The Mineros Group recently implemented the first phase of an expansion project at its extensive alluvial gold dredging operations in the Nechi River delta at El Bagre in Colombia.  The project was borne out of a successful pilot plant trial on a tethered barge which accepted a representative stream of Dobaibe gravity feed material.

Gekko Systems’ InLine Pressure Jigs (IPJ) were chosen to replace the port side gold recovery jigs on the Dobaibe dredge in mid-2017. The existing starboard atmospheric jig remains in place which will allow a comprehensive analysis of the relative performance of each system over time.  Early results indicated a substantial improvement in overall gold recovery following the installation of the IPJ circuit.

The Gekko plant consisted of six IPJ2400s in primary gravity duty, one secondary gravity IPJ2400 and two ISP30s (InLine Spinner) for tertiary gravity recovery.

El Bagre alluvial project is located in the Antioquia (Colombia) mining district.

Due to the nature of bucket dredge operation, the plant was designed to accommodate feed rates cycling between 250 and 590 t/h, controlled automatically. Close collaboration between Mineros staff, led by Project Manager Carlos Hoyos, and Gekko Design and Process Engineers, resulted in a sophisticated installation characterised by superior process performance, built-in redundancy to achieve high overall availability and improved maintenance scheduling with good equipment access.

Gekko’s exclusive representative for South America, Diego Mielke said, “We are extremely pleased to be working with Mineros in delivering this step-change increase in gold production, and look forward to providing through-life support into the future.”

A feature of the new plant is its ability to process the constantly changing physical properties of the feed stock whilst maintaining optimum plant performance. The excellent working relationship between Mineros and Gekko has been a hallmark in the continuing optimisation of the Gekko plant, and is testament to Mineros’ commitment to expand gold production involving a programmed refit of the dredge fleet to Gekko technology.