Challenge: The copper mine’s concentrator was utilizing a problematic wash bay on their SAG Mill Feed Belt to contain carryback and to assist in the handling of carryback/slurry removal from the tertiary cleaners. The wash bay’s design consisted of a 40′ long metal installed underneath the conveyor belt with a series of water jets that sprayed the dirty side of the belt and slurried the carryback into the head pulley’s chute. The wash bay had challenges in containing the water and struggled with build-up. Supply water was acidic rotting the conveyor belt structure and flooring.

SOLUTION/
ASGCO^®’s representatives performed a complete conveyor survey and had the mine personnel describe the issues.A fter thorough analysis, ASGCO^® recommended removing the wash bay and installing (3) three 54” stainless steel ASGCO^® Wash-boxes™ to maintain effective cleaning pressure while containing the wash waste fluid. Additionally, ASGCO^® installed (3) three stainless steel Drip Pans.

RESULTS/
Following ASGCO^®’s improvements, there has been a significant decrease of water consumption in the copper mine. Along with this, the acidic water that damaged the belt structure and flooring has been mostly eliminated and the challenges of trough-slurry management have been resolved. As a result, water is being used more efficiently and production in the copper mine has increased.