Chilean state-owned copper mining company Codelco sought support from Mammoet to move critical crusher parts near a mine at Calama, Chile.
Mammoet, a Dutch logistics company, is known for engineering heavy lifts and transport of large objects. The project marked the first time the company had worked with Codelco and the first time the site needed to relocate a crusher.
Sixteen components, including the ‘big six’ – the largest items that made up the crusher system which extracts materials from mines and breaks them down into smaller pieces – were carried from one site to another situated 4.5 kilometres away.
Mammoet said its engineers offered a series of different extraction methods to allow the key components to relocate as whole units.
Planning and routing
Planning the relocation and route with Mammoet heavy transport and heavy lifting equipment was the first part of the operation.
Mammoet Sales Manager, Vanessa Labana said the company worked with Codelco for a year and a half on the planning.
“We created all the route plans and drawings and supported them to answer all the questions and considerations they had to face on site. For example, the correct slope, turn ratios, and width of the road to facilitate the fastest transport route,” she said.
Mammoet brought Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs) from Malaysia, skidding systems from the United States, and additional equipment was sourced from Colombia for the move.
Extracting and moving ‘big six’ crusher parts
There were six key components to relocate, and the method for removal and transporting was different for each. Most were lifted using climbing jacks and then relocated with SPMTs fitted with support beams.
For the drive system, this same approach was used, but with the addition of a skidding system. This was used to slide the component 12 metres, before it could be jacked down into its final position.
The two heaviest items that needed heavy transport and heavy lifting were the silo (1,100t) and crusher itself (1,300t), with the latter being the most complex of the six cargo movements.
“We created a support beam that was especially adapted for this cargo. We had to make some alterations to our original beams by applying lead reinforcements on top, at the four lifting points, to prevent deformation,” Labana said.
The crusher was extracted from its housing using skid tracks and skid shoes, before being lifted into the air high enough for SPMTs to move underneath. Lashing was used to add additional support and hold everything in position during the 4.5-kilometre journey.
An area close to the demobilisation location was created to allow the crusher to be rotated 180 degrees so it would be in the correct position for installation.
Once it arrived at the installation site, the earlier process was repeated in reverse, with SPMT trailers lowering the cargo onto skid tracks to slide it back into its new position.
The gallery unit was also a challenge, due to the ground soil not being completely level, with a one-per cent slope. As a result, two hydraulic jacks were used to perform heavy lifting on its back end at three different intervals to keep everything level as it was skidded forward.
Mammoet said the operation was completed in just over a month, taking less time than was expected, due to crusher parts being moved as complete units.
A team of 70 people, and a total of 160 axle lines of SPMT, eight skid shoes (500t), eight jacking systems (400t), as well as support beams, rails, and lashing, were used across the project.
“If this project had been done this in a conventional way, Codelco would have needed to cut and disassemble the equipment, and this would have taken a lot of time”, Labana said.