Global industrial equipment company Metso is introducing a new attachment system for its Trellex screening media that offers increased productivity and makes media change-outs safer and faster than with traditional systems, the company announced in September.

Downtime is costly for screens in mineral processing and aggregates production. Metso’s new hammerless attachment system for screening media provides safer installation, faster removal and increased uptime.

Up until now, the removal of worn-out pin and sleeve screening media modules has been a time-consuming and potentially unsafe undertaking. Metso’s new attachment system improves worker safety during change-outs. There is no need to use a hammer when installing and removing screening media. The specially developed pins can be screwed into place as well as removed using an impact driver. Accidents that occur when pins that are stuck get torn off by force, can now be avoided. In addition to improved safety, the new attachment system cuts the change-out time considerably, resulting in higher uptime and productivity.

“In the past year, we’ve launched the Web-based Screen Planner Wear Monitoring System and invested in screening media manufacturing capacity. The introduction of the hammerless attachment system is yet another step we are taking to help our screening media customers reduce downtime and boost productivity,” says Metso screening media global product manager Claes Larsson.

The new attachment system is available as a standard option for Trellex 305PS screening media in the most common build heights (40 mm to 60 mm), and will soon be introduced for additional build heights.

Significant Milestone

In other company news, on August 31, Metso sold its five-hundredth Lokotrack in Germany to family-owned crushing, screening and recycling contractor Andres Erdarbeiten, at Steinexpo, the biggest quarry exhibition in Europe.

The sale marks a significant milestone for Metso in Lokotrack sales, with Metso having sold over 7 000 Lokotracks globally.

“Metso’s German customers were interested in the mobile, track-mounted Lokotrack crushing plant concept right away after the commercial production started at the Tampere works, in Finland, in 1985. In Germany, customers quickly noticed that the track-mounted units are more economical, while the crusher could be moved to the rocks,” says Metso Germany distribution manager Hugo van Benthem.

The first Lokotrack deliveries to Germany in the late 1980s often included two-stage plants for crushing and screening in hard rock quarries. A typical combination was a tracked LT100 jaw and LT1100 cone plant. German manufacturing company ABAG bought these units over 30 years ago and is still running the same crushers, which proves the longevity of the Lokotrack range.

“Today, Metso’s Lokotracks used in Germany cover all customer segments from light, easy-to-transport contracting and recycling plants to sturdy, high-capacity mobile quarrying crushers. Our German customers also like Metso’s in-the-pit primary crushing concept with jaw plant connected to a mobile conveyor system,” explains Metso Germany sales manager Joachim Höft.

Delivering Solutions in Serbia

Serbia’s largest aggregates producer Teko Mining will improve its product quality and production capacity by implementing Metso’s crushing and screening solutions, Metso noted in a September media release.

Teko Mining has selected Metso to provide crushing and screening equipment for two of its quarries in Serbia. The new solutions, which at the time was estimated to be operational in September, will significantly increase production capacity, reduce waste and improve end-product quality.

Teko Mining has four quarries almost fully equipped with Metso solutions. With a production capacity of about three-million tons a year, these quarries produce various stone materials for the development and construction of infrastructure in Serbia. After the commissioning of the new Metso crushing and screening equipment, the Straževica quarry plant capacity, with final products ranging between 0 mm to 4 mm and 32 mm to 63 mm, will increase to around 300 t/hr.

“Teko Mining has quarries where many Metso units are already in operation and we have been highly satisfied with the equipment and after-sales support Metso has delivered,” says Teko Mining GM Uros Veljic. “To be able to meet our customers’ needs in terms of product quality and capacity, we turned to Metso to come up with an optimal solution.”

Veljic says Teko Mining’s quarries operate in three shifts and the company is challenged to produce enough material to meet demand. “With the new plant, we will be able to produce the required volumes running in a single shift. In addition to the higher quarry outputs, we will be able to reduce waste and produce higher-quality aggregates.”

The new Metso crushing and screening plant ordered for Teko Mining’s Straževica quarry consists of premier trade marked products the CVB202P inclined screen, a NW1213 portable impact crusher and two NW2060 portable screening plants. The delivery also included a Barmac B6150SE on skids, dedusting equipment, steel structures and conveyors. Teko’s Ceramide operations will be upgraded with two new trade marked premier CVB screens.

In South Africa, Metso’s offices are based in Jet Park, Johannesburg.