mining, semi-mobile gyratory stations represent the vast majority of the market and especially when you look at around 5,000 t/h and above?
Yes, gyratory crushers continue to be the dominant solution in large capacity applications, especially with hard rock, no question. They are well proven, and they remain the reference point for those large-scale applications – and often as semi-mobile stations as you say. However, we’ve been seeing that there’s also a gradual increase in consideration of other technologies where they make sense. For example, sizer solutions like our Durarok can deliver a lower overall capital cost, particularly in overburden applications, where the economics are very sensitive to the upfront investment. Also, when you are dealing with materials that have a high clay content, sizer solutions are quite often also the right technical answer given the operational conditions. At the same time, we see a gap in the intermediate capacity range, roughly 1,200 to 2,500 t/h, where you would typically use a conventional jaw crusher, but you are getting to the limit of its capability but the capacity requirement is not enough to justify a gyratory investment. So, there we see a great fit for the Optirok. So, gyratories remain dominant at the top end of the capacity range, but it’s more about matching a good solution for a specific application.
Q If we talk about sizers first – which are the comminution method for Durarok, am I right in thinking Metso did not have a sizer in its range? Are you working with a third party or have you developed this in-house?
Correct, we didn’t have a sizer in our product line, but sizers are not new to Metso; we have been involved in supplying sizer-based solutions for several years, particularly in mobile applications, such as in our larger Lokotrack® units – in this cases the sizers have been sources from a third party, including a successful partnership with Komatsu which supplied us with their sizers. So, we built up a very solid application knowledge and integration experience around it. But we recognised that there was a growing need in the market for sizers that could go beyond the traditional softer rock applications and handle harder, more competent materials, and that gap was not fully addressed by our existing offer, so we decided to invest in and develop our own sizer range in Durarok. We built our in-house capability for development and testing of the technology based on our fundamental understanding of hard rock crushing; and keeping in within Metso means we have full control over design performance and how these machines integrate into our existing platforms and solutions.
The Metso Durarok takes the company into production of its own large capacity sizers for hard rock
Q We talked about capacities – can you give some idea of the range for each of the three primary crushing options?
The Durarok capacity will range from roughly 1,500-2,000 t/h up to about 6,000 t/h depending on the material. With our new Primarok range, we have developed an even larger model, the 61131, that goes up to 20,000 t/h – taking us well beyond our current largest 17,000 t/h Superior MKIII 60-110 solution; this will be the largest primary crusher in the world available today. For the Optirok, the range is from 1,200 to 2,500 t/h.
The top end 61131 Primarok is the largest gyratory crusher in the world with a capacity of up to 20,000 t/h
Q To what extent have the three new crushing solutions been trialled and tested in real operations?
With the sizers, we actually started this development effort quite a number of years ago. Then over time, we built prototypes and we have tested those in very different settings and conditions and gathered some very valid information that guided our final design. With that design, we have done bench tests and validated many concepts around the crushing shafts, rings and teeth. Right now we are looking for the first opportunities for these machines. On the Optirok, we have built a first unit, serial number one, and that machine is currently installed and operating in a large quarry in Brazil. It’s been running for about nine months and getting very good results that have matched very well with our expectations, even exceeding them. With Primarok, as you know, Metso has been making gyratories for more than a century, so it was not necessary for us to make a prototype, we are just building on already vast experience. We are actively working on the first opportunities for those and are already engaging in advanced conversations with some customers and are looking forward to having the first one commissioned soon. We have actually already started manufacturing the first machine.
Q Coming back to the design fundamentals – in particular how do the Primarok and Optirok designs differ from the current Superior gyratory and Nordberg jaw?
With the Primarok, there were three main pillars that were guiding our design decisions. One of course was keeping the same level of performance that we had in the Superior and improving it slightly by tweaking the already very proven design where was still possible. So that means keeping the same high speed we had, but we put a lot of effort in developing better chamber design – this also what allowed us to further increase capacity, even on similar models. The second pillar was to have higher availability and safer maintenance. We have basically eliminated all hot work inside the machine – all the welding and flame cutting- through very innovative solutions, for example, on the concave removal. We have now a new concave design that we call the wedge concave that, through a hydraulic embedded device in the machine, you can remove the first concave in each row and then subsequently the next ones. So, that makes the operation much safer during maintenance interventions. We also have a new spider design that will make the changeouts faster. It’s a more compact design, but giving the same stability that you used to have with the previous one. And third we wanted also to reduce the complexity of the installation of the crusher in the station. So using more advanced simulation tools and a little bit of thinking outside of the box, we have also been able to reduce the weight of the crusher; and also reduce the dimensions of some of the main components in a way that the crushing station can be shorter, as the machine has less dynamic forces, and also the directional sequence of installation is better facilitated. On the maintenance aspect, it is also worth mentioning that with Primarok, you can remove all components from the top, so it is a true top service gyratory.
Q What about the Optirok design? Is the compact nature of the Optirok partly to address the needs of underground mines with limited space?
Yes, underground certainly is one of the drivers for this product because the space constraints are very real there. But more broadly, what we’re seeing is an increase in demand for this medium capacity range of crushers – primary solutions that can operate within a more compact footprint, with demand a combination of space constraints and capital pressure. With the Optirok, we can exceed the capacity of our largest jaw crushers, the Nordberg® C160 and C200, for example. But with a simpler station design when you compare it to a gyratory. For example, the Optirok, depending on the application, can be fed directly with an apron feeder without having to use a grizzly feeder – that makes the station design very compact. Even with a small gyratory, your primary station height is about 20 metres. With an Optirok setup, you can bring that down to roughly 12 metres. This has a very significant impact in some applications, such as underground, because it translates directly into lower civil works, installation complexity, and a lower total cost of the station itself. In terms of the Optirok design, it is a quite different machine. The crushing principle is still a compression crusher. You have a static surface and a moving surface with an eccentric movement compressing the rock against it. But the chamber is completely new, so the new fixed jaw has a concave shape, and the moving part is no longer the jaw, but an eccentric roll. The rock is being compressed by the eccentric roll against the concave fixed jaw. On the feed section, you have a static grizzly that can let some fines bypass. So, as I mentioned, depending on the application and the amount of fines, you don’t need to have an external vibrating grizzly, but you can rely only on the machine’s static grizzly. Also, because of this new chamber design, we can achieve lower closed side settings, with tighter adjustments, to control much better the top size, especially when you go to larger capacities. So with Optirok, you are able to go much tighter on particle size while maintaining the benefits of a very high capacity and large feed acceptance. Plus, all the adjustments are hydraulic tramp relief, and the machine itself is also fully automated.
Optirok’s advanced design enables higher capacity compared to traditional jaw crushers
Q The Superior and Nordberg brands and products are globally famous and recognised for your gyratory and jaw crushers – such as the Superior MKIII gyratory series – will you retain these products and brands or will they be phased out?
Superior and Nordberg, as you have mentioned, are synonymous with robustness, reliability and high capacity, and they have been and are a very important part of our crushing heritage, and they will also remain in our portfolio for years to come. The three new crushers – Primarok, Optirok and Durarok – will complement these offerings, not replace them. So it’s about having more tools and products at our disposal, so we can always provide the best solution to at each specific case. That said, because of all the development work we have done and all the new functionalities, we believe that in most cases, the latest version – such as Primarok in the case of gyratories – will be the best choice. But there’s definitely some situations where the customer already has a large Superior crusher installed base, so is looking for commonality or for some other reasons have a preference for that design. So, the Superior will still be there for those situations. But moving forward, I see more and more that Primarok will be taking a larger share of our sales, given all the benefits I have outlined. Of course, there will be a transition – there is always an adoption curve while we migrate from one model to another in all parts of our mining business.
Q Crushers are a fundamental part of your IPCC solutions, including the Foresight mining crushing stations, as well as your flexible and fast install FIT stations – what role do you see the three new primary crushers playing in these?
Our approach has been to make the three new crushers available across our IPCC solutions in a way that reflects how each technology is used in practice. So for Foresight specifically, Primarok is the natural fit because it aligns well with the very high capacity and high variability applications that Foresight stations are typically designed for. When it comes to FIT stations, the focus is slightly different. These solutions are often driven by the need of customers for quicker development, lower CAPEX, and more compact layouts. So, that’s where Optirok and Durorok come in.
In addition to that, we are also looking to integrate both Optirok and Durarok into our mobile configurations, including the Lokotrak platform. While these are mostly used in quarrying applications, there are some larger models like the LT200E we have supplied which have a capacity of 3,000 t/h and has a jaw crusher. These have applicability in smaller mines, satellite pits and specific parts of orebodies such as high grade areas.
Q Finally, you mentioned that the new crushers involve new design elements and components. Metso already produces crushers and parts in different parts of the world depending on the model and what makes sense logistically and strategically – will anything change with these launches and has it required new investment?
We will be using the same supply chain and manufacturing network we use today, including our main crusher factories in Sorocaba, Brazil; Tianjin, China; Tampere , Finland; and Macon France. So depending on where the project is going to be installed and what makes more sense, then we will plan our manufacturing accordingly. It will vary a little between the three products, but as we will be using our existing setup we don’t foresee any substantial new investments being required, as we already have the capacity and knowledge there.
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