Vibramech has been supplying its vibrating equipment to the diamond processing industry for more than 30 years.

“This lengthy association has enabled us to generate an unparalleled data base of successful applications distinctive to the circumstances that prevail in the diamond mining industry, world-wide,” Vibramech MD DAVID MASSEY tells Mining Review Africa.

In affirmation of the above, Vibramech has received its largest order to date, to supply over 30 units of vibrating equipment to the latest state-of-the-art marine diamond processing vessel.

This article first appeared in Mining Review Africa Issue 11, 2019 Read the full digimag here or subscribe to receive a print copy here

The equipment ranges from heavy duty / high capacity primary scalping screens to diamond recovery feeders.

The large primary scalping screens (the largest operational on sea going processing plants) have been meticulously designed and tailor-made for this specific application and have been designed using the latest finite element and strain gauge techniques.

Outside of this significant order, Vibramech also recently added to its processing equipment footprint in Lesotho with the commissioning of heavy duty front end, dual DMS, XRT and recovery vibrating processing equipment.

The supply of vibrating equipment dedicated to the diamond processing industry has continued worldwide during 2019, with supply into counties such as Zimbabwe, Sierre Leone, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Canada.

Vibramech’s range of vibrating equipment especially suited to the diamond industry comprises, amongst others: plant grizzly feeders, plant screens and feeders, scrubber and crusher screens, coarse and fine dense media seperation (DMS) screens, recrush DMS, recovery plant feeders and screens, tube feeders and grease tables.

“We firmly believe that the process and engineering knowledge gained over three decades enables Vibramech’s engineers to accurately predict the optimal equipment solution required to accomplish the duties specified by any of our diamond mining clients,” Massey highlights.

The company understands the harsh operating conditions which vibrating screens, grizzlies and feeders are subjected to in the mining industry. As such, the company is cognisant that its designs need to cater for both abrasive and corrosive environments.

“Our equipment needs to withstand the high wear associated with the screening of abrasive ores. We also have a range of speciality liner materials, paint specifications and wear prevention compounds which are used to combat the effects of corrosion in the marine and refinery applications. Vibramech even offers the option to install a screen in stainless steel,” explains Massey.

The Vibramech design makes extensive use of rubber lining to reduce the effect of wear and impact on screen components.

A range of steel, ceramic and polyurethane liners are available to protect screen and grizzly side plates, as well as feeder pans.

An abrasion resistant / anti-corrosion epoxy resin system is used to minimise wear associated with fines in wet applications.

“It is imperative that stresses induced by welding are minimised to prevent crack formation in vibrating equipment,” Massey says.

Vibramech therefore makes use of heat treatment to stress relieve all welded screen components. The overall design philosophy is to minimise welding and maximise the use of swaged fasteners.

As sound dynamic behaviour is essential to ensure vibrating equipment reliability, all equipment is built to perform within strict dynamic parameters.

All internal mating surfaces are machined in order to maintain stringent dimensional tolerances.

In addition, the company’s quality assurance programme makes provision for a full 3D vibration analysis to be conducted on all equipment prior to release. This is used as a benchmark for the life of the equipment.

In addition to continued new projects, Vibramech has constantly strived to provide clients with augmentations to its existing vibrating equipment. This enables the company to retrofit custom-made design enhancements to improve on the existing mechanical, wear and process related characteristics of any componentry which may need replacement. 

Issues such as drive type preference (geared exciters / vibrator motors), increased throughput, improved efficiency, reduced panel pegging and optimised spray configurations are all addressed during the retrofitting process.

Presently the company consistently produces in excess of 500 vibrating units per annum and is historically, and continues to be the foremost supplier of vibrating equipment to the coal, diamond (land and marine) and platinum mines mainly in Southern Africa.

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