For several years, ME Elecmetal has been an important strategic partner in SAG processing. Today we want to continue advancing in Peru, offering hybrid products and grinding media with a comprehensive approach that adds value to the operation of ball mills.
In Peru, ME Elecmetal has built a solid reputation over nearly a decade as an expert in solutions that combine materials, alloys, and data analysis, aiming to optimize the performance of large SAG mills.
However, our experience as a global mining supplier spans every stage of processing, with a commitment to generating additional operational benefits based on the quality of the products we deliver to our clients.
We identify improvement opportunities by combining thorough knowledge of ball mill operations of all brands with a comprehensive view of the process that includes the client’s priorities. The result is solid technical proposals capable of impacting secondary grinding KPIs.
"Our main competitors in Peru have done a good job positioning themselves in the supply of secondary grinding media," acknowledges Luciano Irrazabal, Country Manager of ME Elecmetal. "However, the strategy of supplying high-quality materials and designs with added value, combined with the in-house manufacturing process of our grinding media, allows us to offer our clients solutions capable of making commitments and, above all, fulfilling them."
In the beginning, steel
It is no secret that hybrid liners have higher manufacturing costs than traditional liners made entirely of steel. However, due to their lighter weight and the effect this has on mill maintainability, in recent years this option has established itself as a reliable alternative, safer for maintenance personnel and, under certain operational parameters, capable of generating positive impacts on a plant’s KPIs.
ME Elecmetal, with over a century of experience in steel casting, has developed hybrid liners that incorporate proprietary raw materials in their manufacture, allowing us greater control over the final quality of the rubber-steel products we offer.
This alone marks a significant difference for our clients in terms of reliability and the service life of the parts we supply. However, this good performance also opens the technical possibility of translating that quality into concrete opportunities for mill optimization.
ME Elecmetal
World’s No. 2 in cast steel parts manufacturing.
World’s No. 2 in grinding ball manufacturing and home to the largest production plant worldwide.
ME Elecmetal in Peru: present at Chinalco – MMG – BHP – Glencore – Anglo American.
"We are not newcomers to secondary grinding, although we are aware that clients may be reluctant to experiment with options that could affect the continuity of their processing lines," says Rodrigo Barrera, product manager of ME Elecmetal in Peru.
Ball mills, however, offer more favorable conditions to explore improvement opportunities through protocolized tests that allow validating in real scenarios the advantages of new liner and grinding media options.
These benefits assume tangible impacts that must be reflected in the operator’s relevant KPIs. With this philosophy, ME Elecmetal seeks to generate added value from the optimal performance of its products, enhancing processes and improving the performance of ball mills.
"Some people automatically associate our company with the supply of cast steel parts, whereas our expertise in hybrid materials dates back to the very origins of rubber application in mill liner design," adds Eric Jorquera, product manager of ME PolyFIT®.
ME PolyFIT® is the product and solution line focused on supplying rubber and hybrids (rubber/steel) for SAG and ball mills, with over five years of market presence and positive results especially in South America.
These products have demonstrated versatility in solutions impacting secondary grinding lines and, depending on recommended operational parameters, added benefits can be generated in terms of particle size distribution, reduced circulating load, fewer unplanned stoppages, or other relevant process variables such as greater mineral liberation or better power utilization.
Grinding media
The competitiveness of ME Elecmetal’s secondary grinding media is based on two concepts: quality and performance. Along with this, the after-sales service we provide on site can only be delivered by a global mining supplier.
There are three pillars that determine the quality of grinding media or balls, with raw material being the first and perhaps the most important of all. The joint venture ME Elecmetal has maintained since the beginning of the century with Longteng Special Steel Co. places us at the forefront in the production and manufacturing of grinding steels for the international mining industry.
The second pillar is the know-how of the manufacturing process. Our company has its own manufacturing process, capable of responding to specific requirements demanded by the solutions designed for our clients worldwide.
The third determining factor is the available technology and its correct application in the metallurgical treatments to which the balls are subjected for optimal performance. In this regard, ME Elecmetal offers unparalleled technical support in the industry, which translates into a commitment to the objectives and needs of its clients.
"This commitment materializes in the form of concrete operational benefits that significantly impact the process KPIs," states Percy Jiménez, product manager of Grinding Media at ME Elecmetal in Peru. "And for this, a test is developed under terms and conditions previously agreed with the client to validate the theoretical performance achieved by the ball in simulations and preliminary projections."
Validate to improve
To identify a plant’s needs, the first step is to speak the same language as the managers of its different areas. Our technical-commercial team knows this well; they are responsible for interacting with the client on site and from there proposing solutions that benefit their operation.
The technical area, made up of technical-commercial executives, designers, and engineers, is responsible for "translating" a client’s need into an initial technical proposal, whose design and metallurgy are then subjected to a series of simulations to determine the ideal operating parameters for optimal liner or grinding media behavior.
This process allows establishing the expected benefits relative to the agreed baseline and making concrete commitments with the client before proceeding to the campaign test. This test will verify the positive impact of the new design and configuration on relevant KPIs: availability, maintainability, reliability, and safety.
Therefore, our search for opportunities goes beyond the mill we serve. Through the liners and secondary grinding media we manufacture, we aim to transfer to our clients the metallurgical, technological, and design knowledge that ME Elecmetal’s experience allows us to offer. All this in the form of solutions with real impact on their KPIs.
See you at Perumin 2022!
At ME Elecmetal, we do not want to settle for just offering an excellent product; we seek to consolidate virtuous conversations focused on achieving better results.
For this reason, within the framework of our participation in Perumin 2022, we invite superintendents, plant managers, and other professionals from the area to an exclusive event for mining clients, consisting of a workshop followed by a cocktail to be held in the city of Arequipa on Tuesday, September 27 at 7 p.m. (hotel Casa Andina Select).
Registration is free, and interested parties can sign up via the online form provided on our website for this purpose. Registered individuals will receive an official invitation by email or phone.
