A mining client was 48 hours from shipping a full batch of SAG mill liners from a foundry in Shanxi. One heat number cross-check prevented a material substitution from reaching site.

The liner specification on this order was white iron to AS 2027 Grade 4H2 with Brinell hardness requirements between 650 and 750 HBW and a minimum carbon content of 2.5 percent. The client's project team had previously sourced from this foundry and considered them pre-qualified.

Our technical review before the final release inspection found a discrepancy in the melt records. The heat number recorded on the casting identification tags did not match the heat number on the chemistry certificate the foundry submitted with the documentation package. Two different heat numbers, one set of test results.

When we pressed for the source melt records, the foundry's explanation was that the liners had been cast from a partial combination of two melts during a production run and the QC team had logged the dominant melt number only. The chemistry of the secondary melt had not been separately tested.

Under AS 2027 and the client's inspection and test plan, each distinct melt used in a casting batch requires its own chemistry verification. Partial-melt consolidation without separate documentation is not compliant with the traceability requirement.

The outcome: the batch was held. The foundry performed melt chemistry verification on samples from the secondary melt within four working days. The secondary melt chemistry was within specification. The batch was released with a corrected certificate set that captured both heat numbers.

The delay was four days. A material substitution reaching a SAG mill on a copper mine in a remote location would have been a shutdown and a replacement cycle measured in months.

What we do on every cast wear parts order: cross-reference heat numbers between casting tags, pour records, and chemistry certificates before any release inspection is scheduled. The foundry knows this before we place the order.

Contact us at sales@meritustech.com or www.meritustech.com if you are managing wear parts procurement from China for grinding or crushing circuits.