CODE OF PRACTICE

RICHARDS BAY MINERALS

Effective Date
15 May 2015
APPLICABLE TO COP No. REVISION NO PAGE
All Divisions 45 4 1 of 17

BELT CONVEYORS AND BUCKET ELEVATORS

Compiled by: Manager RMM Smelting and Processing

1. PURPOSE

This code of practice applies to RBM belt conveyors and bucket elevators and seeks to ensure that
the correct equipment is installed, operated and maintained safely and are in accordance with
approved and accepted standards.

2. REFERENCES

2.1. LEGAL

 Minerals & Petroleum Resources Development Act and Regulations (28/2002)

Mine Health and Safety Act (Act 29) and Regulations, Chapter 8 Machinery and equipment
Reg 8.9(1) to 8.9(10)
 Code of practice issued by Inspector of Machinery: “Guarding of conveyor belt installations,”
(Ref. IMN 1/3 dated 14 June 1982)

2.2. RBM STANDARDS

 Machine guarding (SOP No MG-01)
 Standard conveyor guard drawing (Drawing No 000-H-008)
 P.M. Schedules as applicable
 Risk Assessment on: Conveyors and Nip points – Scale calibration & Training ( Risk
Assessment No.ZZ-RAS-002)
 E45 GP 002 - Conveyor Belt Specification
 E45 GP 003 - Trouble Shooting Guidelines on Belt Problems: Detection and Correction
 E45 GP 004 - RBM ENGINEERING MANUAL: Care and Maintenance of Belt Conveyor
 E45 GP 005 – Installation of belts on conveyors
 E45 GP 006 - Care and Maintenance of Bucket Elevators
 E45 GP 007 – Textile Reinforced Elastomer Conveyor Belt Splicing

2.3 OTHER STANDARDS

SANS 10266 Code of practice in safe use, operation and inspection of belt conveyors
SANS 962-1 & 962-2 Specification on conveyor belt fasteners
SANS 971 Specification on fire resistant textile reinforced conveyor belts
SANS 1313-1, 1313-2 & 1313-3 Specification on conveyor belt idlers
SANS 1173 Specification on general-purpose textile reinforced conveyor belting
SANS 1669-1 & 1669-2 Specification on conveyor belt pulleys
Rio Tinto Asset Utilisations Guidelines
Memorandum of Guarding of Belt Conveyors GME 14/8/5/5 dated 26/1/1987

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3. SIGNAGE
Design and location of all signs and labels should comply with the relevant prescribed standards and
Mine Regulations.

Removable guards, covers and inspection doors shall be clearly labelled "DANGER - ISOLATE
DRIVE BEFORE REMOVING GUARD OR ENTERING CHUTE ETC."

The location of fire fighting equipment and emergency stop switches should be clearly labelled and
identified.

4. MAINTENANCE ACCESS

The minimum clearance between the bottom of the return belting and the floor should practically be
at least 600mm to ensure safe access for the cleaning of spillage under the conveyor.

The minimum clearance between pulleys and associated structures should be 1 metre to enable
access around the pulleys for installation or removal.

Conveyor tunnels should be sized to ensure that all removable assemblies can be easily and safely
replaced and transported to the outside ground level and that there exists a minimum of a 1 metre
clearance on one side of the conveyor and 600 mm on the other side of the conveyor. Tunnels
should have at least 2 metres of headroom.

Tunnels and pits should be designed for proper ventilation. Tunnels and pits should be designed for
proper drainage. Sump holes or trenches shall be covered. Where pumps are provided, the controls
shall be located in an accessible and safe position outside any area that may be flooded.

An alternative or emergency exit shall exist in a tunnel, preferable at the other end of the tunnel inlet.

Although we recognise that RBM might have conveyors that are running much closer to each other
than 1 metre, we however recommend that any new parallel conveyors that are to be installed should
be spaced at least 1 metre apart.

At least two easily accessible inspection or access doors should be provided in a transfer chute, one
in the loading zone and one in the discharge zone. If the chute has more than a 3 metres drop then
another door should be located at the approximate midpoint but out of the material trajectory. In
situations where a drop of 6 metres or more occurs, a door at 3 metres is recommended. Doors
should be provided in pairs on opposite sides of the chute to allow for the insertion of ladders or
building of scaffolding.

Doors should be sized to easily and safely to view components inside the chute. Doors are installed
on the non-wearing sides of the chute, away from the flow of impacting or abrasive material. Doors
should be easy opening and close in tight clearances, with corrosion protected hinges and latching
systems.

Where bearings are inaccessible or are in hazardous locations and require lubrication, the means of
lubrication shall be located in an accessible and safe position and the lubricant should be piped to
the bearings. The lubrication points should be located outside the alignment of the carrying
mechanism of the conveyor and should be accessible without the removal of any guard.

5. BELT RENEWAL & REPAIRS

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Where crane access is restricted, provision should be built into conveyor structures at drive and
transfer points for the handling of heavy components during maintenance operations and should
consist of adequate lifting beams..
Clamping facilities equipped with overhead crawl beams and chain blocks should be provided before
and after the drive and take-up pulley to serve as anchor points for belt tensioning equipment. A
clamping facility with suitable area for storing and mounting temporary idlers and winches etc. as
used during belt renewal should be provided. Steel structures should be of adequate design to
enable safe belt clamping and tensioning.

Built-in bend rolls, where necessary, should be used during the belt changeover in order to prevent
excessive rubbing of the belting against concrete or steel structures. The splicing of belts shall be in
accordance with RBM prescribed Standards

6. SAFETY GUARDS
Design of all guards should comply with the relevant prescribed RBM standards and drawings as
well as Mine Regulations.

Suitable guards should be provided at every dangerous part of a conveyor normally accessible to
personnel, these include all pulleys, all drive components (backstops, brakes and couplings), all
take-up sheaves and pulleys, gravity take-up counterweight boxes and all moving and nipping parts.
Nip guards in the form of angle iron shall be provided on the pulley side where the belts roll onto the
pulley. These nip guards shall be part of the preventative program and shall be inspected to ensure
that they do not damage the belt.

Loading and tail sections should be fully guarded from the back of the tail pulley to the end of the
skirt plates downstream of the loading chute. The guards should cover the skirts, troughing idlers,
return idlers and the belt. A cleaning gap for spillage removal should be allowed between the top of
the stringer and the start of the guard along the skirt plate. The tail pulley guard should also be
designed to allow for cleaning under the tail pulley.

The conveyor idlers should be guarded along the convex curve. Fixed guards should be provided
where the conveyor can be serviced without the removal of the guards. Guards should be of a light
material and easily removable for maintenance purposes.

Guards should allow for adequate ventilation and cooling of equipment. Unperforated guards should
be used around all fluid couplings to contain any splashing oil in the event of a fusible plug blowing.

Open guards should be rigid (recommend: 18mm max opening & 6mm thick at least 150mm away
from the nipping point). Where there exists a possibility that a person may climb or rest upon the
guard, then the guard should be capable of supporting the weight of a heavy person in any position
upon it.

Guards should be fitted or bolted to steel structures and not welded. Guards should enclose pulleys
in such a way that the nip point between the belt and the pulley is more than 1.2 metres away from
the downstream/upstream opening in the guard.

7. DECKING PLATES AND ROCK GUARDS

Decking plates should be provided for elevated conveyors for three metres minimum leading to the
discharge pulley, above walkways under the conveyor and for two metres on both sides of the
vertical gravity take-up pulley. Spillage material should not be allowed to build-up on decking plates

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as this may result in the overloading and collapse of the conveyor structure. Gantry structures should
structurally be adequate to support spillage build-up on decking plates.

8. ELECTRICAL
The electrical installation should comply with the relevant RBM prescribed standards and Mine
Regulations. Drive power isolation shall be obtained by mains supply isolation switches or devices
capable of being secured in the isolating position. Resetting of mains supply isolating switches or
devices shall be by manual operation only. The securing method shall be by means of a key
operated lock and danger tag.

The conveyor should be provided with a clearly audible start-up siren that sounds for a minimum
period of 15 seconds which is used to give all persons at any point where access to the conveyor
belt installation is possible sufficient prior warning before the conveyor is put in motion.

The local manual motor control switch positioned next to the motor should be interlocked so that the
remote starting control cannot override the local control.

An emergency stop button of the lockout manual re-set type should be positioned close to the drive
motor.
Starter panels should be of the automatic type capable of remote starting and stopping. Conveyors
should be PLC interlocked (sequence interlocking) with IN TOUCH display of critical operating
characteristics (i.e. tph, current, alarms, etc.) The electrical motor and electrical terminal box
enclosures should be of an IP55 rating.

Each conveyor should be equipped with an emergency trip wire system fitted next to the conveyor
stringer along its length, wherever the conveyor return belt is within 2.5 metres from walkways,
maintenance platforms or the ground level. There should be independent systems, on either side of
each conveyor, for which access has been provided on both sides. The manual re-set type trip wire
switches should comply with the prescribed standards. Pull wires shall be 3 mm minimum diameter
PVC coated multi-strand galvanised steel wire. The pull wire shall be supported every 4.5 m and the
maximum spacing between switches should be 30 metres. The trip wires should be located so that
they are not easily activated by ore spillage.

The following protection devices should be fitted to the conveyor installation and interlocked with the
PLC system:

a) Belt under-speed detection, to detect belt slippage, jam and belt breakage. The under
speed switch should operate on a non driven pulley and should be located in an easily
accessible position which is not subjected to ore discharge from a belt plough or directly
below a bearing where grease will be discharged from the bearing seals.

b) Belt run-off detection at the entries to the drive, head and tail pulleys (optional but
advisable).

c) Blocked chute detection in the head chute.

d) Excessive take-up detection (optional).

e) Metal detector (optional).

f) Belt rip detectors (optional, could be beneficial on S3) of the tilting tray type and the string type
shall be installed immediately past the skirted section of each loading station. A string type rip
detector shall be located above the return strand after the belt has left the head pulley.

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g) Run back on Run on devices

h) Fire detection systems

9. LIGHTING

Suitable permanent or mobile conveyor lighting, including emergency lighting should be provided that
comply to the prescribed standards. The level of illumination should be with accordance with
prescribed regulations and shall in cases provide safe access to conveyors or conveyor systems and
create a safe working condition for operation, inspection and maintenance purposes. Provision
should be made for access to light fittings for ease of servicing (tilting pole design).

10. LIFTING EQUIPMENT

Provision should be build into conveyor structures at drive, transfer and take-up points where there
exists limited mobile crane access for the handling of heavy components during maintenance
operation. These include adequate lifting beams and the provision of electricity.

Lifting lugs or the provision of a threaded hole for the fitting of a lifting lug should exist for all
components with a mass of more than 20 kilograms.

11. FIRE PROTECTION

Clearly demarcated and labelled fire fighting facilities should be provided consistent with the
assessment of the fire hazards. Safe alternative means of exits should be provided for personnel in
case of a fire.

12. UTILITIES
Provision of a compressed air line with take-offs at all pulleys and at 30m minimum intervals along
the length of the conveyor. Provision of a firewater pipeline with adequate outlets along the
conveyor. Welding sockets and industrial type switched plug outlets should be provided at the head,
tail and drive pulleys.

Mass metres (belt scales) should be installed within 15 metres of the loading points, but no closer
than five idler spaces from the downstream end of the discharge chute opening and where possible
in the horizontal section of the belt. The mass meter shall also be protected from the wind and
climate by means of a suitable shelter. A minimum of two precision mass meter idlers should be
used before and after the mass meter. The belt should track centrally over the mass meter.

Electrical cable trays & pipe supports should comply with the prescribed standards.

13. WALKWAYS & FLOORING

Walkways that comply with the prescribed standards and Mine Regulations (recommended minimum
width of 750mm) should be provided on both sides of conveyor gantry sections. Walkways should
include top and knee rails, kick plates (100mm minimum high) and flooring that complies with the
prescribed standards and Mine Regulations.

Handrails and kick plates should be painted yellow. Walkways should not be obstructed, for example
with spare idler frames etc. All walkways should be positioned for the safe replacement of both
carrying and return idlers.

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Handrails should be bolted to the structure for easy removal and re-assembly as required by certain
maintenance activities. Ladders and stairs should be in a good safe condition and comply with
prescribed standards and Mine Regulations.

14. CANOPIES
All roofs should be pitched or curved. A minimum of 300mm ventilation gap between the roof and the
side shield should be provided.

15. WIND PROTECTION

Adequate wind protection shields should be fitted. Adequate wind hoops or belt hold down devices
should be fitted.

16. STANDARDISATION (RATIONALISATION):

All conveyors and their components, in the plant or area concerned, should be thoroughly
rationalised and standardised. This include: the drive arrangement, motors, couplings, V-belts,
gearboxes, brakes, pulleys and shafts, plummer blocks, belting, chute liners, idlers, electrical
components and belt cleaners.

17. FUGITIVE MATERIAL

a) Spillage at discharge chute(s).
b) Spillage at loading chute(s).
c) Carry back at loading chute(s).
d) Carry back past belt cleaners on return belt.
e) Frozen idlers due to build-up of carry back material on return idlers or spillage on troughing
idlers at loading zone.
f) Carry back build-up on pulleys.
g) Spillage material build-up on rock and spillage guards.
h) Spillage material build-up on structure and walkways.
i) Airborne dust at loading chute.
j) Airborne dust at discharge chute.
k) Airborne dust due to wind load

18. STRUCTURAL
Steelwork should be adequately designed and fabricated. The overall design of every conveyor belt
installation must be approved by a competent person.

There should be a schedule whereby the steel structure supporting the conveyor must be checked
for the following:
a) Quality and condition of corrosion protection.
b) Corrosion damage at welds.
c) Pitting corrosion on structure in general.
d) Corrosion of bolt connections.
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e) Structural damage.
f) Structural looseness (bolt connections, broken welds, etc.). Condition of hold down bolts and
grouting.
g) Integrity of foundation (erosion of foundation, etc.).

19. CONVEYOR DRIVE BASE

The drive base must be properly aligned with the conveyor. The stiffness of the drive base must be
acceptable, it should prevent oscillation of the drive thereby resulting in fatigue stresses

The drive base must be checked on a scheduled basis for the following:
a) Any evidence of weld failure, damage or excessive corrosion of the base.
b) The condition of the machined pads and the tightness, packers & shims.

Jacking bolts and alignment markers should be provided for the horizontal alignment of the drive
equipment. The lugs for the jacking bolts should have a clearance hole. The jacking bolts should be
corrosion protected and fitted with nuts on either side of the lug.

20. FLUID COUPLING

The maximum continuous slip between the fluid coupling impeller and casing should be 5%.

The fluid coupling should be of the extended delay-fill chamber type.

The fluid coupling should be fitted with two fusible plugs rated at below 145°C to protect the fluid
coupling from over-pressurising. One of the above fusible plugs can be a percussion electronic
fusible plug, but the other plug must be a standard rupture disc unit. It is recommended that the
percussion plug be selected to activate at 20°C before the second (back-up) fusible plug. The
percussion plug should be electrically interlocked to stop the drive.

For safety reasons, a protective oil splash proof guard must be provided around the coupling. This
must incorporate a drip tray with a capacity equal to or greater than that of the coupling to
accommodate oil as a result of a fusible plug rupture.

Oil seals should be in a good and clean condition and no leakage should be evident.

The fluid coupling should be correctly filled to:

Start the conveyor in less than 30 seconds and
Limit the motor start-up torque to 140% of the full speed motor torque.

21. BRAKE
A conveyor brake should be fitted if the coasting time after the motor has stopped exceeds four
seconds.

The brake should be of the fail safe type with spring or weight actuation.

The brake torque should be adjustable and should have a controlled rate of application.

The brake should incorporate either automatic wear adjustment or a combination of wear indicating
switches and facilities for manual brake gap adjustment.

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An acceptable brake system would consist of brake shoes, a heat treated steel/cast iron brake
drum/disc, a calliper mechanism and an electro-hydraulic thrusters that releases the brake when
under power (hard wired to electric motor).

Oil seals should be in a good and clean condition and no leakage should be evident.

The brake should always be mounted on the high speed side of the drive (i.e. between the motor and
fluid coupling or for smaller than 11 kW motors on the motor itself).

22. BACKSTOP
A backstop is required for all inclined conveyors that will runback if the loaded belt stops due to a
loss of electric power. e)

The backstop should be of the automatic mechanical one-way clutch type, preferably using precision
ground rollers, be oil bath lubricated, be provided with combined dipstick-filler-drain and thoroughly
sealed.

Roll back idlers shall be fitted on all inclined conveyors to prevent run back, except where a risk
assessment find them not necessary.

Backstops shall have a torque rating in excess of the electrical motor stall torque.

Oil seals should be in a good and clean condition and no leakage should be evident.

The end of the backstop torque arm should be held down by a adequate stirrup welded/bolted to the
conveyor structure. The torque arm should not be welded or bolted to the frame or stirrup.

It is recommended that the backstop be mounted directly to the head pulley shaft, opposite of the
drive for head pulley driven conveyors. Gearbox mounted backstops may be used but is not
preferred.

23. REDUCERS/ GEARBOXES

Reducers with a mechanical efficiency less than 90% shall not be used, these include worm
reducers. Parallel shaft helical reducers and bevel helical right angle reducers are preferred.
The mechanical rating of the reducer should be in excess of 130% of the installed power.

The thermal rating of the reducer should be in excess of 120% of the installed power to ensure that
the temperature of the reducer oil doesn't exceed 55 °C above ambient up to maximum oil
temperature of 90°C. A sun shields should be installed to reduce the reducer's oil temperature at
applications where high ambient temperatures exist. Shedder plates should be installed above
reducers where spillage may fall on to the reducer. Reducers should be kept clean to ensure
effective heat dissipation.

Reducers should be of the horizontal split type with adequate inspection covers.

All reducers should be equipped with:

External oil Level indicator
3 micrometer nominal filter & desiccant breather mounted on a 75mm (min) vertical standpipe to
ensure that oil from the reducer do not enter the breather and block the filter.
Bottom sediment & water (BSW) bowl with drain tap.
Off line filter <10 micrometer nominal & lubrication circulation pump (bigger reducers only)
Oil sampling points including sample port ID tag that indicates oil identification and machine ID
number.

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Magnetic inspection plug

Adequate lifting lugs on top and bottom of gearbox casing
Quick fill oil connection for oil top-ups.
Oil seals should be in a good and clean condition and no leakage should be evident.
To suit very dusty conditions, the reducer should be fitted with multiple seals consisting of a standard
inner oil seal combined with either a grease charged labyrinth seal (taconite) or a similar dust-proof
outer seal.

24. FLEXIBLE COUPLING

Shall allow for axial, radial and angular misalignment within acceptable limits and shall be of a fail
safe design.

25. CONVEYOR PULLEYS

Adequate locking elements capable of transmitting 120% of the stalled motor torque should be used.

End discs should be machined from a single piece of steel (T-bottom machined end plate). There
should be one circumferential J or double V weld on top of the shell joining the endplate and the
shell. This configuration is required for all pulleys larger than 250mm in diameter to reduce fatigue
cracking of the end plate to shell weld.

Flat pulleys are preferred, but if crowning is used then a 1/3 of the pulley face width should be
tapered on both sides of the pulley. The maximum taper should be 0.6%.

All drive pulleys should be lagged. Vulcanised rubber lagging or "slide-lag" rubber/ceramic lagging
should be used. It is recommended that all non-drive pulleys are rubber lagged to improve belt
tracking.

All rubber lagging should have the following Shore A hardness:

Drive pulleys low tension = 55-65 Shore A;
b) Drive pulleys high tension = 65-75 Shore A;
c) Non-drive pulleys = 40-50 Shore A.

Lagging should have the following thicknesses:

10mm for pulley diameters smaller than 800 mm;
12mm for pulleys with diameters between 800 - 1,200 mm;
15mm for pulleys of diameter 1,200mm and over.

Grooved lagging is not recommended for non-drive pulleys. Diamond pattern grooved lagging is
required for drive pulleys. Grooves shall be 8mm wide by 5x deep by 40mm pitch on a 30 degree
helix angle to be effective in water dispersion.

Plummer blocks should not be covered in spillage to prevent bearing overheating.

All pulleys should be fitted with one locating and one non-locating plummer block that consist of the
following:
bearing adaptor sleeve;
locking element for adaptor sleeve;
double spherical roller bearings;
housing with capped 1/4" BSPM grease nipples and
Taconite seals with capped 1/4" grease nipples.

26. V-BELT DRIVES

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V-belt drives shall be of the SPC type.

New and old V-belts should not be mixed.

V-belts should be correctly tensioned. Over-tensioning will result in shaft fatigue and bearing failure
and under-tensioning will result in belt slippage or burning.

27. BELT SPLICING

Belt splicing shall be in accordance with RBM Splicing Specification.

28. PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE ON BELT CONVEYORS

There shall be a preventative maintenance program on the belt conveyors to ensure the reliability of
the equipment. The following RBM prescribed procedures shall be adhered to when working with belt
conveyors.

Troubleshooting guidelines on belt conveyors.

Operating, maintenance and installations of belt conveyors.
Splicing of belts
Specification of textile conveyor belts

29. TAKE-UPS
The certified take-up mass should be clearly stencilled on the take-up carriage

For synthetic (multiply) belts: Screw take-ups can be used for inclined belts up to 40 metres long and
horizontal belts up to 100 metres long. For belt lengths in excess of these limits, gravity take-ups
should be used.

Although RBM does not have steel-chord belts, but should new installations require these types of
belts the take ups for steel-cord belts shall be as follows: Screw take-ups can be used for inclined
belts up to 80 metres long and horizontal belts up to 200 metres long. For belt lengths in excess of
these limits, gravity take-ups should be used.

All take-up components should be fully protected against environmental conditions and spillage.
These include rope sheave dust covers, box lids (canopies) above gravity take-up pulley and dust
cover over maintenance winches.

Screw take-ups should allow for adequate adjustment (100-300mm). The adjustment mechanism of
the screw take-up should be accessible and should be designed to ensure simple, safe and efficient
adjustment.

Motor driven take-up winches should consist of the following components:

a) Squirrel cage motor;
b) two position control with one position during start-up and the other position during normal
running.

The gravity take-up configuration should allow for easy cleaning of spillage. A belt plough should be
installed before all take-ups. Where the take-up pulley travels vertically, shedder plates should be
installed above the pulley to prevent lump ore or other foreign material being trapped between the
belt and the pulley. These plates should be inclined at 60° to the horizontal and should be fitted with
HDPE blades arranged to be in close contact with both strands of the belt.

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Suitable rubber bumpers (buffers) for stopping the gravity take-up carriage should be provided to
prevent damage to belts &/ equipment.

The horizontal take-up pulley carriage wheels should be of the ‘V’ profile steel type and should be
fitted with anti-friction bearings and taconite seals.

Skewing and lifting of the horizontal take-up carriage should be reduced to a minimum by:
a) providing one guide roller at each corner of the carriage;
b) running the carriage between upper and lower travel rails;
c) inclination of the horizontal take-up steel rope to exert a downward force on the carriage.

Take-up steel wire ropes should be 6 x 36 SW (for less than 22 mm dia.) or 6 x 41 SW (for 22 mm to
36 mm dia.) RHOL pre-formed fibre core type, with a rating of 1770 MPa and the sheave diameter
should be more than 30x the rope diameter.

One end of each steel wire rope should be fitted with a standard thimble and “Talurit” splice, or
equivalent. The other end may terminate in a wedge type socket. Alternatively, both ends may
terminate in a wedge type socket. Wedge type sockets shall be in accordance with the prescribed
standards.

Safety guards or fences should be provided around all counterweight components including the
ropes, sheaves and maintenance hand winches.
A counterweight safety cage should be provided around the base of the take-up tower and should
be:
a) situated at floor / ground level;
b) at least 2.5 metres high;
c) 300mm clear of the floor and/or concrete foundation level to allow for cleaning of spillage and
d) made of expanded metal panels.

Each gravity take-up structure should be provided with lifting beams or lugs, by means of which the
fully loaded counterweight box can easily be lifted through the full travel distance. All take-up weights
should also be fitted with lifting lugs. Tension bars, chains or safety locking devices should be
provided for suspending the raised weight during maintenance operations. Two holding slings should
be provided, each lifting lug and sling shall have a safe working load equal to at least the maximum
take-up mass. The gravity take up unit shall be locked out when suspended.

30. BELT CLEANING

An effective, constant angle radial pressure self adjustment primary scraper should be fitted to the
head pulley.

An effective, constant angle radial pressure self adjustment secondary and/or tertiary in line or
staggered blade scraper should be fitted close to the head pulley on a stable flat conveyor section. It
is recommended that the belt be supported by a flat return idler mounted above the return belt close
to the scraper.

Scrapers should be designed for the easy adjustment, servicing of blades and removal of blades and
complete unit.

Inspection doors / rubber covers should exist in head chute to inspect scrapers.

Where the process allows for a wet operation, an effective high-pressure sprayer header can be
fitted before the secondary scraper or between the secondary and tertiary scraper. The spray bar
should be fitted with solenoid turn on/off valve and filter to prevent sprayer blocking. The spray bar
should be designed for the easy removal/servicing of sprayers.

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If installed the belt washing station should effectively remove carryover material from the belt and
effectively dry the belt by concentrating the slurry in a transfer launder.

A gravity belt plough should be fitted in front of the tail pulley and the take-up pulley to effectively
clean the return belt before these pulleys.

The belt plough is connected to the structure using a linkage mechanism and a safety chain or rope.

31. HEAD CHUTE

The head chutes should accommodate the head pulley, snub pulley, main chute and dribble back-
plate and belt cleaning equipment.

Hang-up of material should not occur on the main chute back-plate.

Hang-up of material should not occur on the dribble chute back-plate.

The minimum clearance between the pulley endplate and chute wall should be a minimum of a
100mm.

Plummer block bearings should be located outside the chute side plates.

The discharge chute inner liner face to pulley face clearance should be approximately 10mm.

32. LOADING CHUTES IN TUNNEL

The chute should be designed at an angle that moves material at the appropriate speed and volume,
to provide efficient loading without unusual wear or abrasion and reduce impact damage or dust
generation.

Reliable material flow with no material pooling should exist. The chute should load material on belt
centrally.

The chute should load the belt at a uniform rate. The chute should load the belt in the direction of
belt travel.
The chute should load the belt at the same speed as the belt is moving. The chute should load the
belt after the belt is fully troughed.

The chute should load the belt with minimum impact (maximum fall = 1.5 x belt width). The loading
chute skirts should ensure effective edge and back sealing to prevent side spillage and carry back.
The loading chute should ensure effective dust management. Dead boxes should be used to
effectively reduce wear, where technically feasible.

Impact pads should be used to effectively guide the material trajectory. Removable lip liners should
be fitted to dead boxes and discharge openings.

The back end of the discharge chute opening should be more than 115% the transition distance from
the tail pulley. For loading in transitional zone special impact pads beds should be used.

Downstream discharge chutes of a multiple discharge chute system should have adequate clearance
for material flow upstream of the relevant chute. Chutes should be designed for standard liner sizes.
The loading chute discharge width should not be greater than 2/3s the belt width of the receiving
belt.

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An adequate loading chute throat opening area should be allowed (A minimum chute cross section
area of 4x the material cross section area of material on belt feeding chute is recommended).

The minimum clearances in the discharge chute should be the maximum of 4x the material lump size
or 500mm. Lip liners of discharge openings should be adjustable in the horizontal direction (40mm
minimum).

The discharge opening and its support should be easily adjustable, shiftable horizontally in the
direction of the receiving conveyor, to allow for changing material stickiness.

The grizzly bars on dry non-sticky material in discharge chute should be used to allow fines to form a
buffer on belt at loading point.

Chutes should be adequately designed, stiffened and supported (plate thickness 8-10mm).

Adequate hinged cleaning, inspection and maintenance doors should exist for easy access to
wearing plate bolts, belt scrapers etc. (minimum size 600 x 450mm) Chutes and covers should have
adequate heavy duty lifting lugs or eyes.

Chutes should be designed for easy and safe cleaning, inspection and maintenance. Liner plates
should be bolted for easy removal (DN20 countersunk bolt). All liner plate bolts and nuts should be
easily accessible.

Large chutes should be made of separate bolted sections to simplify removal. A complete list of all
types and quantities of wearing plates and lip liners used should appear on the relevant chute
general assembly drawing or on a separate liner schedule.

The gap between liners should be maintained between 5 to 10mm.

Liner plates should be arranged so that vertical joint lines are staggered i.e. not continuous for longer
than 500mm.

In vertical corners of chutes, where a gap may exist between wearing plates, material flow down this
gap should be prevented by means of 25mm minimum thick stop blocks which should be located at a
minimum of 500mmm vertical intervals

Impact plates should be arranged to blend in with the material flow trajectory thereby minimising
degradation of the material.

Liner material selection should be adequate for the application (lowest $/t cost).

Liner thickness should be adequate for application.

A continuous improvement program should be in place to trial alternative liners or arrangements to

reduce liner cost per tonne. This unit cost allows for production losses due to liner replacements,
maintenance labour costs and liner material costs.

33. LOADING ZONE UNDER THE BELT

A full belt support impact bed (cradle) constructed of a low friction top layer and an energy-absorbing
secondary layer should be used under loading points.
If closely spaced impact or standard idlers are used under the loading zone in the place of an impact
bed then they should be of the track mounted sliding in or out of position design and limit belt sag to
less than 2%.

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A standard troughing carrying idlers should be installed between two impact beds to assist with belt
tracking. The maximum impact bed length shall be 1200 mm.

The impact bed shall be installed so that the bars in the centre of the bed is set 12-25mm below the
normal unloaded track of the belt to allow the belt to absorb some of the impact forces and to reduce
friction between the belt and the bed liners.

Belt sag and belt vibration should be effectively addressed by the use of closely spaced impact idlers
or an impact bed.

SKIRT BOARDS

Skirt boards should settle material in the middle two thirds of the belt.

Skirt boards should begin at least 1/2 the belt width upstream of the loading point. Best practice is to
extend the sealing box behind the loading chute to just after the tail pulley to allow for a flat belt
chute rear seal arrangement.

The skirt boards should extend in the belt's direction of travel past the point where the material is
fully settled into the profile it is to maintain for the rest of its journey on the conveyor.

To minimise the possibility that fluctuations in belt travel will push the belt up into a steel edge, the
skirt board should end above an idler, rather between idlers.

Continuous skirt boards should be provided between multi belt loading chutes.

At the loading chute entry area, the space between the belt and the bottom edge of the skirt steel
wear liner should be between 3.5 to 9.5mm (6mm recommended), with the smaller dimension
specified for materials of smaller particle sizes. The skirt board wear liners should taper away from
the belt along the belt travel direction to ensure that at the exit end, the distance is 9.5 - 20mm. This
taper effect allows for the clearing of material that can damage the belt.

The bottom edges of the steel skirt wear liners should be smooth without creating a jagged "saw-
tooth" pattern. If the bottom edges are not precisely aligned, entrapment points will be created. The
conveyed product will then create exceptionally high-pressure points in these areas that will lead to
material spillage or, even worse create a wedge of material that can gouge the belt.

The skirt board height should be sufficient to contain twice the material volume on the receiving belt
and can easily cope with quantities of maximum sized lumps.

An allowance for a minimum unsupported length of skirt rubber of 50mm downstream of the skirt
board should be made.

Adjustable sealing support cradles with UHMW liners should be used to support the skirting in areas
downstream of the impact bed (cradle).

Skirt boards should be independent of chutes and should be supported by stringers.

Flexible skirts made of 40 deg. Shore hardness rubber/urethane material with no imbedded harder
materials should be used. (old conveyor belt strips should not be used)

Best practice is the use of multiple layer skirt board sealing systems, consisting of the following
components:
a vertical steel wear liner (no belt contact);
a primary vertical and stiff high wear resistant urethane seal, contacting the belt;
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a flexible self adjusting multi-layer rubber/urethane secondary seal lying on the belt (minimum 3 rows
of contact (labyrinth concept).

The leading edge of skirts should be rounded at the start of the skirt board to avoid the skirt from
catching splices.

Clamping device should enable easy installation, removal and adjustment of skirts.

34. TRANSITION ZONE

The angular change of the belt over the transition idlers should be divided equally over each
transition idler.

35. IDLERS
All rolls of multi-roll idler sets should be identical and interchangeable.

The idlers should be positioned in accordance with the belt direction stamped on the idler frame.

All idler roll bearings should be of the factory "sealed for life" type.

No noisy idlers should be present.

No leaking idler roller seals should be present.

No damaged idler cradles should be present.

Twin V-type return idlers should be used on 1,200mm and wider belts.

36. TRAINING IDLERS

Each conveyor should have a minimum of two training idlers.

No training idlers should be placed on concave and convex radii.

Training idlers should be installed ahead of the head, tail, take-up and intermediate drive pulleys.

The approximate distance between a training idler and the nearest pulleys should be 8x the belt
width.

The spacing between consecutive return training idlers should be between 20 to 30 metres.

Troughing training idlers should be raised 10 to 30mm higher than the standard idlers.

Return training idlers should be lowered 10 to 30mm below the standard idlers.

Best practice is to use multiple pivot belt tracking idlers.

37. CONDITION MONITORING

Operators / Fitters should inspect the conveyor on a daily basis to identify defects and areas needing
servicing or adjustment.

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Where deemed necessary and as determined by the Engineer, Magnetic particle or Ultrasonic NDT
techniques should be used to inspect critical structural welding.
Visual inspection and Magnetic or Ultrasonic NDT techniques should be used to inspect critical
suspension ropes when deemed necessary

The drive and non-drive side bearing temperature and vibration signature (horizontal, vertical and
axial plane) should be measured every 30 days. The measured data should be trended and alert and
fault alarm limits should be identified. The following components should be monitored: Electric motor;
Reducer and Pulley bearings.

During the vibration measurement, the CM Technician should listen to the noise generated by the
bearing through earphones to identify possible defects. (Low pitch bearing noise = misalignment;
High pitch wine bearing noise = overloading; Rattle bearing noise = inadequate interference fit; Low
rumble bearing noise = poor fit; Metallic sound like marbles on roof = lubricant cavitation)

The noise generated by any component of the conveyor should be less than 85 dBA @ 1m.

Thermography should be used to identify defective idlers, component defects and to identify uneven
belt wear on pulleys due to slippage or creep.

Oil and grease should be sampled every 30 days. The laboratory analysis should include a
spectrometric, infrared, particle count and microscopic wear particle analysis. The laboratory results
should be trended and alert and fault alarm levels should be identified. Best practise is for the
Maintenance Department to proactively strive to move from a fixed time interval based component
and lubricant change-out strategy to an on condition based change out strategy.

38. LUBRICATION
An engraved plate shall be attached to all components that require lubricants. This plate should
identify the type of lubricant, lubricating interval and quantity of lubricant required.

A Lubrication Quality and Condition Standard document should be in place and proactively followed
by the Maintenance Department in an effort to comply to best practices for lubrication management
and contamination control.

39. REVIEW HISTORY AND APPROVAL

REVIEW HISTORY COP No. 45 Rev 4

REV NO. DATE PAGE No. DETAILS

0 Jan 1999 New document
1 Aug 2005 All Rewrite
2 May 2009 1 Par. 2.1 new item (b) Mine Health and Safety Act (Act
29) and Regulations and Par 2.3 added ref to
Memorandum of Guarding of Belt Conveyors GME
14/8/5/5 dated 26/1/1987.
3 April 2011 1.…1.111 Par.2.1 (second bullet) Added Chapter 8.9 from Mine
1.….…... health and safety regulations as reference.
……44444 Section 8 Electrical Par 2 - updated guidelines on
4444 warning siren.
4 Protection devices under electrical :
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 COP 45 REV NO: 4 PAGE 17 OF 17

REVIEW HISTORY COP No. 45 Rev 4

REV NO. DATE PAGE No. DETAILS

11
4 May 2015
Added (g) and (h)
6 Section 18 Structural : Para 1 – Added last sentence
8 Section 22 (para 3)
Added roll back idlers
Section 29 Take-up
Added : The gravity take up unit shall be locked out
when suspended.
1 Item 2.3 – Changed reference to standards from SABS
to SANS.
Title updated from GM Engineering to GM Smelting
Processing and Logistics.

APPROVAL

POSITION NAME DATE SIGN

General Manager Smelting, J Kunji-Behari

Processing and Logistics

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