WHAT’S NEW Milling equipment Competition comes ashore

The recent merger mania among mine equipment manufacturers in North A merica can largely be attributed to some pretty stiff competition from off- shore. Manufacturers, particularly in Scandinavia with domestic markets smaller than our own, are turning to Canada with confidence to expand their international markets. In 1985 alone, the Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology estimates, Canadian mines spent a total of $2.1 billion on new equipment and maintenance, making this the third largest mining market in the world, behind the Soviet Union and South Africa. A total of $666 million was spent by Canadian mines last year on imported equipment. Finland, which has taken advantage of recent computer-assisted manufacturing technology, particularly in the field of mining equipment manufacture, is just one of the offshore countries giving North Americans a run for their money. Sweden and West Germany are two others. Finnish companies such as Tamrock, Roxon, Rammer (divisions of Kone Oy), Outokumpu, Larox Oy and Toro have all been successful at selling their machines to Canadian miners. And that’s despite 9.2% duties imposed by the federal government on equipment used above ground and despite traditionally long delivery times. With the exception of Tamrock, they have all marketed their wares through distributers in this country.

In the early 1980s Tamrock was the first to set up a subsidiary in Canada to market its drilling products. Now, in mineral processing, a Finnish company that has been building crushers for hardrock mines since 1923, has decided to set up shop in Canada as well. The company is Rauma-Repola International’s Lokomo Crusher Division. Its new offices are in Ville St-Laurent, Que., near Montreal.

David Nemes, born and raised in Finland but a Canadian resident for a number of years, is president of the company’s North American operations. He will be faced with the difficult task of cracking the North American market. He should be helped, though, by the fact that he organized mining safaries to Finland in 1982 and 1986 while he was the Vancouver- based Finnish Trade Commissioner to Canada.

Lokomo Crusher Works, based in Tampere, Finland, is a subsidiary of Neles Oy, a major manufacturer of mobile cranes, road graders, excavators, deep-sea drilling platforms and various pieces of equipment for the pulp and paper industry. For a company that calls itself “the world’s best rock-eater,” it is not very well established in Canada — even though the country is one of the biggest markets in the world for mining equipment, Jouni Nimmela told The Northern Miner Magazine last year.

Last year the company generated revenues of $25 million(US) by exporting crushers to more than 40 countries. “The world is a very big place and we’ve been busy opening markets in Australia, China and the Far East,” Nimmela said. “In our experience it takes about two years to get into a market. But we want to show you that we’re in this business to stay.”

Nemes says the company would like to tackle the Canadian market in the same way other Finnish companies have — by leading with a product that has a technological advantage over the competition. This strategy is often chosen to pierce a market and is followed by additions to the product line in the years ahead. The company plans to introduce at least one new product into the world market each year.

In Canada, Lokomo’s lead product will likely be a series of three gyratory crushers. “We feel this will be the dominating type of crusher — subplanting jaw crushers — in the near future,” business development manager Jouko Suominen says. Flexibility is the main reason. By changing the upper mantle and the crushing chamber on the company’s three different gyratory crushers — the G-800, G-1,100 and G-1,400 — 16 different crusher types are available. Typical of the G-series crushers is the rapid hydraulic adjusting of settings, which can also be remotely controlled.

The relative motion of the crushing faces of a jaw crusher and a gyratory crusher are the same, but in the case of the gyratory the motion is due to the gyration of an eccentrically mounted cone. The main advantage arises from the interaction of particles — ore crushed against ore — thus reducing wear on components.

Almost 90% of the company’s sales are to quarries and open pits. Being connected with a major steel foundry is a distinct advantage for the company. It gives Lokomo direct control over the metallurgical quality of its crusher components — something that is not possible for other crusher manufacturers who purchase their steel castings from subcontractors. In fact quality control is a top priority for Lokomo. Such sophisticated tools as electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction sampling are used to ensure quality of craftsmanship.

The company is one of only two steel works in Europe which make steel in a vacuum smelting furnace. By keeping sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen content to a minimum, the so-called Vaculok-steels give excellent ductility and high fatigue strength — more than 50% higher than conventional steel. Lokomo says this very clean, high-quality steel, used in all crusher housings manufactured by the company, contributes to longer machine life. All wear parts are made of Lokomo’s manganese steel and a minimum of weld points are used to reduce wear.

Most of the standard crusher components required for the company’s mobile crushers will be purchased in Canada, Nemes says. Canadian content could be as high as 80%. Delivery times should be about four months.

Lokomo also specializes in feeder and screen design and installation. Separating fines and coarse material prior to crushing increases the longevity and efficiency of any crusher.

Some other new developments in mineral processing that have come on to the market recently include: