The correct answer in all cases is SMALL

1.      If you are a new small-scale miner: 

There is a lot to learn and you will find that there are many demands upon your startup capital. None of that money comes back until you sell your first production, so it makes sense to get your plant in and operational as fast as possible. 

So what is the right size?

If your ore is very rich, for example 10 grams of gold per tonne or more, you could go as small as 500kg per hour and use APT's RD5 plant with GoldKacha Mini.

If your ore is 5-10 grams of gold per tonne or more you could start at 1tonne per hour and use APT's RD15 with a GoldKacha.

If your ore is in the range of 3-5 grams of gold per tonne you will need to start at 5 tonnes per hour or more and use APT's RD50 with three GoldKachas.

2. If you are a large operator wanting a medium-to-large scale installation:

Although APT manufactures and installs plants all the way up to 150 tonnes per hour capacity it is very useful to begin with a small pilot installation even whilst the larger plant is being manufactured. There are several reasons to justify this:

Firstly, as a proof of concept to justify the chosen metallurgical process and throw up any optimisation opportunities that can be incorporated into the large plant timeously.

Secondly, to check up on the actual expected recovery as well as the variability of the different sections of the ore body. By building back a head grade from production, nugget effect is minimised and the grade is as accurate as possible.

Thirdly, it allows for easy on-the-job training and gaining operational familiarity.

Fourth, large product samples can be generated for offtaker testing, etc.

Finally, even a small pilot project can qualify as a 'producer' to help with permit security.

So what is the correct size?

The minimum pilot plant that will produce reliable data is about 500kg per hour, but often 1tonne per hour is chosen. The process can be as simple or complex as necessary since APT produces milling, gravity, cyanidation and flotation modules at small size. All minerals can be catered for, and once installed the pilot facility can remain as an R&D bed.

For all enquiries, please contact us on info@aptprocessing.com or +27 (10) 035 1001, or click here.