As new mining operations move from construction into production, the decisions made during the design and commissioning phase can have a long-term impact on reliability, maintenance efficiency and operating costs.
Elastotec recently completed a major materials handling wear protection project in conjunction with a fabrication partner in Thailand, supporting the supply chain build for Magnefast™ wear panel installation at a large-scale gold mining operation in Africa.
What makes this project significant is not only the scale of the operation, but the engineering discipline applied to the wear liner system from the very beginning.
A single attachment system, Magnefast™ carries the full material range across the chute inventory:
- Premium ceramic panels for high-abrasion wet duty zones
- 60 Shore A durometer rubber for impact-dominant applications
- Linatex rubber — cold bonded directly to thermoplastic Magnefast™ base plates for wet process chutes where elastomeric performance and wear resistance are the priority
That last point is worth pausing on. Linatex cold-bonded to a thermoplastic backing plate, with full Magnefast magnetic retention, means the same tool-free changeout system the ceramics use is now available across the rubber-lined inventory too. One system. One changeout method. Regardless of liner material.
Tool-Free Magnetic Wear Panel Installation
One of the key advantages of the Magnefast™ system is the ability to deliver tool-free wear liner changeouts across both ceramic and rubber-lined applications.
The use of Linatex rubber cold bonded to thermoplastic Magnefast™ backing plates allows the same magnetic retention system used for ceramic panels to also be applied to rubber wear liners.
This creates:
- One wear liner attachment system
- One maintenance methodology
- Reduced downtime during liner replacement
- Improved safety during changeouts
- Simplified spare parts and maintenance planning
For mine operators, this means faster maintenance execution without relying on ideal shutdown conditions or complex installation methods.
Engineering Wear Protection for Long-Term Reliability
At mine start-up, wear protection selection is about more than choosing premium wear materials. Long-term performance depends on designing a complete and coherent wear management system that considers:
- Material flow characteristics
- Impact and abrasion zoning
- Maintenance accessibility
- Liner replacement efficiency
- Operational reliability
Elastotec’s approach combines engineered wear liner selection with practical maintenance outcomes, helping mining operations reduce downtime and improve the service life of critical materials handling infrastructure.
