Tag Archives: plant automation

Gekko installs OLGA, Carbon Scout solutions at Gruyere as part of collaborative project

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Gekko Systems, as part of a collaborative project to collect and analyse real-time gold reconciliations and automate gold processing plants, has installed its OLGA and Carbon Scout solutions at the Gruyere gold mine in Western Australia.

In October 2020, METS Ignited Industry Growth Centre announced the consortium of Gold Fields, Orway IQ, CSIRO, Curtin University and Gekko Systems as recipients of the Tranche 4 Collaborative Project Funds. The METS Ignited funding will assist the development of this project.

In a world-first, the project draws together a range of technologies, including the Gekko OLGA and Carbon Scout, and skill sets that are the first step to truly understanding what is happening in a gold production plant in real time and will eventually lead to a fully autonomous gold plant, Gekko said.

Gekko recently installed the OLGA and Carbon Scout at Gruyere (a joint venture between Gold Fields and Gold Road Resources), the site where the project will become reality.

“The Gekko OLGA and Carbon Scout will revolutionise the industry’s ability to measure gold circuit inventory and recovery in real time, move it into the digital world and provide opportunity for full automation,” Gekko said.

OLGA is a world first on-stream analyser designed to continuously read low grade gold grades in slurries and solutions, giving operations the ability to see and control their plants in real time, the company says. The alternative traditional sampling methods involve significant delays – of up to one or two days for feedback.

The Carbon Scout is a self-contained, ground-level sampling system to improve carbon concentration measurements in carbon-in-leach and carbon-in-pulp circuits to an accuracy of ±0.5 grams of carbon per litre of pulp. Uniquely, multiple other data points include slurry density, pH, DO and gold loading on carbon, Gekko explained. Data profiles are provided in every tank, every hour.

“The combination of OLGA and Carbon Scout, supported by the Gekko Sample Delivery System, means all CIL/CIP sampling can be done conveniently and safely at ground level,” it said. “Each tank is sampled by a patented pumpless delivery system. All samples in the plant including leach feed and tails will be delivered through this system to potentially alleviate the need for expensive cross-cut samples.”

The team of Orway IQ will deliver the data through the Trinity program. With the MillROC data system and the Gekko technical team using the data for system analytics.

The ultimate aim of the project is to have gold process and recovery data being analysed within minutes rather than days from anywhere in the world and for production to be adapted to reflect this data, Gekko said.

NQ Minerals upgrades Hellyer processing plant, aims to maximise recoveries

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NQ Minerals says it has successfully increased plant throughput at its flagship Hellyer gold mine, in Tasmania, Australia, following an upgrade and circuit optimisation exercise.

The plant now has a capacity just over 1.3 Mt/y (1.2 Mt/y at 92% plant availability), up from the 835,877 t throughput level achieved in 2019, NQ said.

“The new production rate of 150 t/h (1.314 Mt/y) is now being achieved after a June plant upgrade and circuit optimisation exercise,” the company said. “This new rate compares to 2019 Hellyer full year plant throughput totalling 835,877 t (average 103 t/h at 92% plant availability).”

A spokesperson for the company said the exercise in June saw a lot of work carried out on upsizing existing pumps and pipework to handle the extra flow rates of the various process streams. This saw the installation of bigger pumps and pipes, and the replacement of worn components in the plant.

“Process optimisation works are now underway to ensure that the plant achieves maximum recoveries and concentrate specifications at these new higher production rates,” NQ Minerals said. This could see new automation equipment installed on some of the process circuit, according to the spokesperson.

“Engineering assessments will continue to plan for further production rate increases later in the year, should higher production rates be required,” the company added.

David Lenigas, Chairman of NQ Minerals, said the Hellyer plant upgrade exercise had been successfully brought in some six months ahead of expectation.

“The increase in saleable mine product will have a very positive effect on the company’s top and bottom line revenues going forward, and will assist NQ greatly with its ability to service ongoing debt obligations and strongly position the mine for increased profitability as commodity prices improve with the world emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

NQ Minerals purchased the Hellyer operations in 2017, and as Phase 1 of its Hellyer operational plan, re-opened Hellyer in late 2018 with a tailing retreatment operation designed to last for at least 10 years. Production will initially focus on lead and zinc recovery from the reserves with gold and silver credits.

Phase 2 of Hellyer’s re-opening plan is to re-open the underground mine, which has 1.175 Mt of underground JORC resources grading 8.6% Zn, 4.9% Pb, 96 g/t Ag and 1.66 g/t Au.