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I just returned from MINExpo in Las Vegas where a record 36,000 visitors and 1,300 exhibitors spent three days buying and selling the equipment that digs and processes the raw materials that feed our bulk materials industries. Attendance was up more than 50 percent over the previous show and exhibit space at 600,000 sq. ft. was up 30 percent.
 
This is an industry of big machines and huge capital investments, and MINExpo, which like the Olympics occurs just once every four years, brings an impressive array of equipment under one roof. Caterpillar set the mark as biggest of the big in terms of booth size and probably for the size of their machines on display here. Their big 797F and 795F AC mining trucks, standing as tall as three story houses, drew the most attention and more photographers than the fabled Las Vegas strip.

Lines of visitors snaked up the stairs to sit in the driver's seats. On a mezzanine connecting the stairs to one of the truck cabs, two training simulators let visitors test their skills at driving these monsters.

There were quite a few material handling equipment manufacturers at the show. Next to the Caterpillar booth, Gundlach was showing its 2050S Roll Crusher. Together with Gundlach's Cage Paktor, these machines have played an important role in helping a number of Canadian mines meet the booming demand for potash. Canada's remarkable growth in potash production has been driven by agriculture's increased demand for fertilizer to feed the frenzy for biofuels in markets around the world.

The flooding of a major Russian mine pushed demand for Canadian potash even higher. Russia, Canada and Belarus account for 85 percent of known potash reserves. Canada alone has half of all reserves. Russia had been the major supplier of China, and the Russian mine closing came at a time when China's demand for fertilizer was growing at more than 12 percent per year. Flooding is common problem for potash mines, and Russian potash mining is expected to return soon, giving equipment makers an opportunity for another surge in orders from the potash industry.

Coal has seen a resurgence with today's growing energy demands, and coal mining had a major presence at the show. Pennsylvania Crusher showed its Mountaineer Sizer. The Mountaineer Sizer is designed for primary or secondary sizing of coals, industrial minerals, and ores with minimum fines generation.

Penn Crusher shared exhibit space with its sister company Jeffrey Rader, which showed its NF Electromechanical Vibrating Feeder. This feeder is designed specifically for the material handling needs of the coal industry, so that burden doesn't dampen vibration and actually boosts performance. These sub-resonant tuning characteristics assure efficient material transfer, promote quieter operation, and reduce energy and maintenance costs.

Eriez marketing communications manager Keith Jones told me the top attraction at their booth was their magnetic separator for the coal industry and minerals processing. Eriez Suspended Electromagnets (SE) remove damaging tramp iron from materials conveyed in heavy burden depths on flat conveyors or chutes. They automatically remove tramp iron from heavy product flows such as coal or rock being conveyed on belts, vibratory feeders or chutes. When designed with a continuously rotating belt, these magnets are self-cleaning.

Series 6000 Suspended Permanent (SP) Magnets automatically remove large amounts of ferrous from nonferrous materials conveyed in heavy burden depths, on almost any type of conveyor or chute. These magnets require no power source, operate practically maintenance free, offer uninterrupted magnetic protection and can be installed quickly and easily.

Jones said the SP Magnets from Eriez offer a level of performance that was previously available only with electro magnets. Permanent mag¬nets designed just a few years ago don't achieve near the performance of this new line, he said.

Don Dunnington
Moderator

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