It is the mill that determines the pace of the whole maintenance process at Boliden Aitik in Gällivare, Sweden. Most maintenance shutdowns are planned according to the maintenance schedule set for the reline of the mill. So if the reline can be done faster, the whole maintenance shutdown will be faster. And with Aitik’s target to grind 45 million tonnes in 2020, uptime is critical.
For many years Boliden and Metso have had a Life Cycle Services (LCS) cost-per-tonne agreement for mill linings and additional services. This agreement, believes Kjell-Arne Johansson, Senior Technical Supervisor Concentrator at Boliden, has helped improve both the products and services.
“Our cost-per-tonne agreement for mill linings makes development beneficial both for us and Metso. The agreement strengthens our cooperation, as we challenge and drive the development together,” says Kjell-Arne.
Boliden Aitik is the world leader when measured by tonnes produced per employee hour. Their aim is to process 45 million tonnes of ore in 2020, and they have about 100 employees working at the concentrator. At the Boliden Aitik maintenance department, there are 3-4 employees focusing on mill linings. That number would have been higher if mill lining expertise and service had not been part of the LCS agreement, according to Malin Ömalm, Maintenance Engineer at Boliden.
“We have regular follow-up and performance improvement meetings. Weekly reconciliations, technical meetings and steering committee meetings all contribute to control, knowledge transfer and development,” says Malin.
One innovation that Boliden Aitik was first in the world to adopt was Metso Megaliner™. Today, both of its primary AG mills feature Megaliner mill liners on the shell and feed-end head.
“Megaliner represents a new era and there is no going back. We haven’t had any problems since we started using Megaliner. The design and the wear life have fulfilled our expectations, and we have been able to significantly improve the reline time while also improving safety,” says Kjell-Arne.
The mill determines the maintenance schedule for the whole process, so minimizing downtime is critical. Every hour that can be saved puts pressure on other areas to also improve. This includes the maintenance schedule (wear life) as well as the length of maintenance shutdown (reline)…
Read the entire article on metso.com: Boliden keeps improving uptime with new mill lining solutions.
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