Sent into the desert: TungStuds in a test of endurance

Mineral processing machines are subjected to great strains and high levels of wear. Sections of machinery where abrasive materials come into contact with the machine are always particularly susceptible. Any lack of anti-wear protection leads to reduced hours of operation, high maintenance costs and expensive machine failure. In all of those areas the use of tried and tested Betek tungsten carbide tools pays dividends and Betek TungStuds, as an additional anti-wear solution, are also exactly where they ought to be: TungStuds are small wear protection bolts with a core soldered into them of high quality Betek brand tungsten carbide. They are available in graduated sizes – suitable for all types and sizes of machines. They can be easily welded onto parts of the machine that are particularly susceptible to wear and can be repeatedly replaced without the machine parts themselves wearing down. For a particularly tough trial the TungStuds have now even been dispatched into the desert.

The Atacama Desert in northern Chile ranks as one of the most arid deserts on earth. The temperatures there vary enormously from +30°C by day to -15°C by night. There are huge mineral mining areas in the desert. The mining operations extract various ores, rock salt, sulphates, nitrates and iodine. The local Betek dealer organised a trial use of TungStuds in the desert with the Atacama Minerals mine operating company in order to try out the little anti-wear bolts under the toughest of conditions. The trial took place in the Aguas Blancas mining region, where iodine is among the minerals extracted. The iodine is a component of what is known as Caliche, a mineral, hardened sedimentary rock that in addition to the sought-after minerals also contains gypsum, sand, lime and stony fractions in various concentrations. The layers of caliche vary not only in composition, but also in thickness. In any one region layers of all sorts of different type and thickness can occur, creating extremely tough condition for the machines being used there.

Mineral extraction in the desert runs non-stop, seven days a week. As long as mining conditions permit, the machines work continually, around the clock. The TungStuds were tested on a special milling machine called a terrain leveller, which is used to extract the minerals. As it works, the terrain leveller’s milling roller sinks deep into the subsurface, which, if they are not protected, leads to major abrasion of the roller’s sidewalls. These massive wear problems, which used to lead repeatedly to expensive machine downtime and high maintenance costs, made this type of machine ideal for trying out the TungStuds.

With the help of the locally based Betek agent, the TungStuds were delivered to the mining region and in temperatures hovering around 0°C were welded overnight onto the side surfaces of the terrain leveller by employee Juan Carlos Figueroa. In total 3,300 TungStuds were fitted. The next morning, the machine immediately went back into operation and has been running non-stop since then. The TungStuds are providing optimum protection to the sides of the leveller’s milling roller. Expensive, unscheduled maintenance work on these areas is now a thing of the past.

Benefits for the machine operator

• Longer machine / plant operating times. The Betek anti-wear solution using TungStuds lasts - varying, dependent on operating conditions - many times longer than traditional solutions
• Great potential for saving on running, uptime and maintenance costs
• Appliances / machines / plants are consequently more economic to run

Betek is a global leader in the production of tungsten carbide, special tungsten carbide tipped tools and wear-protection solutions. Based near to Schramberg in the Black Forest, the company had its initial market successes with special tools for the mining sector. Over time the portfolio was successfully expanded to cover other industries and sectors as well, e.g. road construction, tunnelling, excavation, surface mining, crushing operations of all kinds, recycling, soil cultivation and biomass production. Also included in the Betek range is a comprehensive array of tungsten carbide in numerous shapes and grades for diverse areas of industrial use. Since 1993, Betek, together with the Simon Company Group, which consists of 4 individual firms and 5 profit centres, has been owned by Indus Holding AG.