Transfer points can contribute to some of the highest maintenance costs on a mine. However, many engineers often do not view transfer systems as a critical element of the minerals processing system. Conventional chute design is often associated with the uncontrolled discharge of bulk materials, which is linked to increased material degradation, dust generation and high liner wear. With a cascade scenario, 95% of the material runs on material at the same time in a tumbling motion, rather than gliding down the chute. Gliding particles cause extensive wear, while the tumbling or rolling motion causes far less wear. We have taken this a step further by designing the internal angle of the transfer chute to match the product with the belt speed and in so doing product degradation is greatly reduced or eliminated. We will present three case studies comparing dust and noise generated from a conventional transfer to the results from a re-designed cascade system.
