Million dollar crusher

Sandvik Mining and Construction has reached an agreement with Boliden to supply a complete in-pit crushing system to Boliden’s Aitik mine at a cost of around 86.5 million Euros.

Boliden is one of the leading mining and smelting companies in Europe with operations in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Ireland and the Netherlands. It's Aitik open-pit mine, situated near Gällivare, is one of Europe's largest producers of copper, and also a major producer of gold and silver.

Today, Boliden mines some 18 million tonnes of ore annually from Aitik, but with the new system in place, the company will be able to double its annual production to 36 million tons.

The crushing system that Boliden has ordered consists of two complete primary gyratory crushing stations as well as overland conveyors and feeders. The system will have a capacity of 8,000 tons per day and will transport the extracted ore 7 kilometres.

Boliden’s decision to invest in the conveying system will reduce its use of truck transports. The conveyor system will also provide considerably lower running costs and be more environmentally friendly.