Armorshield Crushing It In North-West Queensland

Fenner Conveyors has delivered ArmorShield (formerly known as 'TuffAs') belting to one of the world’s largest silver and lead producers.  

Located in North-West Queensland, the underground mine operates with a crushing plant on the surface and is one of the world’s largest producers of silver and lead. Due to the hard rock application, conveyor belt must be highly durable to avoid rips and tears, and consequent downtime.

After completing a successful belt trial with the cover compound in 2020, Fenner Conveyors was contracted to implement ArmorShield on six conveyors across the site – five being part of the crushing circuit.

Account Manager, Tony Maguire says the trial results were a testament to the cut and gouge resistance of ArmorShield in aggressive environments.

“The trial saw the ArmorShield belt significantly extend time between changeouts for the underground circuit conveyors,” said Maguire.

The ArmorShield compound is specifically designed to absorb the energy of incoming feed, preventing subsequent carcass damage and premature removal of the conveyor belt. Coupled with Fenner Conveyors' Crows Foot Weave carcass, the 753m of belt will provide the customer with superior defence from cut and gouge damage.

ArmorShield is being widely adopted by sites across Australia’s North-East, with operations on Groote Eylandt also seeing results. Fenner Conveyors has been a key supplier for the customer’s operations for more than two decades, demonstrating its reliability for conveyor belt, components, and maintenance.

“Over the past 20 years, Fenner Conveyors has seen this mine through an evolution of belting. From M grade, to Extra Cut & Gouge, and now ArmorShield – Fenner Conveyors has remained the trusted supplier for cover compounds that exceed customer expectations,” explains Maguire.

“We have even started supplying belting with Ultra Tuff covers to low impact conveyors that require high abrasion resistance.”

Fenner Conveyors recently established a full-time coordinator on-site, which Maguire believes has greatly assisted the company's ability to understand the site’s unique challenges and contribute to improved reliability.

“We are committed to working with our customers to continue delivering innovative compounds for belting solutions.”

The belt was supplied to site in June 2022, with belts now completely installed and in operation.

Find out more about Fenner Conveyors' full range of conveyor belt cover compounds here.