Seeing a plant on site brings the whole process to life for everyone involved. Here at APT we are very tight-knit with all employees playing a role in bringing our plants to life; from research and development, engineering and design, right through to manufacturing and on-site development. Not everyone gets to go to site, however, and not all of our clients know what the process is like. Here is a glimpse at one of our latest installations in East Africa, the CIL TriTank. We look forward to showing you more of our site visits in our 2 Minutes with APT series! [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chw_Dri8NiA[/embed]
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
EQUIPMENT FOR START UP MINERS: What is APT's GroundBreaker Division?
Mining in the best of circumstances is challenging. You may have a mine, but how do you get the optimum value from your resource? This is where the GroundBreaker division of APT can step in to get you started. Many have become well familiarized with the APT GroundBreaker range, but for those who have just come to find us, it would be fitting to define what this range is. When speaking of the GroundBreaker division, we are referring to a range of equipment which enables anyone to start and advance in their mining development, with low start-out capital and room to grow. Firstly there are the artisanal miners who are facing various challenges and need equipment that can empower them to establish a future for themselves, then there are small scale miners looking to start on a low capital and grow through their own profit, those who are starting out in mining, those who need small scale mining equipment that is simple to use but gives efficient recovery and lastly, miners and exploration geologists who need to explore their resource. All of the above are looking for equipment that is cost effective, yet uncompromising on quality and efficiency. The GroundBreaker range has employed a minimalist design over the years with no extra complication but tough on build, this has led to this range being any small miners wish come true.
The equipment within the GroundBreaker range is available through a variety of sizes with suitable throughput capacities. The plants are robust and fully mobile, having been skid or wheel mounted for easy translocation. All of the GroundBreaker products are designed around our principle of ‘Modular Mineral Processing’, where we supply mix and match equipment to suit every situation and resource. Small scale miners, in particular have found it possible to grow their operations by starting with GroundBreaker modules and progressing through to medium and even larger scale mining equipment.
At the same time, the GroundBreaker range of equipment is in line with our started policy, entirely mercury free and environmentally caring. Good for you, good for your workers and good for the environment. The range was not designed to replace mercury, but rather to be as or more efficient and effective than the mercury alternative, thus a more attractive solution. Material can be processed efficiently, meaning higher recovery and better return. GroundBreaker equipment can be bought and set up as toll units which miners can rent for the processing of their material.
For miners starting out or serving exploration purposes, its portability is another factor. Plants are available in trailered and skid base versions, easily and swiftly disassembled, moved and reassembled. In some cases, there is no need for disassembly and re- assembly at all as everything is already set up as it should be. This range covers the entire spectrum of resources from alluvial to hard rock, and over a bouquet of minerals (some being; gold, tantalite, tine, chromite) with equipment designed to cater for the need.
Finally, you are not alone! You can access the APT technical team, who will advise you and guide you through the planning of every step from test work, financial and site planning, purchase of equipment and development of your mine. We have a dedicated GroundBreaker division who are involved in every step of the research and development, design and engineering phases. They know the equipment thoroughly, and are able to help you as required.
Contact us here with any queries, we are happy to help and look forward to hearing from you!
Recover Gold On The Move! Hard Rock Mining Equipment On A Trailer
We are proud to introduce the RDGK mining equipment trailer for hard rock gravity gold processing.
Our first ‘plant on wheels’ was the RG30-T, a trailer version of the RG30 mobile wash plant and concentrator, which was neatly and cleverly designed to allow you to simply unfold the required components and get into production quickly and efficiently. Following its success we wanted to do the same but, this time, with a hard rock plant. We are finished with the engineering, research and development and are proud to bring you the RDGK-T, a small scale hard rock plant on wheels!
Rated at approximately 1t/hr to 1.5t/hr feed in field the RD15 wet impact fines grinder is driven by a 15KW Diesel engine. Accompanied by the GoldKacha Concentrator run by a 5.5KVA Generator which can also be used to run lights and electricity if a camp is set up.
All of the above is set up on a 15inch two wheeled heavy duty fully braked trailer with spare wheel fully equipped with stabilisers and jockey wheel. There is a hand winch system to lower the GoldKacha to operating height on scissor frame.
A great mobile exploration or production plant for gold from hard rock feed of less then -30mm (feed can have up to 45 % fines inclusion) at approximately 1t/hr. (You can pre-crush feed rock with a Jaw Crusher /we have the JC25 Jaw Crusher with diesel drive on skid base available). Just hook up a 2inch petrol or diesel drive water pump to the system and you are away. (fuel consumption:- approx. 3.8lt hr diesel and 500ml petrol on genset per hour).
This mining equipment trailer hard rock plant is available in Southern Africa right now at $19950 plus VAT. Please contact us for details.
If you would like to see this plant in action before purchase, we can arrange to do a demonstration at various sites. Videos will be released online too! For the moment, please see a very basic and short video of our RDGK standalone plant video here. Please take note, this video is simply the standalone version and not the trailer version.
Please contact us for further information on any equipment. We often hold plant sales and perform demonstrations so if you would be interested in receiving this information, please email us and we will add you to our mailing list.
CATA Mine Tanzania Pours First Gold
CATA Mine in Tanzania, has produced their first gold pour and we at APT send them a hearty congratulations! The CATA gravity and cyanidation plant was supplied and installed by APT in response to the mine’s request to have the best technology available. APT responded with the supply of a gravity tower including the renowned Knelson concentrator coupled with a top of the range Consep Acacia reactor to treat gravity the Knelson gravity concentrates. The gravity tailings are then treated in two of APT’s state of the art TriTank reactors in CIL mode. Reagent dosing, elution and smelting completes the package. At a startup capacity of 40tph and further modules can be added to double that throughput.
“We believe this is the most advanced gravity/cyanidation package operating in Tanzania”, said business development officer Gary McFarlane. “It is a flagship APT installation that both we and the client can be justifiably proud of”, he said. The plant was also supplied with one of APT’s Field Laboratories with facilities to monitor plant performance as well as undertake analysis of exploration samples.
“We are currently in the process of supplying the much smaller APT TriTank20, especially designed to offer the same advanced technology to small scale operators. This not only demonstrates our commitment to the smaller players, but also offers a means for larger mining houses to pilot this advanced system”, said McFarlane.
We wish CATA every success in their future operations, it is a pleasure to have been of service to this forward thinking mining company.
Fig 1 CATA tower and tanks under construction in record time
Figure 2 The completed installation – neat, tidy, functional and efficient
Should you wish to know anything more about APT's gravity/cyanidation plants, please give us a phone call on (0027) 11 704 6678 or email us on info@aptprocessing.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
Mining Equipment That Is Simple, Clean and Efficient: the signature of tomorrow’s plants
Mine Equipment That Is Simple, Clean and Efficient – the signature of tomorrow’s modular mineral processing plants
Have you ever walked through the set-up of a large minerals processing plant and seen obvious flaws like mis-routed piping, stairways climbing over and around obstacles, etc? Chances are that it was also a mess with slurry all over the place and puddles here and there.
Apart from the difficulty of working with and in such an environment, you can bet your bottom dollar that there is a real cost to be paid for this, because inefficient engineering means inefficient operation.
Nothing is perfect, but we at APT are constantly striving to get closer and closer to it. APT’s plants incorporate surge capacity at critical points and planning for overflows, should they happen. Logical flow is as important as flow logic, carefully planning routings from the 2-D flowsheet to the 3-D installation.
Ergonomics, ease of maintenance and, and yes, a good looking plant are all objectives of the process. If it looks good it is invariably pleasant to work in and believe it or not, studies have shown that a pleasant environment results in higher productivity from the workers. Clean, neat and tidy unit operations are also much easier to automate, should that be required at build or in a subsequent phase. APT’s designers pay particular attention to spacial arrangement and pleasing aspect. Our plants are colourful, good looking and inviting to operate in. All plants should be functional, but APT is looking to go well beyond that to another level of operability.
Fig 1 Alluvial + Hard Rock Mine Equipment; an APT RD50 Combo plant. A clean and tidy arrangement.
Fig 2 APT complete (12 sector) CIL TriTank plant, extremely neat and tidy and the benefits of this design go well beyond aesthetics
Fig 3 The mine equipment shown here is the same plant as the above, here you can see an adjacent gravity tower with intensive cyanidation module in the base.
Scotland Mining: Scotgold Commissioned In Record Time
Scotland mining recently took a step forward with the successful installation and commission of a pilot plant APT engineered and built for Scotgold Resources Limited, a mine located near the picturesque Scottish village of Tyndrum. Although small, the plant marks a significant milestone for the company in that actual production is envisaged. The plant was built by APT South Africa in a record time of just four weeks and even more remarkable was that assembly on site and commissioning through to operation was achieved in just two days. “This project was of significant importance to both APT and our client”, said Business Development exec Gary McFarlane who participated on site himself. “We are acutely aware, as are our clients, of the difficulty in raising capital for project funding and the demonstration of actual production even at small scale should greatly assist the process”, he said. APT produces a range of standard small plants suitable for rapid implementation for either piloting or actual production from high-grade ore bodies.
“APT is proud to have been of service to Scotgold Resources and wishes the company every success”, said McFarlane.
Starting Mining? Here's How: Everything You Need To Know!
Starting mining can at first thought seem to be a daunting process if you are entirely new to the industry, and if you do have some experience you may have an idea of what you want but require some expertise and guidance from people who are willing to share their experience and knowledge to help you advance. Here we have developed a general guide when it comes to starting mining, specifically for the small scale entrepreneur. This article is targeted at the upper oxide near surface occurences, alluvial (surface level) or elluvial deposits that would be amenable to free dig.
NOTE! This article is not intended to be a rigorous guide to mining/processing and the opinions expressed are those of the author only. APT takes no responsibility for the outcome of your project from utilizing some or all of this information.
What to produce?
Establish what mineral or metal you want to produce, for example gold metal or chromite concentrate. You may already have this established because you know an area where it can be produced, but don’t rush in too early.
Look at the potential rewards in making your decision. Look at the price now, and the trends. For example chromite today may have only a marginal price, but on internet you can see that the price curve is going up and has been doing so steadily for some time. So if it makes sense now, it should get much better with time.
Is there an easy market for what you want to produce? How much will it cost to transport the final product to the buyer? For example a tonne of chromite concentrate will need to be bagged at the mine, trucked to a port, loaded on board, shipped to destination port and maybe even trucked to the buyer. A kilogram of gold, however, can normally be carried personally to a buying center nearby.
Is the process well known and easy, or will you have to start something completely new? The easier to do, the less risk, but if you are up to learning the ropes a lesser known product may entail less market opposition and maybe put you ahead of the pack. For example, a deposit with fine tantalite as the target is more difficult to extract than chromite, but less people can do it.
Are there any rules or laws in place that could get in the way? For example, there may be a ban on the export of chromite concentrates.
Do I have a target area?
The general proximity of most minerals is usually known, but the geology dictates that there will be zones of concentration and it is finding these that makes the difference between a good and a bad project. For example an erosional deposit that has collected into a depression will be far more productive than a thin occurrence on the back of a saddle. This is normally a job for an expert geologist and it is worth the time and money to seek their advice. We are not talking about a broad exploration programme here which is aimed at finding a large, new mineral deposit, but rather zoning in upon an area that is known to be productive from past production, or even your own prospecting.
Is there any history? Checking historical records in the local mining office will give insight to the grades they found and the production. You may also find some local knowledge from someone who once worked there. Take it all in with an open mind, you can sort out the important facts later.
Is there current production in the area? If there is, can you ascertain who is doing well and who is not? It is very easy to generate a Google Earth image of the area and you can then plot all the producers on it and then grade them by colour – red for the best going to blue for the worst, or diggings you can see have been abandoned. A line of red dots is a strong indicator of where you should be, especially if you can pick up some geological feature that corresponds to it. Look for the same feature some distance away that may have been displaced by a fault or an intrusion, and if there is no working there it becomes a strong target for you to explore.
Is this a good spot in the area?
Once you have a general area in mind, you will need to explore more closely to find the best spot. In small mining this is closing down to a few hundred square metres.
Before you can begin this process you will need to secure title to the area which can involve anything from registering claims to purchasing rights. This varies so much from country to country that it cannot be defined here, but needless to say make sure you are legal and empowered or it may all be for someone else.
Pinpoint exploration or prospecting can now begin in earnest, which as the first step usually involves panning soil samples or hand pulverized rocks on site. Only when you are sure you are zoned in is it worth submitting samples to a laboratory to quantify your findings. Submitting large numbers of blank samples is an expensive game, in terms of time as well as money. A simple field pulveriser and a set of pans should be good enough to achieve this target.
The next step is to ascertain whether you can recover the target well enough in simple processing. This usually translates into gravimetric methods to minimize environmental impact. The best way to do this is to take a few hundred kilograms of as representative a sample as possible. Include what you would actually be digging in practice, but do not include random blank gangue ‘to be conservative’. You can always bring in your factors later, but for now we need the straight facts. Give the lab clear instructions that they are to test recovery with the minimum of complexity possible. They should begin with the easy steps, like scrubbing to see what is free and liberated naturally. They can then progressively crush to see what more comes out, and finally resort to ball mill grinding to get the ultimate liberation. By plotting the recovery at each stage it is obvious where the best return comes from and that is usually in the initial scrubbing stage. APT have developed a system whereby the secondary crushing of the competent rock as well as some of the milling stage are combined in wet impacting using our own proprietary RD series impactors. One normally achieves the majority of the ultimate recovery in this simple system. The Peacocke & Simpson laboratory is equipped with all of these unit operations at bench scape to test all scenarios.
A typical test recovery result is summarized below:
Clearly in this case the majority of the recovery comes from the scrubbing (52%), but there is definitely a worthwhile target left in the competent rock, and impacting this adds a further 27% to the recovery. Ball milling the impact gravity tails to a very fine state (75 microns) only adds a further 7% recovery, so it is unlikely that that step would be warranted.
So in this hypothetical case the target flowsheet would look like this:
What sort of plant will I need when starting mining?
The flowsheet defines the optimal steps, but the next question is what scale? This is dictated by capital constraint, the rate one can dig and feed the ore, water availability and sometimes market capacity.
If it is gold you are after, the latter doesn’t arise, but just for the exercise, lets consider a tantalite case: A tantalite buyer may only want 2.5 tonnes of concentrate a month for example. So if you anticipate working 8 hrs per day, 24 days per month and the indicated recovery is 70% from an ore feed grading 0.1% Ta2O5, then the calculation looks like this: Tonnes per hour = 5tonnes/0.1%/70%/24days/8hrs = 37 tonnes per hour = 18.6 tph.
Back to gold. In this case market is infinite, and the scale is down to choices like resource size, mining capacity and capital. Keep things modest and conservative, there is absolutely no sense in going big out of the gate.
Once you have a scale in mind, contact APT for a budget price for a plant of that size to match with the flowsheet requirements. You will also receive back a very elementary 3-D schematic of what your plant would look like.
Mining equipment costs can be easily come by and APT will provide budget estimates for plants in a few size categories, all catering to those starting mining or those well-versed in the mining field. Plug these into a simple financial model, or access a simple financial model on the APT website. This will give you an idea of the viability of the project given your ore grade and expected recovery, together with input costs and of course the gold price. Go for the minimum scale that makes money, you can always grow from the returns.
Once you have narrowed down the scale you may request a formal quotation from APT.
Water
Your flowsheet and even your quotation will specify the water requirement in cubic metres of water per tonne of solid feed, usually about 2 m3 water per tonne solid.
By multiplying out the daily working hours you will know your requirement.
If you need to drill boreholes, you should get them sited, drilled and tested because if there is no water, there is no hope of mining. You may be lucky enough to have an old shaft on site to pump from, but test its replenishment.
Your water production rate from a borehole, for instance, may be less if you are processing for only 8 hours for example, but can pump for 24hrs.
If this is the case, you will need at-plant water storage. APT usually supplies one or two 70000 litre ponds. One of these can be used for recycle from the tailings pond, and one for clean water makeup from a borehole etc.
The clean water pond is then reserved for clean water users, like your Knelson concentrator if you have one, or the upgrading table.
Tailings disposal
Each country has rules governing the disposal of tailings, but it is always made easier if you are starting out with a chemistry-free gravity processing route.
Even so it is sometimes necessary to line the deposition area anyway, and in this case you need to consider a life-of-mine, calculate the tailings volume from that and hence the tailings area to be put down.
The tailings placement site should be chosen taking cognisance of the surrounding topography. The optimum situation is to choose a gentle slope with plant feed at the top, then the plant, then the tailings outwash area, then water reclamation ponds below that.
There should be three reclamation ponds; two central ones left and right with the muddy flow going into one, and then switched to the other when it is time to scoop out the accumulated mud from the first.
The far side of each of the two primary settlement ponds then overflow into the recycle water pond and the recycle pump is placed at the far side of this pond.
The recycle water should be pumped to the process water pond right at the site, as mentioned previously.
All ponds should have berms around them so that no muddy water flows in from the general surroundings when it rains.
Digging and mining equipment
Our case study is based upon surface free dig, which in the case of an elluvial deposit like chromite may involve surface scraping and loading into a tractor trailer. In this case a digger such as a backhoe may suffice. You may need two of each to make the system workable.
For an alluvial deposit, the digging may need to be more localized.
If the dig is on exposed reef along the strike then the digging may require an excavator matched to the mining rate.
In any event, APT are not mining experts and you are recommended to seek the advice of such a person or company to recommend the proper system.
Personnel
Apart from the very smallest of operations, all mining ventures require staff.
Choose people who are interested and have stamina before looking to qualifications. This is hard work with long hours and not just a job.
Make sure you get a well experienced mechanical person with some electrical knowledge to maintain and repair the equipment.
Once you have chosen your APT plant, APT can advise upon the number and grade of the necessary staff. They can also advise upon the level of expertise of the mechanical person.
Putting it all together
Now that you have defined the scale, it is time to put a plan together with a time frame and a check list of items to tick off:
Specification and selection of mining equipment
Plant siting plan. APT supplies you with a layout of the immediate plant area, so it is easy to superimpose this over your claims plan. This plan is sometimes necessary for permiting purposes.
Digging and mining equipment.
Tailings placement site.
Minimum on-site infrastructure required (an APT plant comes with an elementary workshop and one or two of the containers can be retained to turn into a site office, restroom, etc.)
Is there a road or will you need to clear one?
Operating capital to see you clear to the first product payment, or beyond.
Personnel
The time frame will look like a project GANTT chart, nothing more than weeks blocked out in sequence with the necessary tasks. The final task is commissioning and startup. Be reasonable with the timing and leave blocks for rest or catchup. There is nothing worse that falsely generated pressure that normally results in mistakes.
Initiation
Generally this is the fun part and where starting mining feels like a reality. Place your orders for all the requirements leaving contingency time for arrival.
Engage the contractors to prepare the site and any roads.
Get the boreholes dug and equipped if appropriate.
Engage your staff just before the plant arrives as APT will use them in the construction phase which is very good training.
Begin mining ahead of time to accumulate a stockpile.
Begin to feed your plant with the assistance and guidance of APT. This is the break-inn phase where any problems come to light and are jointly corrected with APT and your staff, again good training.
The plant will then be signed-off and you are on your way to a hopefully prosperous project future.
APT wishes you all the best starting mining from project planning to implementation – please don’t hesitate to call upon us to assist with your special project!
GOLDFIX For Non Toxic & Efficient Gold Recovery
A recent addition to APT’s GroundBreaker range of Gold Mining products is a non toxic, recyclable, natural compound, developed and tested in house, which we have named ‘GoldFixTM ’.
The GroundBreaker range is designed to be mercury free, and is widely used, particularly in places where environmental impact is a consideration. Mercury has, in the past, been the method commonly used to recover the maximum amount of elemental gold, being regarded as cheap and simple. However, because of its toxicity, in terms of its toll on human health and environmental pollution, it proved anything but cheap.
Now APT has produced a safe, efficient, cost effective alternative to mercury. GoldFixTM is a natural compound which is recyclable and reusable. It is non toxic to humans and does not impact negatively on the environment. The APT gold recovery process, in which GoldFix is used, takes you from concentrate to smelted nugget in six simple steps. At the end of the process, the gold has been recovered and you are left with the pure gold nugget! GoldFixTM for gold recovery works with APT’s existing GroundBreaker solutions, which include the GoldKacha, GoldKonka and GoldMasta. It provides the finishing step that bridges the gap between concentrates and gold ore bullion. Even the smallest amounts of gold can be captured efficiently.