Astec Telestack’s mobile systems are providing Australian mining operations with a cost-efficient, flexible and reliable material handling and processing solution.
Mining companies are forever seeking new ways to lower production costs for material handling and processing applications.
In partnership with OPS Group, Astec Australia is doing just that.
OPS and Astec have maintained a strong and exclusive partnership since 2014, with OPS supplying the mining industry with technologically-advanced equipment from Northern-Ireland-based Astec subsidiary, Telestack.
Telestack continues to invest heavily in its Omagh facility as part of a long-term strategy to future-proof its capacity to support the development of an extensive range of world-class, innovative and quality products.
This includes its partnership with Astec Australia and OPS.
Astec Telestack specialises in the complete design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of mobile bulk material handling systems across a range of sectors, including mining.
And with more flexible stockyard system requirements and the push for greater cost efficiencies in the stockyard equipment space, the Astec Telestack range has become an important option for operators who require innovative equipment with custom-designed features and high build quality.
The equipment is robust and built to operate under difficult mining conditions.
“The Telestack equipment has many advantages; it’s made in a quality-assured factory in Northern Ireland, by a global OEM (original equipment manufacturer), and the products are manufactured to a high quality,” OPS Group chief operating officer Ben Suda told Australian Mining.
The Astec Telestack range has also become more popular with the re-emergence of heap leaching in the Australian mining sector. Heap leaching is an industrial mining process used to recover minerals from low-grade ore through a series of chemical reactions.
Suda said heap leaching enables mining operations to avoid more intricate ways of beneficiation.
While smaller heap leach stockpiles could be stacked by excavation equipment, when an operation chooses to build a larger heap leach pile it would be more appropriate to use a stacker.
This is where the Astec Telestack range comes to the fore.
The modular configuration of the product range results in lower capital expenditure and running costs, which is a distinct departure from traditional large and sometimes cumbersome stacking machinery. It is also more affordable than bespoke engineered solutions.
“Traditionally, sites often have a system designed specifically for their requirements, which requires significant engineering hours, and they’ll typically come up with a design that’s built for that particular application,” Suda said.
“But in addition to engineering hours, there’s also contingency applied and generally a large construction component specific to that installation must be entirely amortised over the one build.
“In my experience, you will see costs much greater with a site-specific engineered solution compared to utilising an existing Telestack product.”
Suda said there’s also less risk in opting for a modular solution such as the Astec Telestack range, because the customer knows exactly what they’re getting and can have confidence that it has a proven track record.
“The performance of the Telestack range is predictable and basically everything we manufacture is pre-assembled and tested in the plant,” he said.
When working with a customer, OPS will point to a similar case study to ensure they have a reference point and can see the application in play.
“Typically, we’ll be able to find an application we’ve already installed that is similar to what we’re supplying, so the customer can see how that’s working, possibly get a reference from that site or, in some instances, even visit that application,” Suda said.
“That gives them more peace of mind that what they’re seeing is what they’re getting.”
Telestack stacking systems offer automatic stockpiling capability, eliminating material compaction and resulting in a process that reduces costs per tonne and increases the capacity and quality of the material.
The system is also designed to be easy to transport.
“Our Telestack equipment is modular, in many cases easily containerised and able to be moved by standard road-going trucks,” Suda said.
“This supports our remote clients such as remote Australian mine sites and other remote markets such as Indonesia. Here, you sometimes don’t have the transport corridors you might have in more centralised locations.
“Because these machines can be containerised, you can break them down into assignments easily and load them into trucks, so you can get them on-site and then reassemble them in modules. So you’re not building the plan from scratch.”
With transport practicality comes build practicality and Suda said once the Telestack machine arrives to the mine, it can easily be assembled by the on-site team without the need for specialist support.
“Once you’re on-site you don’t require the contingency of a construction team completing significant site preparation or months of engineering to configure the equipment, because our products have already been pre-assembled and tested prior to being modularised for transporting.
“Our customers place an order and we start building the Telestack machinery immediately, which substantially reduces time and costs.
“In some instances, where flexibility allows, we may offer an alternative solution based on existing stock availability to reduce lead time further.”
The OPS team works very closely with end-users, ensuring the Astec Telestack equipment is tailored to specific on-site conditions.
“Customisation is an important aspect of our service delivery,” Suda said.
“Depending on the site location, there may be a requirement to meet specific safety standards, including the positioning of walkways and access points, and other key operating processes and procedures.
“Our standard mobile units can still be customised to meet certain customer requirements, including the ability to modify belt widths, install additional guarding and other key components, including roller changes, depending on the type of material being transported.”
The Astec Telestack range covers all facets of moving and processing material, capable of capacities in excess of 3000 tonnes per hour.
“Because our products are mobile, they are hugely flexible, and if the mining operation has a relatively short life, then the equipment can easily be redeployed to another location or re-sold,” Suda said.
“Our products can possess strong residual value, which isn’t always the case with a site-specific engineered solution.”
OPS has invested in branches across Australia as the group expands and diversifies, supporting specific mining regions with capital equipment – either for sale, hire or demonstration purposes – as well as full service and parts support capability.
The company offers process engineering, on-site commissioning, training and maintenance, with a team committed to delivering quality and value through its ‘whole of life’ equipment service offering.
OPS Group and Astec Australia also have a parallel agreement through OPS subsidiary Mineral Processing Solutions (MPS), providing another pathway for Astec’s bulk material handling equipment.
MPS distributes Astec’s Kodiak cone crushers to the Australian mining sector, including sites across Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
MPS managing director Shane Czerkasow said reliability is a key that sets Astec equipment apart.
“The Kodiak 350+ cone crusher is fit-for-purpose. It’s been designed and built for use in the rugged Australian mining environment,” Czerkasow said. “That’s Kodiak’s competitive advantage.
“In the case of the 350+, decades of experience and innovative design have combined to produce a highly-reliable, low-maintenance, operator-friendly crushing unit.”
The Kodiak incorporates a unique roller bearing design that, according to Astec, increases energy efficiency and reduces operating costs by up to 50 per cent. In addition, the crusher is equipped with the Kodiak control system (KCS) ,which allows for continuous monitoring and on-the-fly adjustments.
Whether it’s an Astec Telestack stacker, a Kodiak cone crusher, or any other bulk material handling machinery, the Australian mining industry is better for Astec and OPS Group’s long-term partnership.
This feature appeared in the October issue of Australian Mining.