WAMS (Wear Applications and Management Services) WEARBACK “linerless” chutes were the design of choice by Newcrest for their Cadia East underground materials handling system.
WAMS has recently completed the design and manufacture of 7 WEARBACK “linerless” chutes for the Newcrest owned Cadia East underground gold project in Orange NSW. The Cadia East mine will be the deepest panel cave in the world and Australia’s largest underground mine. The WEARBACK design was chosen by Newcrest for its proven superior wear life and softer conveyor loading over more conventional chute designs.
Five of the 7 WEARBACK chutes have been designed to handle primary crushed ore with a P100 of 310mm at 4400 tonnes per hour and the incoming and outgoing incline conveyors for these 5 transfers are 1500mm wide and travel at 5.5 metres per second and they deliver the ore from the underground crushing station to the surface via a switchback arrangement. The remaining 2 transfers in the project handle the same ore however at a lower throughput rate of 2200 tph. Each of the transfers for the incline system were designed to be fully rotable and are required to be exchanged within a four hour shutdown period.
Specialty lifting beams were supplied and a comprehensive removal and replacement schedule was developed prior to final design approval to ensure compliance with the 4 hour window. The average total weight for the transfers was around 10 tonne with the largest at 15 and being completely rotable. A number of the chute designs were independently validated by TUNRA Bulk Solids Handling in Newcastle using DEM (discrete element modelling) and some of the results of this validation were published in a recent edition of the Australian Bulk Handling Review magazine.
Commissioning of the conveyor system is scheduled to commence in October 2011, however full production of 25 MTPA is not expected to 2016. The WEARBACK “linerless” chute design is particularly suited to the Cadia East primary crushed ore environment where large particles and high velocities and impact loads exist. Contact: support@wams.com.au or visit www.wams.com.au