MATERIALS HANDLING
OEMs are using their
expertise to help mines protect their workers
Mark Doyle discusses how leveraging OEMs’ knowledge can help improve materials handling safety
SAFETY FIRST R
esponsible mining companies have an unwavering commitment to the health and safety of workers and their families, local communities
and the wider society. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) also have a vital role to play in developing solutions that reduce risk on-site and championing a zero-harm culture. In recent years, the industry has come to think about and understand harm reduction in broader terms, to include things such as environmental safeguarding. Crucially, product and process optimisation – aimed, for instance, at reducing water and energy
consumption – serves an important function in reducing an operation’s carbon footprint, which has obvious health benefits for the communities surrounding the mine. Similarly, increasing wear life reduces consumables, while also reducing maintenance requirements and limiting the amount of time operators spend in the line of fire. Weir Minerals’ Linatex rubber has
been protecting capital equipment from abrasion and corrosion while also keeping operators safe for a century. Linatex’s inventor, Bernard Wilkinson Sr, observed that conventional rubber processing – with its high shear mastication and
high-temperature curing – destroyed the molecular structure, diminishing the original mechanical strength of natural rubber. He developed a ‘liquid phase low temperature vulcanisation’ process that retained natural rubber’s desirable properties – its toughness, resilience and abrasion resistance. Te formula and process has remained unchanged for 100 years and, today, it’s used at all stages of the mining process.
PARTNERING WITH MINERS TO INCREASE WEAR LIFE OEMs are well-placed to provide operators with equipment insights that
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