Crushing and screening solutions provider ELB Equipment has added a complete range of high efficiency trommels that are “set to change the way screening is done in South Africa”.

Its Powerscreen scalpers and screens are already prevalent throughout the local market and the addition of “the world’s leading trommel manufacturer MDS” will attract interest from miners already familiar with the ELB Equipment brand and its high-quality minerals processing offering – predominantly derived from the Terex Corporation.

MDS track, static and recycling trommels, as well as apron feeders, are quick and can handle a wide range of media including blasted rock and riprap, as well as varying substrates such as clay, limestone and even recycled concrete rubble. Most importantly, however, it is the new trommels’ ability to speed up processing and to handle oversize materials that are most exciting for the local market.

Volumes Up

ELB Equipment divisional director Wakefield Harding says the range of static and tracked trommels are “unmatched” in the local market and are simply not available as standard production machines elsewhere.

“This means it will introduce a totally new way of doing things in the local market and is bound to turn up production volumes while increasing profitability on many new and existing plants in Southern Africa.”

MDS tracked and mobile units especially could be “game changers”, bringing the speed and versatility of trommels to sites as needed. Trommels can separate up to four streams of aggregates quickly and efficiently, starting with soil and fines at the feed-end and moving through to larger rocks and oversize rock up to 1.5 m at the discharge end.

It is this that makes the MDS trommels unique as they can shorten the processing equipment chain on site – either direct from blasting and loading or from a primary crusher or even recycled materials and composting. The addition also supports ELB Equipment’s growth strategy to expand its offering into new crushing, screening and environmental industries with products that complement its existing portfolio.

Trommel Types

MDS designs and manufactures heavy-duty static trommels in the M615 and M820 models. These can process from 500 t/h to 750 t/h with three to four outputs each. The trommels are built with manoeuvrability in mind for applications processing overburden, recycling/skip waste, general scalping, all quarried aggregates, demolition waste, riprap/armour rock and blasted rock.

MDS also manufactures a variety of tracked trommels to make mobility easier for customers and improve on site mobility, making this an ideal solution for mining contractors. These versatile trommels can handle material up to 1 m in size and have outputs from 300 t/h to 750 t/h.

They are suited to various applications, including quarrying, during which mobile trommel screens are used to separate different sizes of stone and aggregate materials. By using different screen sizes and configurations, trommel screens can produce various sizes of screened material for further processing or sale.

Trommel screens are also commonly used to separate valuable minerals from the surrounding gravel or alluvial deposits. The rotating drum of the trommel screen allows the fine particles to pass through while larger rocks and debris are separated and discarded.

Mobile trommel screens are extensively used in gold and coal mining operations to aid the screening and separation of saleable material from debris and waste material.

Similarly, trommel screens play a crucial role in mineral processing plants by separating valuable minerals from waste. They are often used in conjunction with other equipment such as crushers and conveyors to efficiently process bulk materials.

Trommel screens are commonly deployed in sand and gravel operations to separate and classify different sizes of material.

Finally, mobile trommel screens find applications in recycling operations, such as construction and demolition waste processing. They aid in separating and sorting different types of recyclable materials such as wood, plastics, metals and aggregates.

Countrywide Availability

“We believe that the addition of the MDS brand will open up new markets for both the company and for our clients. These are top quality machines from the portfolio of our long-time supplier, Terex Corporation, which also owns Powerscreen and Terex branded processing equipment which has been distributed by ELB Equipment for decades.

“As a result of this trusted combination, and with our footprint throughout Southern Africa, we expect the MDS offering to expand quickly across all mining types and into the growing recycling markets.

“This type of approach also supports our ‘Best of breed from a single supplier’ approach which means that customers are able to buy the best types of equipment from specialist manufacturers around the world from a single supplier – ELB Equipment,” concludes Harding.