Multotec has taken another innovative step to help customers recover more of their valuable ultra-fine material so that it does not go to waste in the discard. As a leading designer and manufacturer of spiral concentrators, Multotec has released its UX7 spiral which focuses on recovering material in the particle size range of 75 microns and smaller. Refentse Molehe, Process Engineer at Multotec, says the success of the Multotec UX7 is based on extensive in-house test work, which has led to improvements and around 13% better recovery.

“Much of the testing was conducted on chrome, manganese and iron ore, but the UX7 spiral can be as easily applied to copper, platinum and other metals,” says Molehe. “This is an exciting development for the sector, as we have seen growing interest from our customers in gaining financial value from material which has traditionally ended up in tailings storage facilities.”

She notes that efforts to improve the recovery of ultra-fines have used a range of technologies, but spirals have always been regarded as a highly reliable and energy efficient solution. Multotec’s continuous improvement of its spiral technology to suit customer needs now opens the door for customers to cost effectively re-treat their tailings dams to recover valuable ultra-fine material.

“In addition to its ability to recover ultra-fines, the Multotec UX7 spiral benefits from the various advantages shared by spiral concentrators,” she says. “These include the lower environmental risk and cost due to the absence of chemicals, and the low maintenance of this technology as a result of having no moving parts.”

Multotec’s decades of on-the-ground experience in mineral processing – and its depth of expertise in a range of related disciplines – equip the company to provide a customised, full flow sheet solution. Molehe emphasises that each application of the Multotec UX7 spiral will be based on an in-depth understanding of the customer’s operating conditions, fine-tuned by extensive testing of material to ensure the optimal result.

“Once we can confirm that the UX7 spiral is the appropriate solution for the customer’s operation, then we build in the throughput and capacity requirements and accordingly design the flowsheet to accommodate the specifications to be achieved,” she concludes.