As part of its modernisation drive, a mining and processing plant recently installed 3 x 62 m diameter DELKOR high-rate thickeners with a view to reducing electricity consumption by one and a half times for the pumping of tails, as well as rationalising the use of process water.

The project concerns the design, engineering and supply of three DELKOR 62 m high-rate thickeners for the dewatering of iron ore tailings as part of the processing plant’s modernised slurry thickening complex.

This modern complex, of which construction was completed in 2020, has now done away with outdated slurry pump stations, adopting, instead, the efficient process of thickening, hydraulic transport and storage of slurries.

Employing DELKOR’s latest generation feedwell design that comes with improved flocculation together with improved flocculant and slurry kinetics, these elevated thickeners boast large feedwells, which rank as some of the largest ever built, DELKOR says.

Ramesh Mahadevan, Regional Managing Director – DELKOR, had this to say upon successful commissioning of the thickeners: “This project is a very important reference for us in Ukraine. Given current global conditions, working with a new end user is a noteworthy achievement and one for which our entire DELKOR team must be commended.”

TAKRAF, the owner of DELKOR, meanwhile, says there has been strong demand for DELKOR technology in Latin America, noting a recent order for TAKRAF Peru for the supply of 2 x 38 m paste tailings thickeners with a capacity of 455-623 t/h.

The order, placed by a Peruvian entity processing tailings from a nearby iron ore mine, forms part of an expansion to develop a second plant. This will enable the entity to handle more tailings from the mine, according to TAKRAF.

Design requirements for the thickeners include accommodating the process demands for a paste application with a target of 65% +/- 3% solids content for the underflow. This required an equipment configuration that allowed it to operate under an expected yield stress of 200 Pa in the underflow material, the company noted.