Replacement crusher crucial for gold

Without a crusher, our Process Plant or Mill could be closed. To find the gold-bearing ore, it is necessary to dig deeper. And the deeper we dig, the harder the rock. To process this type of rock, it must first be crushed into small rocks. The crusher plays an important role here. This past March, the primary crusher was shut down to replace a very important part, the mantle. We spoke with Gordon Nagi, Mill Maintenance General Foreman, and he told us all about the work in detail.

"We have parts that wear out quickly and therefore need to be replaced a�er a certain amount of �me," Gordon explained. These include the mantle, a part that pushes the rocks against the crusher wall through rota�onal movements, crushing the rocks into small pieces. When the mantle wears out, it can no longer do its job properly and cannot break down the rocks into the desired size. "We were forced to stop everything to replace the mantle," he said.

The part had to be changed as soon as possible. According to Gordon, it did, within the planned 12 hours. Because every �me the crusher plant shuts down, it means produc�on loss. To absorb this loss, the inventory stockpile is refilled to maintain the hard rock supply to the process plant.

According to Gordon, the mantle will be replaced again a�er about two months but Rosebel Gold Mines has the exper�se to do this work independently and as quickly as possible. There are plans to modernize the primary crusher, the General Foreman let us know. A more modern crusher not only works more efficiently but can also process the amount of hard rock faster. More processing ul�mately means higher produc�on. Without a good-performing crusher, produc�on will not be achieved.