Hard Rock Processing Plants: APT mining industry insight

On our Instagram page, we don't just post pretty pictures; we focus on specific mining related topics each week while providing information you may not have heard or answering questions we're frequently asked. It's exciting to see all the developments happening in the industry today so we wanted to share our equipment focus with you too. This week all eyes are our hard rock processing plants. Here's an overview of our smaller scale hard rock processing plants that we have either built, installed or commissioned over the past few weeks:

The APT Rocsmasha grinder and Gold Masta sluice in the field. Several of these plants have been installed in various parts of Africa.

Next up we have a range of our smaller crushing options. The RD15 is APT's pilot scale impact crusher and has a capacity of up to 1.5tph. The crusher is built based on a robust design that allows for optimum operation, with effortless change out of wearing parts. In addition, the machine is mounted on a skid frame designed to house the GoldKacha, facilitating direct flow from the RD into the concentrator.

Below are some images of our manufacture and pre-assembly line. The first is the completed APT 1.5tph hard rock and spirals processing plant, built in a record time of just 6 weeks. Congratulations to the team!

Our RD50 Wet Impact Crusher, fully assembled in the warehouse. The RD forms part of our 4-5tph modular crushing plant, and provides remarkable liberation at particle sizes coarser than a ball mill for significantly lower capital and energy requirements.

The RD50 Impact Crusher, loaded and en route to site.

We hope you enjoyed seeing this weeks equipment focus with these hard rock crushing plants! Let us know if you have any further questions or queries by emailing us on info@aptprocessing.com or finishing this contact form online.

APT Awarded TriTank Cyanidation Plant

APT are proud to announce that we have been awarded an order for our modular TriTank cyanidation plant, the Tritank TT20. This cyanidation plant will operate in central Africa and will be installed to recover gold from existing slimes. The TT20 is part of APT's GroundBreaker division, which caters to the small scale mining industry through providing high-end, expertly engineered mining equipment suited to this niche. Of this plant award, APT's GroundBreaker division manager stated "the client stressed the need for superior recovery coupled with quick and hassle-free implementation and thus APT was the chosen provider. We have no doubt that our team will live up to our clients expectations and we thank everyone in this APT team who has contributed to bringing our orders thus far to fruition, it does not go unnoticed". Well done to the APT team, we look forward to this venture which will result in a successful mining equipment installation.

A similar TriTank TT20 CIP/CIL order (seen above) which headed out today. Commissioning of this TriTank cyanidation plant is due to take place shortly. 

The TriTank is entirely unique to APT and our engineers expertly designed this impressive CIP/CIL plant, so for further information on it please browse it on our website here or view a video we made for it here to introduce you to the whole concept. We are working on going to one of our TriTank TT20 sites to film a video of this particular cyanidation plant, but in the meantime you can view a much larger TriTank mine site here where we made a short mining vlog of the entire process. What you see is reality, we do not use a film crew, our site installation team takes clips as they go so what you see is truly how it is.

If you have any further questions or comments, please contact us here or email info@aptprocessing.com and we will be sure to get back to you soon.

APT Awarded Mineral Processing Plant to Mine in Madagascar

APT are proud to announce that we have been awarded an order for a 10tph modular gravity plant to a mine in Madagascar for gold recovery. The plant is required to be, and will be, manufactured in record time. It will be pre-assembled and dry run at our facilities before it is moved to site. This process allows us to ensure the efficiency of the machinery, reducing on-site installation time and commissioning delays. Once on site, APT’s engineers will install and commission the plant with the client, leaving a fully comprehensive modular solution from ore through to bagged mineral concentrates. This also enables our client to be well-versed in how to operate the modular gravity plant and will ensure optimal gold recovery in Madagascar.

To see a similar site, although not exactly the same, please view the video below. This will give you an idea of what APT's equipment is like. Our video footage is taken by our installation team when they have the opportunity, so what you see is a mine operating in reality and everything how it truly is.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzyV9k-UIww[/embed]

We are always aiming to raise the bar and trust that our team of highly skilled and experienced engineers and technicians will continue to do so. This award represents a milestone for APT as it is the first substantial modular gravity plant in this territory and promises to be the herald of many more gold recovery plants in the beautiful country of Madagascar.

For further information, please contact us via info@aptprocessing or on our website here.

APT Awarded Multiple GroundBreaker Plant Orders

The GroundBreaker division caused a stir within the mining industry when it was first implemented several years ago and the flurry of orders we have been awarded of late prove that this division is not slowing down anytime soon. APT have always taken the approach of providing solutions to problems faced in the mining industry, rather than simply providing mining equipment, and we apply this ideology throughout our range from the ground up. Over the years we are proud to have been a part of the game changers, many of whom have been internationally recognized for their work in the small scale mining sector using our equipment. Here's what we have in the pipeline:

1. An order won for a small, but important, gold processing facility in Mozambique. Billed as a pilot unit, this ground breaking facility will enable the Mozambicans to train, develop and formalize their artisanal mining industry.
2. An award of the full GroundBreaker range headed to Nigeria, again based around artisanal equipment. These plants will be used to open the way forward for larger plays. “The importance of these artisanal orders cannot be over emphasized” said Hannah Peacocke, APT’s project manager, “they are seeds of very big trees that will grow in the future”.
3. APT then won an order for small hard rock mills into Sudan, targeted at the burgeoning high grade reef operations. “These units will fit into the larger scheme of facilitating mercury-free processing in this important market for APT”, said Gary McFarlane, APT’s business development executive.

We are looking forward to taking on these projects and making our clients proud! Congratulations to our team on the continued success of the GroundBreaker range.

Beach Clean-up and Waste Recovery System

When we caught wind of Adidas and Parley's latest campaign 'Run For The Oceans', our initial response was 'yes!'. If you haven't heard, they've embarked on manufacturing their shoes with recycled plastic from oceans. In purchasing their shoes, you can rest assured that you have contributed to eliminating beach and ocean contamination. It’s a great concept at first glance, but there's more to this story and money to be made. At the end of the Adidas x Parley's advert, they ask what if everyone contributed to creating a better environment? This is where APT comes in with the BeachCleana, a modular trailer mounted beach clean-up and waste recovery system designed to separate the natural material (sand and mud, for example)from the foreign non-biodegradable objects (such as plastic) which can then be recycled. Our design was based upon thorough engineering and development; we wanted to minimalize the work and financial input required on your part as much as possible whilst maximizing output. It was not designed with mineral recovery alone in mind. This nifty piece of equipment is particularly suited to capturing errant plastic waste such as plastic bottles, plastic pieces as well as other dangerous objects such as glass which can cause serious bodily harm as well as objects such as netting which can cause trouble for animals and pets.

The equipment is available in a variety of sizes, from small start-ups to larger developments. Any company wanting to recover waste plastic for either CSR or for onward manufacture of recycled products should consider this.

Looking back at the Adidas x Parley campaign, what comes after is the opportunity to be a part of the innovators and game changers. In separating the natural and waste materials, you then have the possibility of taking this material and making anything of it. Selling it on to companies like Adidas, using it to produce your own goods, the opportunities are endless. Plastic is not going anywhere and the need to re-cycle is only increasing; think smart, think APT.

Contact us here for further information and click here to see the Adidas x Parley campaign.

APT Awarded Coltan Project

APT are proud to have been awarded an order for a modular coltan plant which will be located in Africa. The plant will treat selected ore and produce a salable coltan concentrate. Manufacture will be completed within a short 12 weeks, enabling this client to take advantage of the current high tantalite price. The APT team look forward to playing our part in bringing this mine to fruition! For queries, please email us on info@aptprocessing.com or simply click here and fill in our contact form.

Mine Equipment Demonstration: on site with APT's Zimbabwe Agency

Zimbabwean Agents for APT recently took our RDGK to a site near the capital city, Harare, to run a mine equipment demonstration for no less than 70 small to medium scale miners. This demonstration was not only so that APT's plant quality and efficiency could be seen by all, but also as an opportunity to spread awareness of who APT are and what we have to offer in the mining industry today. The simplicity and efficiency of the RDGK design made for a smooth, hassle free demonstration from the Zimbabwean team of 2. We thank them for their efforts in leading a successful day which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

If you want to know more about the plant that was on show, we have several videos on our YouTube channel, which you can view here. In a nutshell, the RDGK is a hard rock grinder with a GoldKacha concentrator incorporated into the design. The plant requires -40mm feed which is then crushed down to 100% -2mm. Hard rock is fed by hand into the top of the plant and is then ground to dust. This feed is then passed via gravity into the GoldKacha concentrator, where the gold-bearing concentrates are produced and subsequently prepared for final upgrade and smelting.

APT also have a portable version of the RDGK, the RDGK-T, seen below and in the videos linked above. Both plants have the same concepts and recovery rates, although the RDGK-T is set up neatly on a trailer, equipping you will all the tools necessary to go to site, start mining right away and then easily move with your mineral resource.

Should you wish to know more about our mine equipment demonstrations, please email us at info@aptprocessing.com and we'll be happy to host you! We can do a variety of demonstrations equipping you and other miners with the tools required to mine in the safest, most efficient way to make the most of your mineral resource. 

Mining Insight: Small Innovators – Tomorrow’s Leaders

Nobody can doubt that the pace of change is accelerating. The tools that were once the preserve of large companies are now in virtually everybody’s hands – instant global communication, access to the internet, unlimited array of production options to purchase and implement. The driving forces are also there in the minerals industry and it is a fact that the vast majority of the world’s resources are in small, scattered deposits. These have never suited the majors and they simply walked past, or over, them looking for scale. Nothing wrong with that, it is horses for courses, but to continue ignoring these smaller deposits or leaving them to the vagaries of surface scratching is a huge waste of opportunity.

But how do you do it, and turn a profit to boot? The mining methods, whether open rip or small vein, are well known and in many countries such as Zimbabwe, this was and still is common practice. Processing was always a bit more challenging because the chemistry and metallurgy respects no scale and miniaturizing a complicated circuit is not an easy nor an economical thing to do. Enter APT, a company with in-house testwork and development capabilities and a passion to access the smaller end of the market. Our engineers were presented the challenge of not just miniaturizing existing equipment, but going back to the process fundamentals to see what could be simplified, adapted and improved upon. In short, challenge requires innovation, or it is simply defeat.

This endeavor lead to the development of perfectly balanced small solutions for treating feeds from surface rubble and alluvial as well as hard rock. Frequently the solution is designed to accept all of these together, as with APT’s Combo range plants. Gravity concentration was always a great contender and a number of suppliers worldwide offer solutions for gravity plants. What we at APT have done is expand the offering to include cyanidation and flotation. Our now well-known APT TriTank triangular cyanidation CIP and CIL plants are well known and diversely implemented. A new addition is the APT TriFloat, a revolutionary modular flotation system for anything from graphite to lithium minerals.

Not all small deposits are amenable, but for those that are APT offers the possibility of recovering them efficiently and with the very latest technology. Our associated laboratory Peacocke & Simpson is able to test your material for its specific response in APT candidate processes.

As invariably happens, a good idea at small scale is also perfectly usable at larger scale, and APT’s engineers are able to apply the same winning formulas to win the benefits at large scale too. A double innovation if you wish!

APT – innovating for a more efficient minerals industry. 

  

On the left is an APT 3tph CIL TriTank, and on the right is an APT 10tph Combo Plant for Alluvial and Hard Rock Material.

Small Scale LITHIUM Mining Flotation Plants From APT

Lithium mining is on the rise and likely to be so indefinitely. No better time to get in, commence production and secure your market share. Things can grow, but APT’s modular start-up plants offer the perfect platform to commence the lithium mining process. Our mining equipment solutions are unique and smart. The target mineralization is typically spodumene, which floats well. APT’s TriFloat cells are particularly suited to this large mass yield float and the compact six cell design results in an easily controlled format. With the addition of a simple crusher and impactor to obtain the granular start mineral size, the plant is virtually ready to go.

Available in variants of 1.5, 5, 10 and 20tph, the APT Lithium recovery plant is highly simple, cost effective and correct for an easy startup. Through our associate laboratory Peacocke and Simpson amenability tests can be conducted at either lab (20kg sample required) or lab-pilot (60kg sample).

If you would like to begin your venture and get into profitable production as quickly as possible, then we invite you to contact us for further information or better yet, stop by our offices! It's always great to see things in person and truly get an idea of who we are.

APT – Something new, always 

Coarse GRAPHITE Recovery Success In APT's TriFloat

Following our TriFloat launch, we caught up with one of our Process Engineers, Hannah Peacocke, to get an update on how the system is operating.

Laboratory results upon an African medium flake graphite ore produce a very high grade coarse graphite concentrate, demonstrating the capability of the APT TriFloat system. “Bench and pilot scale flotation produced a flotation concentrate of over 90%C upon a feed of -2mm”, said Peacocke. The concentrate was then de-gritted in a proprietary APT process, and upgraded further to 93.6%. The flake produced was far coarser than obtained in a conventional float, even upon this marginal ore, with 38% reporting to the +300 micron fraction. With a recovery of this up front coarse-scalping process of over 73%, the lab pilot test validated the efficacy of the procedure.

“The goal was to preserve as much of the coarse flake graphite as possible, and that was achieved. If necessary, further grinding and flotation upon the initial coarse tailings to increase the recovery may be carried out”, said Peacocke. 

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54UWSql2KNI[/embed]

The entire APT TriFloat procedure can be utilized in an initial project start-up phase to commence production with the highest quality concentrate right out of the gate. Added advantages of modest capital and short lead times make the APT Graphite plant a serious contender in the current market. 

Samples can be accepted for testing, please contact info@aptprocessing.com

We decided to have some fun and film a quick sample run for you! You can view it by clicking the video above! 

APT - a smarter way, always