Tag Archives: mineral processing

Bayhorse ships high grade metallurgical samples to smelters and refiners

Automation, Bulk handling, Mine operation news, Mineral processing,

Bayhorse Silver Inc has shipped high grade metallurgical samples (166 –175 oz/t Ag), to identified smelters, as well as to Mineral Solutions, of Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, to receive firm pricing for extracting and refining silver and other minerals from the its shipping grade concentrate processed through its ore-sorter. The 8 kg of metallurgical samples graded 5,452.42 g/t, 5,175.60 g/t and 5,278.25 g/t Ag respectively, were taken from a homogenous 50 kg underground channel sample from the Bayhorse silver mine.

The company has a Letter of Intent with Minerals Solutions, a Joint Venture between Liberty Refiners of Hayden, Idaho and Irish Metals of Coeur D’ Alene, to process a portion of its upgraded shipping material directly into pure refinery grade 4 X Nine silver. By grinding its upgraded shipping material to -80 mesh at the mine, Bayhorse is better able to provide material that meets Minerals’ specifications for refining.

Upon receipt and acceptance of definitive terms, the company will commence deliveries of upgraded shipping material to Minerals.

Bayhorse CEO Graeme O’Neill comments “by upgrading the mineralization to shipping grade, the company is able to reduce transportation costs per ounce, and minimize processing losses that inevitably occur during flotation concentration. This allows for reduced costs in the processing and smelting/refining options available to us as we upgrade our high grade silver bearing mineralization to shipping grade, and we minimize the 10% losses that normally occur during the flotation process. We are very proud to have developed the Bayhorse silver mine at a cost of $1.00 per inferred silver resource ounce”.

The company is currently tramming over 1,200 t of already extracted mineralization from the high grade Goldilocks zone, 1,100 ft inside the mine at the extreme western end of the main haulage, to the newly built all weather storage pad. The picture shows that pad ready for all-weather cover installation.

The mineralized material is then passed through the crushing circuit, where it is reduced to between 8mm and 20mm – 25mm in size, to allow for greater selectivity when processed through the Steinert XRT ore-sorter at rates up to 40 t/h.

The sorter removes up to 95% of the non-mineralized and low grade material from the process stream, increasing the silver grade to the shipping grade of 103 oz/t Ag (3,000 g/t) or better prior to being shipped to the smelter/refiner.

Master Magnets Disc Magnetic Separator gets to work on Nigeria coltan project

Industrial minerals, Metallurgy, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , ,

Master Magnets has manufactured and despatched a Disc Magnetic Separator to Nigeria for use in the processing of coltan.

The magnetic separator is used in a process to extract primarily tantalum from coltan, which is a combination of columbite and tantalite.

For this new project, tests were undertaken in the Master Magnet test facility in Redditch, England. The tests confirmed the level of separation, capacity and the magnetic separator configuration.

Once completed, the samples were returned to the client in Nigeria for analysis. On receiving confirmation the separation matched their processing requirements, an order was placed.

The origins of the Disc Magnetic Separator date back to the early 1900s. Although manufacturing techniques have significantly changed and more advanced machines have been incorporated, the basic function design remains virtually the same. The separator is widely used to ensure an accurate separation of dry minerals that have varied magnetic susceptibilities.

Typically, a Disc Magnetic Separator features up to three high-intensity electromagnetic discs, each set at a different height from a feed conveyor:

  •  Disc one – this will be set the furthest from the feed material. The objective is to extract only the most magnetically susceptible particles;
  • Discs two and three – the second and third discs are set at lower gaps. This increases the magnetic force at each disc and enables the separation of different grades of magnetic material.

The magnetic intensity can be further adjusted by varying the current of each coil. This allows each disc separator to be designed and set-up for an individual mineral ore.

For this latest project, the test work recommended a model MDS3-375 Disc Magnetic Separator. This featured three high-intensity electromagnetic discs, (with six electromagnetic coils) each set at a different height from a 380 mm wide feed conveyor.

The tests had determined the MDS3-375 Disc Magnetic Separator could process between 500 kg/h and 600 kg/h.

Master Magnets says it is one of the world’s leading designers and manufacturers of magnetic separators for the mineral processing sector. The company’s manufacturing and test facilities are based in Redditch, UK.

Over several decades, it has developed an extensive portfolio of high intensity magnetic separator for purifying and concentrating minerals. Laboratory-sized versions of many of the designs are found in their Technical Test Facility.

Outotec heralds “positive” Q3 minerals and metals processing technology markets

Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Energy minerals, Equipment maintenance, High tech minerals, Industrial minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, Water management, , , ,

Process technologies and service provider Outotec saw its order intake from the minerals and metals sector pick up in the September quarter as producers continued to focus on improving their existing operations.

The company’s order intake rose 16% year-on-year to €271.5 million ($308 million) during the three months to the end of September, while its sales jumped 17% to €320.2 million.

In the period, the company secured a contract worth €25 million for a greenfield copper concentrator in South America, but it did note that there was “evidence of postponements in larger investments due to the global economic uncertainty, which has impacted metal prices”.

Outotec added: “Producers continued focusing on developing their existing operations. Demand for equipment, smaller technology packages and spare parts remained solid.”

In the company’s service business, Outotec said it was still experiencing supplier constraints, with sales remaining at previous levels to last year. “However, the sales started to improve towards the end of the third quarter,” the company added.

In terms of earnings, Outotec’s EBIT went from €12.3 million in the September quarter of 2017 to €16 million in the most recent quarter.

President and CEO Markku Teräsvasara concluded: “We expect the demand outlook for our technologies and services to remain good. However, major investments continue to develop relatively slowly.”

TOMRA’s COM XRT 2.0 mineral ore sorter tackles even higher throughputs

Automation, Base metals, Bulk handling, Comminution of minerals, Energy minerals, Metallurgy, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, , , , ,

X-ray ore sorting is already making great waves across the mineral processing industry by reducing plant throughputs, increasing head grades and cutting operating costs. One of the leaders in this growing field, TOMRA, believes its new COM XRT 2.0 sorter takes these attributes to another level.

This upgraded model features higher belt speed and throughput, translating directly into increased productivity in mineral processing. It also offers increased wear resistance and longer component lifetime, with quick and safe maintenance through providing easier access to replaceable components.

Ines Hartwig, Product Manager at TOMRA Sorting Mining, said the valuable experience gained over the past 15 years, through monitoring and maintaining the TOMRA COM XRT units operating in the field, has been incorporated into the design of the TOMRA COM XRT 2.0.

“Our sorters have been operating under harsh conditions in both hot and cold climates, sorting wet and dry feed across a wide range of commodities,” Hartwig said.

The speed of the belt in the new design has been increased from 2.7 m/s to 3.5 m/s, while the more powerful X-ray system accommodates the sorting of larger-sized material due to better X ray penetration.

“Higher levels of belt occupancy are facilitated by our improved data processing capacity, and this allows the particle size of the feed to be increased,” she said. “The maximum size of the particles that the TOMRA COM XRT 2.0 can handle is between 100 mm and 125 mm, depending on the material, which also contributes significantly to throughput capacity.”

She notes these higher levels of capacity are particularly valuable for larger mines, as they reduce the number of machines required, and therefore also decrease capital and operating expenditure.

The unit boasts a highly selective ejection system, using data processing in combination with precise control of the pneumatic valves which eject the selected material from the stream. Driving this system is TOMRA’s proprietary data processing pipeline that links sensors, image processing and the valve control boards.

The performance of this ore sorting technology has been proven at Ma’aden Phosphates’ new $560 million processing plant at the Umm Wu’Al project in Saudi Arabia, one of the largest integrated phosphate fertiliser facilities in the world, according to TOMRA. TOMRA Sorting Solutions has installed nine of its TOMRA COM XRT sorting units, each with an operational width of 2.4 m, to process a 1,850 t/h sorter feed at this facility (pictured, top).

The objective of the sorters is to reduce the milling and flotation of silica in the plant process, using a dry technology at a low cost per tonne. The TOMRA units achieve this by removing more than 90% of the chert in the +9 mm fraction, which makes up half of the plant feed, before the phosphate is fed to the milling and flotation circuit. This leads to the removal of over 1.2 Mt/y of SiO2, which does not have to be crushed, ground and floated.

This installation considerably improved the mill performance by reducing the consumption of energy, water and chemicals per tonne of final product, TOMRA said. All of this was achieved with a smaller sorting plant footprint. The saving in flotation reagents, alone, amounts to almost $8 million/y, according to the company.

In Botswana, TOMRA Sorting Solutions has installed two TOMRA COM XRT 2.0/1200 sorters in the mega-diamond recovery (MDR) circuit of Lucara Diamonds’ Karowe mine. Located directly after the primary crusher and ahead of the process plant, the MDR circuit treats material in the size range between 50 mm and 120 mm. It maximises the upfront recovery of exceptional diamonds before the ore reaches the comminution processes, where diamond damage may occur.

“The machine has proven itself through its high availability throughout its first year of operation there,” Hartwig said.

TOMRA Sorting Solutions also has several smaller units in portable and containerised configurations in many different countries, where they must operate in a variety of climatic conditions from arctic to tropical. These machines sort minerals ranging from copper, iron ore and coal to industrial minerals, chrome and diamonds.

Finnair’s Pekka Vauramo to take charge of Metso in November

Base metals, Bulk handling, Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, Water management, ,

Metso Corp has announced Pekka Vauramo will become President and CEO of the company on November 1.

Vauramo, who has held the same roles at airline Finnair since 2013, will take over from Interim President and CEO Eeva Sipilä, who has been in charge of the mineral and aggregates processing company since February. Sipilä was previously Chief Financial Officer of Metso and filled the slot on a temporary basis after former chief Nico Delvaux departed for door opening solutions company ASSA ABLOY AB.

When Finnair announced Vauramo’s intended departure in May, Jouko Karvinen, Chairman of the company, said of his reign: “During the past few years, Finnair’s people have achieved a remarkable transformation and have turned Finnair into a growth company.”

In July, Metso reported a ramp up in project activity in the mining equipment market during the June quarter, with the company’s services and sales orders, and profit all growing in the three-month period.

ABx subsidiary receives global technology rights for ALCORE process

Base metals, Energy minerals, High tech minerals, Metallurgy, Mineral processing, Steel and iron ore, , ,

ALCORE Ltd, a subsidiary of Australian Bauxite Ltd, has been given the licence rights to use the ALCORE raw bauxite processing technology worldwide.

The licence will allow the company to build multiple plants globally to meet growing demand for aluminium fluoride and the associated co-products that come with refining raw bauxite using the technology.

ALCORE is of the belief its refining technology can add significant value ($600-$1,000/t) to low-grade bauxite, turning it into an aluminium fluoride suitable for both smelters and, potentially, lithium-ion battery makers.

The process, which turns 1 t of low grade bauxite (36% Al2O3, 25% Fe2O3, 10% SiO2, 5% TiO2, 23% H2O) into 0.4-0.6 t of aluminium fluoride, involves:

  • Crushing and grinding before reagents are added;
  • The dissolving of all minerals by reagents, forming metal fluorides;
  • Sequential precipitation of fluoride species as metal-fluorides or pure oxides to release fluorine chemicals for recycling of reagents;
  • The production of saleable pure forms of oxides and fluorides.

As the company celebrates this licence win, site construction works for its stage one ALCORE project have already commenced at the pilot plant site in Berkeley Vale, New South Wales, Australia.

The stage-one project is designed to produce aluminium fluoride test samples, according to Australian Bauxite.

Ian Levy, Australian Bauxite Managing Director, said: “ALCORE technology also produces several valuable co-products including silica fume for the cement industry and corethane pure hydrocarbons for energy and fuel security. Upside potential includes production of pure aluminium fluoride for lithium-ion batteries, iron oxide pigments, titanium oxide pigments. Further potential exists for developing ultra-pure products such as high purity alumina for the manufacture of scratch-resistant sapphire glass for phones and computer screens.”

Weir sees strong demand for brownfield mine solutions in H1 results

Automation, Base metals, Bulk handling, Coal technology, Comminution of minerals, Energy minerals, Environmental, Equipment maintenance, High tech minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, , ,

Weir Minerals clocked a solid performance in the first half of 2018 and was ably supported by strong demand for new equipment and aftermarket services from its Minerals division.

The company’s orders from continuing operations (minus its Flow Control division) were up 20% year-on-year in the six month period at £1.17 billion, while operating profit jumped 38% to £160 million.

Minerals orders increased 12% to £728 million, with original equipment orders up 9% (£222 million) and aftermarket orders up 14% (£728 million). Operating profit within the division rose 13% to £112 million.

While its Minerals division performed well, its Oil & Gas division topped it with a 35% year-on-year order jump to £438 million as North American upstream oil and gas markets grew strongly.

Weir said: “Activity in mining markets continued to grow strongly as customers ramped up production to maximise the benefits of supportive commodity prices. Demand was particularly good for brownfield solutions that help debottleneck, increase throughput and reduce downtime of existing mines.”

The pipeline of new projects continued to increase driven by good long-term fundamentals for commodities such as copper, gold and lithium, the company said.

“Customers remained disciplined about committing to new greenfield developments, although a small number of projects received final approval.”

Weir said its early investment in deploying more engineers to customer sites to help miners improve productivity had continued to support strong order growth in the first six months of the year with sales from integrated solutions, which leverage the division’s portfolio of premium products, delivering around £50 million in additional orders. Weir noted engineers completed 374 site audits in the period.

“The division also continued to grow market share through its successful trials programme that sees it go head to head with competitor products to demonstrate the superior performance of Weir equipment,” the company said.

The first half also saw the opening of additional service centres in Zambia, Chile and Peru to further extend Weir’s service network.

Weir’s technology programmes focused on continuous improvement in the division’s core products while also developing its Synertrex® IoT solution. Weir said full commercialisation of this technology in mining markets was planned for the second half of the year.

Synertrex uses network connectivity to capture equipment data and relay it to service centres, service technicians, their customers and Weir’s design centres for trend monitoring, proactive components supply and product improvement.

After the end of the quarter, Weir completed the acquisition of Esco Corp in a deal that came with an enterprise value of $1.29 billion.

Metso Q2 results up on mining equipment demand

Automation, Base metals, Bulk handling, Comminution of minerals, Energy minerals, Environmental, Equipment maintenance, Metallurgy, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, ,

Metso benefitted from a ramp up in project activity in the mining equipment market during the June quarter, with the company’s services and sales orders, and profit all growing in the three-month period.

Overall orders received increased 14% year-on-year to €853 million, with services orders up 7% at €463 million. The company’s sales rose 15% to €776 million, with services sales (up 10%) making up €442 million of this total.

Operating profit increased 45% to €86 million, compared with just €60 million a year earlier.

Metso noted there was healthy activity in all of the markets it serves in the June quarter and expected the next six-month period to see further growth in demand for equipment from its Minerals division and stable demand for Minerals services.

Interim President and CEO Eeva Sipilä said: “We saw continued healthy market activity across our businesses and were particularly pleased to see the project activity in the mining equipment market increase during the second (June) quarter. The solid growth in both equipment and services is a clear indication of our strong position in our key markets.”

She said the company would continue to focus on operational excellence as well as implementing its other “strategic fundamentals”.

The company’s digital strategy is moving forward with piloting comminution analytics at customer sites in North America, Africa, and Australia taking place.

“We are also taking R&D plans forward across our portfolio to strengthen our offering further. Also, our work on adjacent acquisitions supporting our growth strategy continues,” she said.

“Overall, while we have a lot of areas of further improvement ahead of us, I am encouraged by the results we have achieved during the first six months of the year.”

Outotec’s H1 numbers benefit from higher metal output, prices

Automation, Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Energy minerals, Metallurgy, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services

Stronger metal output and prices saw Outotec’s order intake rise in the June quarter and first half of the year.

The company reported a 13% year-on-year increase in the first half of the year and a 21% improvement in the most recent June quarter.

Service orders also rose 16% and 18% in the half-year and three-month period, respectively, while group sales were up 17% and 25% to €618.4 million and €331.2 million, respectively.

Outotec President and CEO Markku Teräsvasara said the minerals processing segment continued to improve its results. The division booked orders from a Russia base metal operator and a Kazakhstan base metal concentrator during the most recent quarter.

Reflecting on the results, Teräsvasara said: “The market remained positive, and we have good prospects in our sales funnel. Final decisions, particularly regarding large greenfield projects, are still progressing slowly.”

Heron’s Woodlawn zinc-copper project ramps up as IsaMill arrives

Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Energy minerals, Equipment maintenance, Metallurgy, Mineral commodities, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, ,

Heron Resources’ Woodlawn zinc-copper project in the New South Wales, Australia, is really starting to take shape, with the company taking delivery of an IsaMill™ (pictured) earlier this week.

The mill is an important part of the company’s processing plant, providing the fine grinding capability to reduce the flotation feed to 30 microns in size. It will treat zinc rich reclaimed tailings, as well as polymetallic primary ore in different processing modes.

The 3 MW 10,000 IsaMill comes with an IsaCharger™ media delivery system, as well as commissioning services from Glencore Technology. It will be the 50th M10,000 installation.

Heron’s Managing Director Wayne Taylor said: “The arrival of the IsaMill marks the step change in technology to be applied to the Woodlawn zinc-copper project. This technology only became available after Woodlawn’s former operations (which stopped in 1998) and it enables Heron to reduce the grind size to provide the most effective mineral liberation, allowing for the highest recoveries to our base metal concentrates.”

The IsaMill is manufactured in Germany and first entered commercial use in 2000.

In the meantime, Heron’s EPC contractor, Sedgman, continues to make good progress with overall construction of the project, reporting the development as 62% complete at the end of June.

The project remains on schedule for the commencement of commissioning in the December quarter.

Woodlawn has an annual steady-state production target of some 40,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate, 10,000 t of copper concentrate and 12,000 t of lead concentrate, along with associated gold and silver.