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Armorshield in Lithium Processing

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Wear and belt rip improvement in spodumene crusher circuit achieved by using Fenner Dunlop Conveyor Belting with cover protection from proprietary compound, ArmorShield.

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The Challenge

The customer had just completed an expansion project as part of a Capex project untilising cost effective, imported conveyor belting with A-grade covers (abrasion resistant belt). These belts were not ideal for use in a crusher circuit with large and sharp rocks. Within the first 4 weeks of wet commissioning, the customer team experienced several severe belt rips up to 80m long that led to repeated shutdowns of the operation with significant loss of production. The length of the rips also made it difficult to repair the belts and new belts needed to be sourced from any available stock on hand.

The Solution

There was considerable pressure for a quick fix to the problem as it affected the ramp up of the expansion project with potential loss of production and revenue. After consulting with Fenner, we reviewed the situation on site and suggested improved belts designed for heavy impact of large and sharp hard rock with CFW (crow’s foot weave) carcass, ArmorShield covers and breaker fabric in the top cover.

 

The Results

The new belts were installed in January 2025. During an inspection in June 2025 the belts showed no signs of cuts, rips or any visible wear on the top cover.

No belt rips have occurred in the crusher circuit and the customer is very delighted with the improvement and outcome as the new belt continues to radically outperform the previous 4 week failure rate leading to improved plant availability, reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and supporting the planned output ramp-up.