Meeting Wear Challenges in Mining: A Custom Solution for Coal Chutes

During a recent visit to a long-standing coal mining customer in Africa, the local Welding Alloys team was called upon to assess a set of chutes approaching the end of their wear life. These chutes, essential to the discharge system transporting washed coal to the stockyard, presented a common challenge—no available drawings or OEM specifications. This is a frequent scenario in industries like mining, where equipment often lacks detailed design records.

Fortunately, the customer provided an old set of chutes, enabling us to reverse-engineer and manufacture new ones. Working against a tight timeline to ensure readiness for an upcoming shutdown, our workshop fabricated the chute shells from construction steel, which were then lined with our advanced Hardplate™ composite wear plates.

Why Hardplate™?

Hardplate™ is part of Welding Alloys’ extensive range of composite wear plates designed to combat abrasion and extend equipment life in harsh environments. For this project, two types were selected:

Hardplate™ 100: A chromium carbide overlay offering dependable wear resistance for lower-impact areas.

Hardplate™ 300: A complex carbide variant providing superior protection for zones subject to intense abrasion.

This dual-material approach balances wear rates across the structure, optimising the service life while reducing maintenance costs and downtime.

A Tailored Solution

Welding Alloys brings decades of expertise in designing and manufacturing wear-resistant solutions tailored to specific applications. Our global network of Integra™ service centres enables us to assess, design, and deliver solutions quickly, even for challenging scenarios like this one. The flexibility of our wear plates, which can be cut, rolled, and welded, ensures we meet the unique demands of our customers while upholding strict quality standards.

By choosing Welding Alloys, customers gain more than just a product—they benefit from our technical expertise, commitment to reducing total cost of ownership (TCO), and ability to deliver customised, field-ready solutions. Whether it’s extending the life of chutes, hoppers, or other critical components, we are dedicated to keeping industries running efficiently.