Metso resolve hauling issues at Swedish mine
Trellex truck bed rubber lining helps reduce wear and increases uptime at Boliden’s Aitik mine
METSO are helping to keep trucks moving at Boliden’s Aitik Mine, in northern Sweden, thanks to the Finnish company’s innovative Trellex truck bed rubber linings which are protecting the earthmovers from wear and, thereby, increasing operational time and reducing maintenance costs.
The benefits are being realized after Boliden signed a three-year contract with Metso to deliver the truck bed rubber linings for a total of 15 haul trucks, representing the largest single order for truck bed linings for Metso to date.
The linings are used in the haul truck dump body to protect the entire truck structure from wear and damage while transporting rock from the mine. Metso’s linings are specifically designed to absorb stress at every point of the truck work cycle, from loading and transport to dumping.
The main benefit of Trellex lining is its long wear life compared with a traditional steel lining; Metso say their lining offers service life up to four times longer. The Trellex rubber truck bed lining is also a modular panel system, allowing panels to be replaced individually rather than the entire lining, resulting in reduced downtime and maintenance costs.
Magnus Fjellström, maintenance superintendent with Boliden Aitik, said: ‘During the past two years we have evaluated Metso’s truck bed lining through our existing life-cycle services contract for our Cat 793 and Cat 795 mining truck models.
‘We have appreciated the increased availability of our trucks, and we also value the benefits from a health and safety perspective as our truck drivers prefer to drive vehicles equipped with Metso’s lining due to the reduced noise level and vibration during operation.’
Christer Brännström, Metso’s vice-president of Nordic service operational hubs, added: ‘To strengthen our co-operation even further, Metso and Aitik are working together to improve the Metso truck bed rubber lining even further. The results will confirm the advantages of our solution over steel linings.’
