Metso adds new crushers and facilities

Crusher manufacturer Metso Minerals has not only introduced a host of new machines, it now also offers aggregate analysis at its ‘rock laboratories’. Dan Gilkes explains.

To meet growing demand from quarrying and recycling customers worldwide, Finnish crusher manufacturer Metso Minerals is investing heavily in new products, improved manufacturing facilities and an expanded research and development centre at its head office in Tampere. The company, which reported record sales of £5bn last year, saw income rise by 26 per cent compared with 2006.

In 2008, the company expects to build more than 600 of its Lokotrack mobile crushing and screening plants, primarily for quarry and recycling use, along with 600 static crushers for minerals extraction sites. Sales are well spread between established markets and developing countries, with 30% of orders from Europe, 21% from North America, 16% from South America and 16% from the Asia Pacific region.

Metso has recently invested €10 million in the Tampere facility, with £4m going on a new production line for larger Lokotrack mobile crushing models, £2.4m on the research and technical development centre and £1.6m towards mechanising the wear parts production line within its foundry.

Metso has also introduced a revised line-up of mobile crushing and screening equipment. Included in the range is the Lokotrack LT7150, a machine that brings together a tracked mobile plant with the Barmac vertical shaft impact (VSI) crusher for the first time. The LT7150 is intended for final-stage crushing to produce high-quality aggregates for road base and prime manufactured sand.

The Barmac VSI’s 840DTR rotor accepts feed sizes up to 66mm and is said to offer the possibility of stepless control of product grading. The crusher is directly driven by a hydraulic motor, eliminating the need for V belts and allowing fully adjustable tip speeds.

The Lokotrack ST272 and the ST620F represent the latest additions to the mobile screening line. The ST272 accepts feed materials from primary scalpings to fine screening and can be used for recycling, rock processing and waste screening. The machine provides a screening area of 6.6m2 per deck with the option to produce up to three end-products at once. An optional remote control makes the ST272 easy to relocate on site, with all of the screen’s conveyors hydraulically folding away for transportation.

The ST620F is one of the largest tracked screens in the Metso line, boasting a three-deck screen. The machine has a screen area of 10.9m2 per deck, and the vibrating movement is created using four MV series modular vibrator units.

The machine is built around the proven Nordberg FS303M flat-screen that has been widely used in stationary and portable applications in the past. The high-performance horizontal screen can be equipped with an apron or a belt-feed arrangement, adding to its versatility.

The Lokotrack LT1213S brings together crushing and screening in a single machine. It is designed for both primary and secondary crushing applications and can be used to produce either one precisely calibrated, or two regular, end products. The detachable single-deck screen has a large screening area that can be rotated to suit the site layout.

Metso is also introducing two portable devices that will make life easier for the machine operator loading the Lokotrack crusher or screen. The IP500 and IP700 process displays can be mounted in the cab of the excavator or loader. The display provides a camera view of the crusher or screen’s feed inlet and a simple traffic light display that allows the operator to vary loading speed to maximise production. The IP displays can be used with most Lokotrack crusher and screen models.

Given the complexity of maximising productivity in a quarry, Metso doesn’t simply offer a range of machines. The firm also provides customers with the possibility of an in-depth analysis of the specific rock in their individual quarry. This is designed to ensure that the firm supplies not only the right crushing plant for the job, but that the crushing machinery is even equipped with the ideal wear parts to suit the rock.

Metso has six rock laboratories, each situated within one of its production facilities around the world, and the recent €3 million research and technology development centre in Tampere includes an enlarged rock laboratory to further boost the number of customer samples that can be tested in the future.

Metso’s lab technicians carry out a variety of tests to assess the customer’s sample for crushability and abrasiveness. Quarry operators can send a number of samples from different areas within the site, to ensure that the crusher will be able to cope with changing geology as the quarry progresses.

The new rock laboratory has 50% more capacity than before, and will be able to test up to 300 customer samples each year. Metso already has 2,370 types of rock logged in its database in Tampere, with more than 6,000 material tests carried out worldwide.

As well as helping to specify new machines for its customers’ sites, the rock laboratory contributes in the development of new Metso crushing and screening machinery. The R&D centre will allow Metso to install a wide range of its crushers into a production line. This line then runs controlled crushing and screening tests to assess the component’s design, productivity and durability. As the facility is now under cover, the testing can be carried out all year round, reducing the lead time of new machinery to the market.