Finland-based mining technology manufacturer Metso Outotec will deliver its 100th Anode Casting Shop to PT Smelting's (PTS) copper smelter in Gresik, East Java, Indonesia.
Sami Maaniittu, director of Anode Casting at Metso Outotec, described the Gresik project as a milestone and said the system to be delivered to PTS is one of the world's largest Twin Wheel Anode Casting Shops with a guaranteed capacity of 120 tonnes per hour.
"We started the development and testing of automatic anode casting already in 1969 in Harjavalta, Finland," Maaniittu said.
"Before that, castings were made manually with controlled ladle tilting. The first anode weighing and casting machine was delivered to the USA in 1972, and a year later, the first complete anode casting shop was installed at the Harjavalta Smelter in Finland."
The system's optimised equipment design significantly improves casting capacity and provides more efficient use of floor space," the company said.
The wheels are supported on large centre bearings and driven by double drive systems developed to eliminate the backlash effect in the wheel movement and to ensure even quality, it continued.
