Double Roll Crusher for Red Clay Nickel Ore

Applicable materials:River pebbles, calcite, quartz stone, marble, cobblestone, bentonite, iron ore, bluestone, mountain rock, water slag, limestone, weathered sand, diabase, granite, basalt, silicon carbide, emery, sintered bauxite, magnesia, etc.

  • Feed size:40-120mm
  • Productive capacity:20-400t/h

Key Equipment

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Background

The client, a major nickel producer operating an HPAL facility in Sulawesi, Indonesia, was expanding its processing capacity to meet growing demand from the electric vehicle battery supply chain. The HPAL process requires finely crushed, uniformly sized ore feed to maximize nickel and cobalt extraction in the autoclave. However, the project faced a critical bottleneck from the very beginning: the crushing circuit could not reliably process the ore.

red clay nickel ore

red clay nickel ore

The Problem in Detail

The red clay nickel ore at this site exhibited extreme handling difficulties:

  • Clay content of 35–40% — far beyond the design limits of conventional crushers

  • Moisture levels reaching 42% during the five-month rainy season

  • Extreme material stickiness — ore adhered to every surface it touched

  • Frequent hard saprolite cores embedded within the soft clay matrix

The original crushing circuit was configured with cone crushers for the secondary and tertiary stages.

The results were disastrous:

Operational Issue Impact
Crushing chamber clogging Cone crushers blocked every 30–60 minutes during wet-season operation
Manual cavity clearing Required 2–3 workers, 20–40 minutes per incident
Equipment availability Dropped below 55% during the rainy season
Production shortfall Plant throughput fell to 40% of design capacity
Maintenance burden Bowl liners and mantle wear accelerated by abrasive clay slurry
Screen blinding Vibrating screens required hourly cleaning

The Solution: Hydraulic Roll Crushers Engineered for Wet, Sticky Ore

Equipment Selection
After a thorough evaluation of alternative crushing technologies, the client selected Huashengming ‘s 2PGY1200×1000 Hydraulic Roll Crusher for both the secondary and tertiary crushing stages.

Why the Roll Crusher Was Selected

Selection Criteria Roll Crusher Performance Cone Crusher (Previous)
Clay ore handling No enclosed chamber; forced passage Constant clogging
Wet-season operation Moisture aids material flow Moisture causes blockage
Product uniformity Precisely controlled roll gap Variable, inconsistent
Fines generation <15% at -1mm 25–35% at -1mm
Energy consumption 0.5–0.7 kWh/t 1.2–1.5 kWh/t
On-site maintainability Roll hardfacing on-site Liner replacement in workshop

Commissioning Observations

During the initial load testing, the following observations were recorded:

  • No material adhesion to roll surfaces, even with ore moisture at 40%

  • Automatic scrapers effectively removed the small amount of clay that initially adhered

  • Hydraulic gap adjustment allowed operators to fine-tune product size within minutes

  • Overload protection activated twice during testing when hard saprolite cores entered — each time the system released and reset automatically in under 3 seconds

  • Product size distribution immediately met the HPAL feed specification without circuit tuning

    Double roll crusher 2PGY1200*1000

    Double roll crusher 2PGY1200*1000

     Why This Project Succeeded

    1. Right Technology for the Right Ore: The roll crusher’s compression-forced-passage principle was fundamentally compatible with the wet, sticky, clay-rich characteristics of laterite nickel ore.

    2. System-Level Thinking: The solution was not just a crusher replacement — it was a complete circuit reconfiguration that optimized the entire crushing-to-leaching chain.

    3. Proven in Extreme Conditions: Two full rainy seasons of operation have validated the technology’s reliability in the most challenging moisture conditions.

    4. Rapid ROI: The total project payback period was under six months, driven primarily by increased nickel recovery and eliminated downtime.

      About HUASHENGMING HEAVY INDUSTRY MACHINERY CO.,LTD

      Huashengming is a specialized manufacturer of crushing and screening equipment for the global mining industry. Our roll crusher series has been successfully deployed in nickel, gold, copper, lithium, and industrial mineral processing projects across Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas.

      We specialize in solving difficult ore handling challenges — particularly wet, sticky, and clay-rich materials that defeat conventional crushing equipment.

suitable for more than 200 types hard materials
  • Small-Scale Gold Ore Crushing Line
  • Granite sand making
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  • Limestone sand making

Gongyi Huashengming Heavy Machinery Factory

Gongyi Huashengming Heavy Industry Machinery Factory is a production of crushing and screening equipment, production, sales as one of the large machinery intelligent manufacturing enterprises. Company headquarters is located in the Central Plains of the pearl Gongyi City, the main roller crusher equipment, mobile sand making equipment, screening equipment and construction waste treatment equipment series products, our company’s production site thousands of thousands, all over the provinces and cities. Over the years we have been consistent, honest service to every customer. We sincerely look forward to cooperating with you.

 

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