Christian Schorr-Golsong reports on record-breaking ropes that have even surpassed their creators’ expectations
Productivity is key for mining operations and reliable and performing hoist ropes play a most important role in this. Thre years ago a world record was set on the Australian Northparkes mine. There, a Casar Turboplast M just achieved an impressive 652,239 cycles in 46 months, and brought over 22 million tons of rock up from the depths. Since then, a mine in Slovakia has succeeded in breaking
this record.
Slovakian success
In the Slovakian mining region of Horna Nitra, the company HBP (Hornonitrianske Bane Prievidza), operates a total of three pits near the city of Prievidza. With an annual output of 1.9 million tons and over 100 years’ experience, HBP is the largest brown coal producer in Slovakia.
In June 2018, the mine succeeded in achieving a cycle count of 656,046 and a total output of 12,382,083 moved rocks on the floor-based friction winch near Novaky, a town near Prievidza. This therefor beat the Australia world record for floor-based friction winches.
This is system with a hoist rope: in Northparkes a total of four hoist ropes work simultaneously. In Novaky there are two shafts, the North Shaft with a drum winch and a Ø40mm Turboplast M, and the South Shaft with the Ø66mm Turboplast M on a friction winch. The record-breaking rope is the Ø66mm Turboplast M with an operating length of 570m. The friction winch here reaches speeds of 12m/s and a load capacity of 7t.
The rope was installed on July 2008, meaning that it has a lifetime of over 10 years. However, the best news is that the rope is still on the system, unlike the Australian record-breaking rope, and will therefore push the record even higher.
Lucky number 13
The mine in Novaky has kept detailed records on the lifetimes of all ropes installed since 1976. The current rope is the 13th so far, and it has exceeded the lifetimes of all its predecessors by a factor of at least two. Its safety is guaranteed through a magneto-inductive test, which takes place every six months. The last test, in April 2018, showed only six wire breakages over the entire rope length, so its makers expect the rope to remain on the system for some time yet – an even higher bar for future records! This is all the more remarkable because the rope has never been lubricated since its installation. The shaft is a dry shaft, however.
The customer receives on-site assistance from a Casar employee as well as through its long-term partner, Metallan. The team has known the mine and contacts for many years and is always happy to provide them with advice and assistance.
For more information please visit casar
