OP — Open-Pit Crushing Circuit
A 400 t/h open-pit circuit with primary crushing at the pit edge and secondary screening in one steel tower.
OP is the circuit we build most often: one primary station at the pit edge, a secondary cone and a triple-deck screen on a single steel tower, and a product belt to the stockpile. 400 t/h on granite — rated on the sample, not on a table.
Putting secondary crushing and screening in one tower is a footprint decision and a maintenance decision. It is smaller than three separate frames, and it removes two transfer points where a plant usually starts to plug in the wet season.
Sixteen weeks for the first set. Ten weeks for a repeat: once the steelwork is frozen on a drawing number, a second line for the same mine is a repeat order of the same structure.
Process, step by step
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Receiving and scalping ahead of the jaw
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Primary crushing to a transferable size
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Secondary crushing in closed circuit
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Screening into the product split
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Product conveying to the stockpile
Who supplies what
| Item | Responsible |
|---|---|
| Mass balance, steelwork drawings and wear prediction | Ridgecast supplies |
| Civil foundations, drainage and hardstanding | On the mine |
| Machines, conveyors and steelwork supply | Ridgecast supplies |
| Electrical supply to the plant MCC | On the mine |
| Erection supervision and first-ore commissioning | Ridgecast supplies |
| Water supply and dust suppression | On the mine |
