Surging ahead

PCS High Speed Load Out Conveyor and 500T Bin Project

A potash mine in Saskatchewan was planning for upgrades to its loading conveyor, skips, and production hoist. To prepare for these enhancements, the client brought in our team of engineering experts to upgrade the site’s surge capacity well-beyond the existing system.

Our client needed a new surge bin and ore conveying system to support the mine’s increasing production capacity—the existing 350-tonne bin was in poor condition and unreliable. So, we provided detailed engineering and design services for a 500-tonne underground surge bin, complete with apron feeder and conveyor transport system to the shaft loading pocket. We also performed trade-off study engineering to determine and meet the future production requirements.

A unique feature of the project was a ground-mounted Koepe hoist and high-speed load-out conveyor. The system enhancements were excavated, installed, and commissioned with minimal interruptions to the current operations and production. How? By designing a system that could be installed in parallel with the existing system, requiring only a brief interruption in productivity for the final switchover.

The result? The high-speed load-out conveyor remains the world's largest of its kind at a belt width of 96” and a capacity exceeding 18,000 tons per hour.