JOURNAL PAPER

Increasing efficiency of conveyor belt transporting system 4 Belt Lonmin

G.G. le Roux

University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

SYNOPSIS

The purpose of the investigation was to assess various options for increasing the efficiency of the conveyor belt transporting system used at 4 Belt Shaft at Lonmin's Marikana operations. The reason for the investigation was to prevent the occurrence of a 'bottleneck' at the main ore passes delivering ore to the conveyor belt system, thus creating more fluent operational conditions. The options assessed for increasing the efficiency of the conveyor belt transporting system were:
➤ Variation of the conveyor speed
➤ Concurrent tipping from two ore passes on the belt
➤ Increase the available drive unit power
➤ Increasing the feed rate from vibratory feeders
➤ Change in belt width/belt specifications
The report shows that the most preferable option to the current situation at 4 Belt, Lonmin, would be the option of concurrent tipping from two ore passes to the belt.

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References

1. MITCHELL, J. Shaft Engineer, 4 Belt, Lonmin, conversation with the author, Dec 2006.         [ Links ]

2. REILY, D. Section Engineer, Lonmin Platinum, conversation with the author, Dec 2006.         [ Links ]

3. WESSELS, B. Service Technician, Joest, ben@joest.co.za, Dec 2006.         [ Links ]

4. KLEYNHANS, A. Mechanical Foreman, Karee 4 Belt, Lonmin Platinum, conversation with the author, Dec 2006.         [ Links ]

5. Planned Maintenance Department, Lonmin Platinum, Dec 2006.         [ Links ]

6. Valuation Department, Lonmin Platinum, Dec 2006.         [ Links ]

7. REZNICHENKO, G.G. MINN 308 Course Notes, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2006.         [ Links ]

8. Dunlop Industrial Products, Conveyor Belt Manual, Dec 2006.         [ Links ]

Paper written on project work carried out in partial fulfillment of BSc (Min. Eng.) degree