Clear Edge long-term partnership with one of the largest Zinc manufacturers in India as it supplies reliable filtration solutions to the mine.
Our customer is India’s largest and the world’s second largest zinc-lead miner. With more than 50 years of operational experience, they give highest priority to safety of people and conservation of scarce natural resources through technology and innovation. With a reserve base of 150.3 million MT and an average zinc-lead grade of 7.8% and mineral resources of 297.6 million MT, their mine life is over 25 years. The site is fully integrated zinc operations currently hold 78% market share in India’s primary zinc industry and are the 6th largest silver producer globally with an annual capacity of 800 MT.
The customer needed a reliable supplier who can rely on to provide uninterrupted, efficient service and solutions, and maximize uptime of its production at its Mine in Rajasthan, India.
The Challenge
Some of the most extreme environments on the planet, mining operations are constantly running with minimal break. The operation must be running every hour almost every day. In mining, downtime due to any single piece of equipment or part can result in a huge loss. Two key factors to a successful mine site operation; equipment or part availability and productivity. To achieve optimal performance in both categories, miners need partners that work just as hard as they do. Clear Edge’s sales and technical teams work equally hard to provide excellent quality service and support to ensure the customer runs an efficient mine operation.
Their aim was not only to scale up production but to upgrade to a higher manufacturing standard, for increased safety, efficiency, and energy savings. Hence, looking for a supplier who can address the below requirement and entrusted Clear Edge based on products, service, solutions, and reputation in the market.
- Quick delivery lead time
- Increase cloth service life
- Increase average cycle flows
- Maximise set point flows
The Solution
The mine is highly mechanized with state-of-the-art technology. Underground Mining is carried out using Long Hole Open Stoping with Paste Fill method with mined out stopes backfilled with cemented rock & with cemented tailing in paste form.
Zinc and lead concentrates produced at the mine site are transferred to smelters. The tailing generated due to beneficiation of ore are used by paste filling plants.
The facility is a paste and fill plant and are using disc filter machines. Most of the filtration equipment used in their facility are process critical filtration steps. They have 2 plants and 4 filters (140 sector in each machine) in each plant. It is therefore essential to supply the filter cloth in less time for uninterrupted production and an appropriate media for the particular filtration stage for each application.
Clear Edge has been providing advanced filter media for leading mining companies in the world since its inception in 1800s. Since then, we have adapted filter media for various industrial applications and customer support network with an unmatched understanding of process filtration and environmental protection.
The customer turned to Clear Edge exclusively for this project (plant), based on the performance on prior projects and our ability to meet the customer’s needs. With this, Clear Edge supplies to all customer’s plants across its locations.
Higher up-time An increase in filter availability (DF) and improved efficiency were required to meet the demanding needs of the customer. To help the customer meet their requirements, the Clear Edge team provided a large inventory of on-site filter cloths as well as a dedicated inventory and fabrication at their plant. Immediate improvements were seen to lower total downtime related to scheduled planned maintenance service and unplanned events.
Over time, Clear Edge filtration solutions made such a strong impression on the customer that the deal expanded into a much deeper business relationship.
The Result
Thus, the investment in Clear Edge exhibited its mission of making our customer
SAFER – By reducing cloth changes and minimizing manual handling
HEALTHIER – Limiting operator exposure to a hazardous environment
PRODUCTIVE – Maximising performance and profitability of a process stage
“The delivery lead time of filter cloths was reduced to between one to five days in comparison to competitors’ products at 30 to 90 days. This has resulted in a higher output and the lowest cost of ownership on the market”, the customer, says. “Clear Edge filter media products provide stable, safe, and durable products that assure non-stop production.” the customer adds.
