Kamloops-based Moly-Cop will start construction this year on an expansion

Moly-Cop Canada’s expansion in Kamloops. — Photo courtesy Moly-Cop Canada

Kamloops-based Moly-Cop has been operating at or near its 115,000-tonne annual capacity for three years and is ready to grow, said Maurice Hindle, marketing and sales manager for Moly-Cop Canada.

The company manufactures grinding balls and grinding rods for use in any mineral processing operation involving fine grinding applications.

“We are trying to build for the future,” said Hindle. “With new mine openings planned, we expect to participate in those and want the capability to supply them.”

The new 4,300-square-metre facility will sit on a 3.8-hectare parcel of land adjacent to the current plant. With a footprint 25 per cent larger than the existing plant, the new facility will host a second assembly line, with the ability to produce up to 6.5-inch semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) balls. Currently, Moly-Cop is limited to 5.5-inch balls.

“Mills are becoming larger and larger and pushing more through them, so the dynamics in terms of kinetic energies in the mills are quite high,” said Hindle. “We have to develop a ball that is tougher to survive those environments.”

Moly-Cop is a subsidiary of Arrium (previously OneSteel Ltd.), which acquired the smaller company in 2012. This brought Moly-Cop into a global group that includes nine other operations and into operating on a worldwide arena.

Manufacturing plants in Peru, Chile, the United States, Australia, Indonesia and Mexico facilitate a global reach and enhance customer service. The company serves most major Canadian and Alaskan mining operations, as well as several in the Arctic and eastern Russia. The company attributes its Canadian success to locations in close proximity to rail transport depots.

“Customers can receive product when they need it,” said Hindle. Day-by-day ordering reduces the need for on-site storage, thanks to shipping facilities in Thunder Bay and North Bay, Ontario, and in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Moly-Cop is planning its expansion on the strength of indications that potential Canadian reserves are on the brink of development.

“Mining projects are prolific in Canada in terms of potential,” said Hindle. “We are an export resource-based country, and many existing mining companies have plans to build new facilities or expand current ones, and that will add significant demand for grinding media.”

The company is in a good position, given market fluctuations, because its product is used primarily in existing operations and doesn’t depend on a constant increase in new mill developments.

“Our existing customer base is very solid, and certain things like the unfortunate event at Mount Polley (tailings breach) only impact us to a minor degree,” said Hindle. “We supply almost every significant mining operation in Canada.”

Moly-Cop has cornered the highest portion of the Canadian market because it offers the best value in terms of quality for price, according to Hindle.

“There is a lot of excellent offshore and North American competition out there, but it comes down to value and minimizing costs,” said Hindle. “We have a product that wears longer and better survives in aggressive mill environments. This value passes to the customers and increases their bottom line.”

The plant currently serves Yellowhead Mining Company’s Harper Creek Project, Thompson Creek Metal’s Mount Milligan and Imperial Metal’s Red Chris developments, among several others.

Work on the facility is expected to be completed in 2015.

Sustainability in production

Moly-Cop Canada’s new grinding media production facility will continue the company’s current closed-loop production process, which includes water and lubricant recycling.

Cooling water is captured in a pond where excess lubricant is skimmed from the top and reused, and water is recycled back through the plant again as a coolant. The iron scale released from the grinding balls is recovered and sent to the Lafarge processing facility nearby for use in cement production.

Moly-Cop has held a permit to release its used water into the South Thompson River; however, the company has not done so for many years. Instead, the company focuses on sustainability, recycling the water and ensuring the only water to leave the plant is through evaporation or irrigation.

Scrap steel used in the ball production process is recycled or returned to the supplier. The vast majority of the steel brought in is already recycled.

Moly-Cop Canada’s new grinding media production facility will continue the company’s current closed-loop production process, which includes water and lubricant recycling.

Cooling water is captured in a pond where excess lubricant is skimmed from the top and reused, and water is recycled back through the plant again as a coolant. The iron scale released from the grinding balls is recovered and sent to the Lafarge processing facility nearby for use in cement production.

Moly-Cop has held a permit to release its used water into the South Thompson River; however, the company has not done so for many years. Instead, the company focuses on sustainability, recycling the water and ensuring the only water to leave the plant is through evaporation or irrigation.

Scrap steel used in the ball production process is recycled or returned to the supplier. The vast majority of the steel brought in is already recycled.