Drilling down: How we’re optimizing steel for the mining industry At Ovako, we have served the mining industry for decades, with steel you will find in use at mining sites across the globe. And because of that, we know that producing steel for mining is an engineering decision that affects productivity, sustainability, and cost at every stage of the extraction process. We deliver materials and components for various rock tools, rock drilling, and rock processing applications. These include tubes, bars, and materials for drilling applications from Hofors and Imatra; grinding bars for rock processing from Imatra; and rock bolts from Smedjebacken, used to secure tunnel roofs after excavation. Each area has its own technical strength and depth of knowledge. The unifying thread is Ovako's steel and the close collaboration we offer every customer. We supply tubes, bars, and both ingot-cast and continuously cast steel. For tubes, we produce hot-rolled dimensions from 55 up to 250 mm outer diameter, and cold-rolled from 30 to 100 mm. Cold-rolled offers finer tolerances and a higher degree of material reduction, dimensionally more precise, though at a higher price point than hot-rolled. On the bar side, typical applications include couplings, drill bits, and shank adapters. Our steel is used across the full drill string, from top hammer shank adaptors and drill rods to DTH casings and bits, through to hydraulic breakers and grinding media. This is something we are passionate about, and an area where we add value that is not always visible to customers yet. The standard approach is that a customer requests a delivery dimension, we supply it, and they machine it to their finished size. What we want to do instead is start from the other end: tell us your final machined dimension, and we will calculate the optimal near net shape tube or bar to get you there. For grades, a common steel grade in mining is 42CrMo4, a well-established quenched and tempered grade, and our own 495B, a specialized mining grade developed for various applications in the mining segment. One example is the casing tube for the DTH-hammer.
The practical result is that less material machined away means shorter production time, less scrap to handle, lower material costs, and reduced CO₂. One important technical detail is that we also need to understand the first machining operation, whether the part is chucked from the inside or outside, because that determines how we calculate the allowances.
It comes down to technical collaboration, and we say that with conviction because we hear it from customers as the reason they stay with us. We have a strong R&D function and we work closely with them, from selecting the right grade to optimizing every dimension for the specific application. We offer on-site technical sessions, and customers can visit the mill and work directly with our R&D team. As my colleague Matthias Karlsson puts it: ‘when we have these technical discussions with customers, it always ends up well.’
Mining steel operates under extreme stress in challenging environments where the margins for error are narrow. As well as the material itself, we offer a process that starts with what you need to achieve, and works back to the steel that will get you there most efficiently.
Ovako's Mining segment is committed to meeting customers where they are — with the right products, the right grades, and the kind of deep technical partnership built on our four pillars of Performance, Productivity, Flexibility, and Technical Support.
If you would like to explore what near net shape optimization could mean for your operations, we would be glad to have that conversation.
Madeleine Lundin, Area Sales Manager and mining segment lead. |
