Before you can reclaim you have to stack. Before you can stack you need to know the ground conditions. If the ground allows it you can run the tracks down 1 side. Otherwise you must span the pile to throw some weight over to the far side. Then you must provide passage & maintenance clearances. Service cranes must not block the machines on adjacent tracks, in emergencies.

You mention a plurality of drum reclaimers so with 2 you will already have 2400tph for the port. Considering spares holding, machine standby capacity & trackwork/land costs there is no option but to stick with drum reclaimers.

I thought they were extinct. Any breakdown of a bridgeing device blocks the trackwork locally which can be a bit of a bind if the gadget is halfway down the pile(s). ■

John is correct in regard to everything he has told you.

Another option is the use of a belt reclaimer such as is made by Long Airdox or WR Stamler and combining that a portable conveyor may be even less costly with a tracked excavator-(crawler mounted) in the 1200 ton per hour or more class to reclaim the materials.

Another good option which allows for flexibility is a smaller tracked bucket wheel reclaimer used in combination with the belt feeder and moveable conveyor belt-I believe RAHCO stll makes these portable/moveable belts. ■

As Izaharis & I delve back into history; I well remember a photograph of a small track mounted bucket wheel supplied to the UK NCB by Anderson Strathclyde. It seemed a reasonable solution at the time but since the mention of Stamler I think that machine takes the buscuit. In fact, I like that machine so much I would buy the Company! ■

OK now we are into the economics of everything has its opportunity cost versus I want that one syndrome:

As an example a large stamler reclaimer with nothing but the gear box,electric motor, body and frame ready to run will cost over $300000 in US funds plus customs fees and parts- spare parts are based on the number of units in service -but if you do not have a gear box, electric motor, flight chains, flights, couplers, in stock for repair. you will have to wait for shipment from either Oldenburg Group or W.R. Stamler. and you will be stuck if youy do not have spares as these machines are custom built just like a reclaimer of any size.

Economics for any system consists of:

Machine cost

site preparation/track rail, grading /pollution control for the product handled

spares even if you do not think you need it you should have it simply because of distances traveled from the builder to you

lubricants: As long as lubricants are equivalent to the API grade required by the builder you will have no problem.

depreciation-this is an immediate expense as the value of the machine decreases even as it is assembled for use simply because you own it!!

cost of set up of the utilities for the reclaimer.

cost of utilities to power the reclaimer-you will need electric power to erect the reclaimer and test it prior to commissioning.

shipping to destination and assembly of the units by the builders assembly crews

As far as the price factor is concerned it all depends on the size of the pocket book simply because these machines are made one at a time and built from the ground up so asking for a price is iessentially asking a supplier what the cost of a unit was that was built previous by them as price is relative term due to the variable cost material used to build it-labor, steel cost,

welding, the cost of purchasing parts they do not make them selves.

Decide on a builder with experience in both methods of reclaiming and ask for firm estimates that will be guaranteed for 30 days or more.

You could be looking at anywhere from $3,000,000.00 plus US funds just to start with a reclaimer design you wish to use simply as these systems are built as turnkey operations.

another valid option is purchasing a used reclaimer and haviing the original builder upgrade it and rebuild it,. no problems, full warrantees, etc.

The rule is the dumber it is the easier it is to fix!!!!!!!!!

But this will not excuse lack of maintenance from not greasing or checking oil samples maintaining oil levels in chain drives, buying good conveyor splices-not cheap ones!~!!! good conveyor belt for the reclaim side of things-6 ply at least.

last but not least is operator training.

John- on a related note Orenstein and Koppel were the builders I was referring to- I remember a small diesel electric unit reclaimng gold slimes in south africa the early stages of the new gold boom in the early 90's.

I think they still make them.

leon z ■

Dear Mr. Ross,

we did not find your email address and hope that it will be forwarded to you.

For a drum reclaimer of 40 m span we would estimate a weight of about 500 t and a price of 100 % accordingly.

For a twin type bucket wheel reclaimer, which has nearly as good blending features, we would estimate a weight of about 380 t and a price of 80 % of the the drum reclaimer.

A bucket wheel boom time woud require a boom length of 45 m and counterweigt. So the weight could be about 40% more and accordingly the price of the drum recleimer.

The BW boom type can be reloacted to other stockpiles whcih the bridge type cannot do.

We would like to mention that Sandvik provide all kind of reclaimers and we are sure that we can design the optimum solution for your requirement.

We hope that this infromation is helpful for the time being. If you need more specific information please contact us any time.

Best regards

Helmut Oberrisser

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

VOEST-ALPINE Materials Handling GmbH & Co KG

Vordernberger Strasse 12

A-8700 Leoben

Austria

www.sandvik.com

Helmut OBERRISSER

Commercial Director

Tel: + 43 3842 2077 210

Fax: + 43 3842 2077 201

Mob:+ 43 664 615 6144

E-Mail: helmut.oberrisser@sandvik.com

■

Bridge type twin bucket wheel reclaimer may be functionally more suitable as reclaiming speed can be varied by varying speeds of long travel, cross travel and bucketwheels.

But for the purpose of blending, two parallel stockpiles need to be made- one for preparing the blend while the other is being reclaimed. Export grade bauxite can be stocked in a third stockpile. All three piles can be serviced by one or two bridge reclaimers depending on the operational requirements.

Bucket wheel on boom reclaimer can be used if you have constraint of stockpile area (single stockpile). With proper automation blending can be achieved during reclaiming provided the stockpile formation has been planned beforehand. For best blending results, stockpile formation shoud be with a slewable single boom stacker.

Automation for bridge type will be simpler than that of boom type. Bridge type is also more maintenance friendly. ■

Greetings to all

Very interesting discussions concerning what type of Reclaimer should be used at the various sites.

If you decide on a boom mounted Bucket Wheel Type, we would be pleased to offer a 2500/1900tph surplus machine. Very good condition, with spare parts.

We are also able to supply surplus, Shiploaders (3) and Ship Unloaders(up to 1500tph BW type 3000hrs use).

Rail Car Dumpers (2), and a Thaw Shed

compliment our extensive range of Surplus

Port Equipment.

Surplus Mining Equipment consists of (3) Bucket Wheel Excavators, a Continuous Surface Mining Machine(overhauled c/w spares), and a rail mounted bi-directional Stacker. A large Spreader is also available.

We are at your service and welcome your questions, anytime.

Sincerely,

Al Goodmundson

Phone: Canada (306)-664-7260

Email norsequip@sasktel.net ■

As mentioned earlier; bridge type machines are very maintenance friendly. They just sit there & wait because they can't go anywhere when they pack in!!

Its nice to see that stacking is finally being considered as relevant to the blending process. It was 30 years ago as well.

Less seriously: if you use a boom bucket wheel it will also stack, blend even, which you seem to have overlooked in the costing excercise FACTOR bit. This should somewhat mitigate an earlier proposal to bang up the price of a bucket wheel 40% for having to fit a counterweight. How much rebar is in the concrete block for goodness sake?

Unless you get away from the notion that there is a bunch of all singing all dancing equations & factors to be engaged for building a stockyard system then you will be open to confusion from all manner of chancers. Have word with Koch or somebody else who knows what they are about!

All parties seem agreed that barrel organs have had their day but it would be interesting to know what museums would really consider such extensive site fabrication as viable. ■

Dear Mr. Ross,

Reclaiming with Barrel type reclaimer is alway costly than any other type.The reasons are :

1.It is costly equipment.

2.Rail gauge is 4 times than wheel on boom reclaimer.

3.Civil cost is higher.

4. Controll logic is costly.

But to give a realistic figure I need more information & not only that I have to do lot of exercise on it.

But to get a rough idea you may consider 30 % higher than other type.

Regards.

A.Banerjee ■

■

Dear Mr. Ross,

You have the barrel type reclaimer of capacity 1200 tph. This machine reclaims and it also creates excellent blending of the material.

Now, you want to have a reclaiming rate of 3000 tph. This means logically you need to have another reclaimer. So, the option would be to have one additional reclaimer of 1800 tph or if there is marginal difference in price of the reclaimer for 1800 tph and 3000 tph, then better to opt for the new reclaimer of 3000 tph.

As for the new reclaimer, if it is not to do the blending function, the usual choice is for bucket wheel on slewing luffing boom, linear travel machine. This machine is possibly less in price compared to barrel reclaimer. The machine is also easy to operate, less sensitive to material flow characteristics, it can be used to reclaim from multi-points. The machine can be also a stacker-reclaimer, with limited increase in price. The machines meant for high blending efficiency has dominant feature for that function.

So, you please make the appropriate choice.

Regards,

Ishwar G Mulani.

Author of Book : Engineering Science and Application Design for Belt Conveyors.

Author of Book : Belt Feeder Design and Hopper Bin Silo

Advisor / Consultant for Bulk Material Handling System & Issues.

Email : parimul@pn2.vsnl.net.in

Tel.: 0091 (0)20 25882916 ■

Dear Mr. Ross,

Blending effect is defined as

M= ( 1- standard deviation of property for output flow/ standard dev.at input flow) x 100

A typical analysis will show that best blending efficiency will be given by scraper reclaimer followed by barrel type reclaimer. Blending efficiency also very closely related with stacking method.For best blending you may go for Chevron staking. However, Chevron stacking needs slewing stacker- costlier than fixed boom.

It is obvious that other than wheel on boom reclaimer , all are costlier. Where blending is not required , it is better to use wheel on boom reclaimer for reclaiming purpose.

So one should select the machine considering all these.

Regards.

A.Banerjee ■

It is possible, endemically, to blend with a slewing bucket wheel machine. It's what they do.

Standard deviation???? Statistical term: interpreted in the real world as "tell me what you want proved". The mere introduction of statistics nullifies all knowledge & experience. ■

Dear Mr. Johngately,

To understand what is blending efficiency & why I have written, you must read the following papers.

1. Bed blending theory..... By Mr. A.W. Gerstel.

2.Stacking & reclaiming method for bed blending system.... By Mr. Koch

3.Smapling of powders & grained bulk materials... By Mr. Sommer

4.Homogenizing/ Blending... By Mr. Wet

5. Homogenisation / Blending system.... By C.G. Schofield

Regards.

A.Banerjee ■