Under the motto: “The world’s richest deposit of Mining Technology, Services and Products”, the MINExpo opens on September 22 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Through September 24, more than 1,100 international exhibitors are expected at the 56,000m² of exhibition space in the Las Vegas Convention Center – some 30 percent more than the prior year. The international trade fair is held just once every four years and is considered to be one of the industry’s most important fairs.
ContiTech will be represented at the MINExpo in Las Vegas with its conveyor belt group business unit (booth 4772) and its know-how in conveyor belt technology. The environment and energy efficiency are the focus of its presentation.
An example is the RopeCon® conveyor belt. The RopeCon system is part conveyor belt and part ropeway, combining the benefits of a continuously conveying belt with those of a material-transporting ropeway. This makes large differences in altitude possible with few support points and large mass flow rates.
Stefan Hoheisel, general manager of the conveyor belt unit of ContiTech Mexicana, explains: “Compared to other means of transport, the RopeCon concept is especially eco-friendly and presents advantages wherever high conveying capacity is required across impassable terrain, wooded areas or wide rivers.”
An impressive example: In Jamaica, the world’s largest RopeCon system helps in the production of bauxite. Thanks to the long distance conveyor with the ContiTech conveyor belt, not only was the original infrastructure preserved and countless truck runs were eliminated. The downhill motion from the extraction point to the discharge station also provides energy that is returned into the power grid – as much as 1,300kw an hour.
Another highlight at the MINExpo is the textile conveyor belt CONTITITAN%reg;, which was designed especially for underground mining. A special fabric provides for a very high tear resistance, even though just one or two textile plies are incorporated in the belt. The unique feature of this development is the impact strength of the textile conveyor belt, which is even higher than that of a steel cord belt with the same elongation properties.
ContiTech is not, however, just showcasing its finished products in Las Vegas. Its presentation at the MINExpo will in part also feature the various compound grades.
The ContiTech Group has developed more than 2,000 compound formulas which form the basis for defining and determining the special properties of conveyor belts such as cut resistance, belt elongation, adhesion between the plies, abrasion resistance, resistance to flame propagation and many more.
As a leading rubber specialist, ContiTech has the right compound for nearly every application and can thus respond flexibly and reliably to customers’ requirements.
At the MINExpo, ContiTech will also share information about the production status of the new steel cord belt ST 10,000 which will likely hit the market in the spring of 2009.