The grinding media market, already beset by dumping allegations by a local supplier against foreign producers, is set to become more competitive.
Canadian company, Norcast, up to now best known in Australia for marketing mill liners from Crushing and Mining Equipment, is considering introducing its conical grinding media.
The media, shaped like a thimble with a diameter of between 15mm and 50mm across the base, were developed for fine grinding for flotation applications.
However, the company realises now that it missed a market opportunity when it did not cotton on as far back as 1991 that a Chilean customer was using the media for tower (vertical stir) milling.
Now trials are about to start at Falconbridge’s Collahuasi mine in Chile for tower milling in the next few months.
Norcast says Australian miners will be attracted to the thimble shaped media. It says it can produce the media at a price ex works about 35% less than conventional forged steel balls.
Offsetting the price advantage is the fact that consumption is on average 10% higher, but nevertheless the end result is a 20-25% saving in costs on grinding media.
The media is produced by a gravity pour casting method in a continuous operation with post-casting stress relief. An optical spectrometer is used to continuously sample and analyse the media composition.
Metals cast for the grind media are a molybdenum alloy and a nickel alloy.
Among existing customers for the Norcast grinding media are Battle Mountain Gold, Falconbridge, Phelps Dodge, Barrick and Brunswick Mining.