Tag Archives: Gekko Systems

Gekko brings real-time grade measurement to the gold sector

Environmental, Mineral processing, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , ,

Gekko has launched “Mark 3” of its online gold analyser, OLGA, the flagship product for the company’s real-time data instrumentation division, which operates alongside other key products such as the Carbon Scout to assist in measuring the recovery of gold real-time in gold processing plants, Nigel Grigg, General Manager – Global Sales & Solutions, Gekko Systems, says.

“We are really excited about these new design elements which will improve value and returns for our clients as well as improve ease of operation,” he said. “Now gold grades can be measured in real time compared with the traditional assay-based process which can often result in two-day delays. Operating management will be able to respond immediately if there is a gold excursion or if the data provides other insights into plant trends. This is a breakthrough technology which is now even more affordable and will deliver higher yields in processing plants.”

The OLGA has at its heart the world-first proprietary “Golden Eye” lens technology developed and designed in Australia’s government-funded CSIRO research laboratories.

This component measures gold grade in slurries and solutions combined including low grade slurry streams down to as low 0.1 parts per million. Other elements are also measured including copper, silver, platinum and nickel. The multiplexing feature will allow for up to four streams within a processing plant to be assessed for gold grades, according to Gekko.

The OLGA is the only real-time online measurement system purpose built for gold, Gekko claims. The unit is typically installed to measure the cyclone overflow stream in CIL leach circuits, around the electrowinning circuit and on flotation feed, tails and concentrate. With the multiplexing function, the OLGA can switch measurement of grade from stream to stream.

“The technology represents a significant step forward in the potential to automate gold leaching circuits,” Grigg says.

Another key feature of OLGA is the dedicated sample feed line, facilitating continuous sampling of large volumes with no potential for cross-contamination. The system also offers additional sample points for ad-hoc samples, providing flexibility and adaptability to changing operational needs. Furthermore, the ad-hoc samples can be analysed as batch samples, minimising sampling errors and substituting the need for other sampling systems.

The OLGA Mk3 has undergone rigorous testing and refinement to ensure its robustness, reliability and accuracy in various operational conditions, while offering low maintenance requirements, Gekko says.

Gekko says OLGA’s development was supported by collaboration partners who assisted and provided critical feedback to improve an earlier OLGA technology design. That collaboration included the management and technical teams at Gold Fields, CSIRO, Orway IQ, Curtin University, METS Ignited and Gekko Systems.

Core to the assessment was an OLGA installation at Gruyere Gold Mine (a JV between Gold Fields and Gold Road Resources) where the OLGA achieved excellent results indicating a strong correlation between the automated OLGA and manual assay data and giving the Gekko team the confidence to further develop the OLGA, Gekko concluded.

Gekko InLine Leach Reactor heads to Barrick Gold’s Bulyanhulu

Environmental, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Precious metals, , , , ,

Gekko has announced the purchase of an InLine Leach Reactor (ILR) for the Bulyanhulu gold mine, in the north-western region of Tanzania within the Kahama district, an operation under the ownership and management of Barrick Gold.

The introduction of the ILR to this location is a significant development, building upon the success of its implementation at various other mines operated by Barrick, including Hemlo, Kibali and Loulo-Gounkoto, Gekko says.

The ILR’s innovative design and efficient mineral leaching chemistry is providing high gold recoveries and production improvements to many operations worldwide, Gekko says. ILR orders have continued to respond positively to strong gold prices, with interest from a range of milling operations across the globe including North America, South America and Africa.

The ILR can be retrofitted into any gold grinding circuit, with the unit receiving gravity concentrates or flotation concentrates into a fully enclosed rolling drum. Inside the drum, the ore concentrates are mixed typically with a 1-2% sodium cyanide solution and an oxidant, known as intensive leaching. Specialised baffles inside the drum keep the solids in constant contact with the chemical solution providing a high shear environment. The correct combination of chemicals and concentrate, plus the rolling action of the drum, creates a highly efficient leaching reaction, Gekk0 says. This drives faster kinetics primarily through mixing and attrition which is critical to remove the oxidation layer away from the surface of the gold particles and allow enriched solution containing the required reagents to access fresh. Leach rate can be directly correlated to the attrition energy absorbed, according to Gekko.

Lifters inside the ILR drum mechanically agitate the slurry, forming an oxidant-rich zone with high solids-liquids mixing for leaching. Gekko says it has conducted multiple comparisons on the scale-up between bottle rolls and site data, consistently demonstrating that the ILR has performed equal to, or in some cases better, than laboratory bottle rolls.

The Batch and the Continuous ILRs work to chemically leach metal from ore concentrates using the same leaching principle. The ILR’s horizontal “rolling bottle” design keeps the concentrates in suspension and continuously mixes to accelerate the chemical reaction within the solution. The rolling bottle provides a pure mixing zone, preventing the risk of the solution short circuiting, the company explains.

When leaching in the batch units is complete, the pregnant ‘metal-rich’ solution is clarified and transferred to an electrowinning circuit. With the continuous units, there is an additional process route. The options include the pregnant solution reporting to carbon columns, resin columns, Merril Crowe circuits and in some cases direct electrowinning can still be applied. The barren residual solution can report back to the circuit, detoxification process, recycled or in some cases a combination is applied.

Gekko Systems achieves commercial production milestone at Dolphin tungsten processing plant

Energy minerals, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , ,

Gekko Systems says the mineral processing plant to recover tungsten at the Dolphin Mine in King Island, in Tasmania, Australia, has now reached the commercial production milestone.

Group 6 Metals (G6M) contracted Gekko Systems to design, procure and construct a mineral processing plant for the recovery of tungsten at the mine back in 2021. The Gekko engineering team worked in close partnership with G6M to design the process flowsheet and, by mid-2023, the process plant achieved commercial production, operating 24 hours a day to process tungsten.

“We are proud to achieve commercial production of the Dolphin Mine Processing Plant on King Island,” Andrew Edmondston, CEO of Gekko Systems, said. “This project represents a remarkable achievement for Gekko, G6M and the entire team involved. The processing plant will undoubtedly contribute to the sustainable supply of tungsten and support numerous industries that rely on this critical mineral.”

The installation and commissioning of the processing plant were carried out by skilled workers from mostly regional Tasmania and Victoria.

An October 2021 presentation from King Island Scheelite, which has since become G6M, outlined a 400,000 t/y ore operation, producing 275,000 metric tonne units of tungsten oxide.

Gekko commissions third InLine Leach Reactor at New Liberty gold mine

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Gekko Systems says a third InLine Leach Reactor (ILR) has been successfully commissioned at Avesoro Resources’ New Liberty gold mine in Liberia.

This installation, expected to further enhance gold recovery and decrease processing costs at Liberia’s first and largest commercial gold mine, is one of several Gekko has completed across Africa. Other notable ILR deployments have been witnessed at West African Resources’ Sanbrado gold mine in Burkina Faso and Asante Gold’s Bibiani gold mine in Ghana.

The latest ILR installation at New Liberty has been achieved thanks to the hard work of Gekko Senior Process Engineer, Jacob Asare, and the team at the mine, Gekko said.

The ILR is an automated, high-performance leaching system that effectively recovers gold from concentrates, and is widely used in the mining industry due to its high gold recovery rates, Gekko explained.

Gekko Systems improves carbon sampling accuracy, safety at Cowal gold mine

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The technical team at Gekko Systems has released further data that, it says, supports the benefits of new technology that optimises carbon management systems in gold processing facilities.

Optimising carbon management in the carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit reduces gold solution losses and improves gold circuit recovery. This is essential for sites needing to offset higher inflationary costs with improved revenue, Gekko says.

The case study, released today, reviews operational performance of Gekko’s Carbon Scout at Evolution’s Cowal Gold Operation in New South Wales, Australia.

The Carbon Scout is a self-contained, ground-level sampling system that measures carbon concentration, as well as pH, DO and, more recently, has an option to measure gold loading on carbon using XRF technology on an hourly basis. Optimising the Carbon Scout for site conditions allows for more accurate, reliable and repeatable measurement of the carbon inventory of the CIL
circuit, Gekko says. Automating data collection and process actions such as carbon transfer, meanwhile, reduces operator risk exposure and person-hours (previously dedicated to the manual data collection tasks).

Installation of the Carbon Scout at Cowal commenced in February 2019, with the Gekko Systems Digital Services and Technical team providing ongoing support – both onsite and remotely – in the initial months of the system’s operation to ensure maximum availability was achieved and Evolution Mining was receiving the full benefit of the Carbon Scout.

After a few months of integration with the SCADA system, the Carbon Scout was able to use the data and analysis to facilitate automated transfer of the carbon inventory within the circuit to maintain pre-determined concentrations, according to Gekko.

The Carbon Scout at Cowal has successfully reduced operator exposure to slurry containing hazardous materials including cyanide and improved sample authenticity by collecting a more representative and repeatable sample, Gekko said in the case study.

The other critical success achieved by the Carbon Scout is its ability to take a larger CIL tank sample that is more representative. This is achieved by the Carbon Scout drawing from deeper within the tank, where more superior slurry-carbon mixing occurs, and a larger sample of up to 20 litres is taken, which is 10-20 times the typical manual sample size. Additionally, the sample is extracted from a consistent point each time the Carbon Scout cycle samples from that tank.

Gekko concluded: “Optimising the Carbon Scout for site conditions allows for more accurate, reliable and repeatable measurement of the carbon inventory of the CIL circuit. Utilising these measurements and integrating with a plant’s SCADA system, the automatic control of carbon concentrations through the CIL circuit can be achieved. Automating data collection and process actions such as carbon transfer reduces operator risk exposure and man hours previously dedicated to the manual data collection tasks.

“The improvement derived from the utilisation of the Carbon Scout should lead to increases in circuit recovery by reducing soluble gold losses.”

The Carbon Scout was originally the brainchild of Curtin University’s Gold Processing team, led by Dr Teresa McGrath and Bill Staunton. Curtin University selected Gekko Systems as its commercialisation partner.

Staunton noted that “real-time data collection instrumentation and related analysis is essential to the future of the gold processing industry”.

Gekko Systems’ Technical Director, Sandy Gray, said: “The increasing installation base of the Carbon Scout globally is providing a fantastic baseline of evidence that supports the benefits of quality data collection and automation.”

Anax Metals brings Gekko in for process plant design at Whim Creek copper mine

Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , ,

Anax Metals Limited has appointed Gekko Systems as process plant design consultant to assist with the design process of a polymetallic sulphide concentrator plant at the Whim Creek copper mine in Western Australia, Gekko says.

The concentrator plant will be designed to process approximately 320,000 t/y of pre-concentrate, with feedstock for the concentrator consisting of primary sorted ore and upgraded fines from the gravity circuit.

Anax plans to design the process plant and associated infrastructure such that it may be fabricated and assembled on skids, in a factory, prior to transportation and installation on site. This strategy delivers many significant benefits and reduces site related construction risks.

Anax’s Managing Director, Geoff Laing, said: “We are very pleased to be working with the Gekko team and look forward to delivering a cost-effective modular plant for Whim Creek. Modularisation is a key element of the ‘Anax Blueprint’ which is expected to deliver leveraged outcomes to our projects.”

Gekko to build tungsten ore processing plant for Dolphin Mine re-development

Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , ,

Gekko Systems says it has executed a construction contract with Group 6 Metals Limited for the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the processing plant and related facilities for the redevelopment of G6M’s 100% owned Dolphin Mine, located on King Island, Tasmania.

The contract, which has a value of approximately A$49 million ($35 million), anticipates the commissioning of the facilities in the March quarter of 2023. Based on this timing the first shipment of ore from the Dolphin mine to customers will also occur during the three-month period.

Gekko has been engaged with G6M (formerly King Island Scheelite) over the last three years and, together, the companies have formulated the flowsheet which was developed after extensive independent test work at the ALS laboratory undertaken on behalf of G6M in Burnie, Tasmania.

Following the execution of the contract, G6M is scheduled to commence earthworks early in the March quarter of 2022 in preparation of the civil works commencing soon thereafter.

Group 6 Metals Executive Chairman, Johann Jacobs, said: “We have successfully worked very closely with Gekko over a number of years, which has culminated in us being able to execute this substantial contract so soon after completion of the financing of the project. We look forward to continuing our working relationship with Gekko to ensure a quality facility that is completed on time and within budget.”

Chair of Gekko Systems, Elizabeth Lewis-Gray, added: “This is a critical resource development and an important project for regional Tasmania and Victoria. The team at Gekko are proud to have the opportunity to collaborate on and deliver a quality, locally designed and built process plant solution for Group 6 Metals.”

An October presentation from King Island Scheelite outlined a 400,000 t/y ore operation, producing 275,000 metric tonne units of tungsten oxide.

Knelson concentrator, Gekko ILR set to boost gravity gold recovery at Asante’s Bibiani

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Asante Gold’s plan to bring the Bibiani mine in Ghana into production in the September quarter of 2022 remain on track after mobilising a contractor to refurbish the process plant and made plans to upgrade its gravity gold recovery equipment.

The company acquired the mine earlier this year from Resolute Mining, embarking on a journey to return the former operating mine to its past glories.

In a market update, Asante said all activities for the restart were on track.

“Asante is preparing a plan to deliver a mine that can produce approximately 190,000 oz of gold at Bibiani in its first 12 months of operation and circa 240,000 oz every year thereafter for a minimum of six years,” it said.

Tenders have been invited for the selection of a mining contractor, with mobilisation of said contractor expected to proceed in the March quarter of 2022.

At the same time, the process plant refurbishment is slightly ahead of schedule and on budget, the company said.

Harlequin International has been contracted to complete the refurbishment engineering procurement and construction management (EPCM) and has mobilised as scheduled. The full EPCM team, plus requisite complement of tradespeople, is on site to provide training, safety and project delivery systems and resources needed to ensure achievement of a safe and productive work environment, the company said.

Asante explained: “All work activities are proceeding as planned. Principal equipment motors and drives have been taken off site, to be serviced as needed. Electrical components, instrumentation and control systems have been tested and are being upgraded as needed to provide improved performance, above the original design.”

The company said gravity recovery equipment was being upgraded to “2020 level” of competence and automation. This includes the purchase of a new high efficiency “6G Knelson concentrator” (from FLSmidth) and Gekko ILR (InLine Leach Reactor).

Sub-contractors have been engaged to proceed with sand blasting, metal and pipework repair, painting, installation of liners and belts, and to ensure safe and efficient operation, Asante said.

“Equipment that is on site but that was not fully installed by the former owners is in the process of being made ready for operation,” the company added. “As of the last week of October, there are more than 200 workers on site. To date the project remains on budget.”

In July 2018, Resolute Mining, based on some 50,500 m of drilling, released an updated feasibility study for Bibiani reporting JORC compliant resources of 21.7 Mt at 3.6 g/t for 2.5 Moz of gold.

Gekko Systems partners with Quadra Chemicals to expand GoldiLOX leach reach

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Gekko Systems says it has entered into an agreement with Quadra Chemicals Ltd to represent its GoldiLOX leach accelerant exclusively in Canada and the USA, and non-exclusively in Mexico.

GoldiLOX is an advanced leach accelerant able to, the company says, increase gold recovery while shortening intensive cyanidation times, making gold production a faster and more effective process. Compatible with all intensive reactors in the marketplace, GoldiLOX is either added as a single manual addition or by an automated chemical dosing system to the intense leach reactor.

“Gekko is pleased to enter an agreement with Quadra Chemicals to provide a cost effective and efficient leach accelerant, GoldiLOX, to our clients in Canada, the USA and Mexico to add further value to their projects,” Andrew Edmondston, CEO of Gekko Systems, said.

Ian Holden, Product Manager, Mining Group of Quadra Chemicals Ltd, added: “Partnering with innovative solution providers to the mining industry, such as Gekko, allows us to continue to provide technologies which will help to ensure our client’s competitiveness in the market. We are excited about this new partnership and look forward to working in collaboration with Gekko.”

Alphamin bolsters gravity separation options with second Gekko IPJ

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Alphamin Resources has purchased a second IPJ2400 for tin recovery at the Bisie tin project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gekko Systems says.

The purchase of a second Gekko InLine Pressure Jig (IPJ) unit follows good performance from the first IPJ installed at this site in 2018 (pictured).

In addition, the Ririwai tin project has purchased an IPJ1500 in Nigeria.

The IPJ is a continuous gravity separation device that rapidly and efficiently pre-concentrates high-value and high-density mineral particles such as tin, tantalum, sulphides and free gold, Gekko says.

With installations worldwide, the unit has multiple applications including assisting in gangue rejection and combining with flotation to recover coarse minerals at the plus-100 micron range. The IPJ has significant benefits such as low water consumption, low footprint, ease of operation and 30 years of operational history.