Iron ore mine in West Africa swapped Hardox 450 chute liners for 25mm UHMWPE — wear life jumped 7×.
An iron ore export mine in West Africa was relining its primary transfer chute every 4-5 months. Original lining was 20 mm Hardox 450 plate. The chute handled ~50,000 t/day of fines and lump iron ore at 22% moisture, throughput ~2,200 t/h.
The UHMWPE liner ran 33 months before partial replacement of high-impact zones — a 7× wear life vs the previous Hardox installation. Bonus: liner weight dropped 75 %, cutting structural load on the chute frame and making future replacements a 2-day shutdown vs the previous 5-day Hardox swap.
Iron ore at 22 % moisture is exactly the regime where UHMWPE shines: wet enough to "stick" to steel (which causes carry-back and material fatigue), but UHMWPE's low surface energy keeps the ore moving. The impact load is distributed across the bolted UHMWPE without local hardening or cracking.

Wear-resistant UHMWPE liner sheets for ore chutes, transfer chutes, and bulk hoppers.
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