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ContiTech exhibits energy-saving conveyor belts at this year’s SME Annual Meeting & Exhibit • SME as an important trend setter for the entire mining industry.

The ContiTech Conveyor Belt Group will be presenting its skills as a development partner and system supplier at the SME Annual Meeting & Exhibit of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) to be held in Denver, Colorado, from February 22 to 25, 2009. This annual exhibition has established itself as an important trend setter for the whole mining industry.

ContiTech’s booth in the Colorado Convention Center focuses on the company’s energy-saving conveyor belts. One example is the RopeCon® conveyor system, which is a combination of a conveyor belt and aerial ropeway. It unites the benefits of both systems, thus enabling high lift applications with few support points and large mass flow rates. József Papp, sales manager in the Mining World segment of the ContiTech Conveyor Belt Group, explains: “Compared to other means of transport, the RopeCon® concept is especially eco-friendly and presents
advantages wherever high conveying capacity is needed in rough terrain, or across forests and wide rivers.”

A current example is found in Jamaica, where the world's largest RopeCon® system is used in the mining of bauxite. The long-distance conveyor with the ContiTech conveyor belt not only preserves the original infrastructure preserved but also eliminates countless truck runs. The downhill motion from the extraction point to the discharge station provides energy that is fed back into the power grid – as much as 1,300 kW. Another energy-efficient RopeCon® system has just been installed at a gold mine in Papua New Guinea.

ContiTech is also showcasing its energy-saving XLL conveyor belts, which can reduce power consumption by as much as 15% on long conveyors. Another product highlight is the CONTITAN® textile conveyor belt, which was designed especially to meet the requirements of underground mining. Its ultra-strong textile plies provide excellent impact resistance and a high splice strength.

By participating in the SME Annual Meeting & Exhibit, the ContiTech Conveyor Belt Group is once again demonstrating its ambitious position in the American market. For years now ContiTech has been present in North and South America with its own production facilities and distribution partners. ContiTech Mexicana S.A. de C.V. has been running operations in San Luis Potosí, Mexico (400 kilometers north of Mexico City) since the beginning of 2001. It is from there that supplies are made to the NAFTA region. Alongside standard designs, the San Luis Potosí factory also turns out belting for open-pit and underground mining. ContiTech is also represented In the U.S. itself via the distribution channels of ContiTech Natco based in Des Moines, Iowa.