Tag Archives: thickeners

Metso-HRT-S

Metso adds to high-rate thickener family with HRT-S

Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , ,

Metso is launching a pre-engineered high-rate thickening solution, the HRT-S, which, it says, will allow significantly shorter delivery times.

The HRT-S complements Metso’s existing high-rate thickener product family which consists of the HRT and HRT-S products. The HRT-S thickener is part of Metso’s Planet Positive offering, enabling savings in power consumption, a reduction in embedded carbon and decreased maintenance costs, Metso says.

Esme Pelser, Product Manager for High Rate Thickeners at Metso, said: “Built upon the perfected HRT technology, which has been available for decades, the HRT-S uses bench-scale and pilot testing to ensure process performance guarantees. With a defined set of features and selected options to choose from, the modular HRT-S enables accelerated project deliveries and shorter installation times.

“The HRT-S is easy to operate and service. We are excited to introduce the full range with options up to 35 m diameter by the end of this year.”

The HRT-S comes with Reactorwell™ technology, which is the new generation feedwell with high solids retention and mixing efficiency that, Metso says, eliminates feed short-circuiting. It also offers low shear rate for ideal floccule growth, even discharge symmetry and excellent feed preparation.

TAKRAF successfully delivers DELKOR tailings thickeners to Moolarben CHPP

Coal technology, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, Water management, , , , , ,

TAKRAF Australia says it has successfully supplied, delivered and commissioned a 30-m diameter DELKOR tailings thickener for the Moolarben Coal Handling & Preparation Plant (CHPP) in New South Wales, Australia.

The Moolarben complex, on Australia’s East coast, is operated by Moolarben Coal Operations Pty. Ltd., which is a joint venture between Moolarben Coal Mines, Yancoal Moolarben Pty. Ltd. and a consortium of Korean power companies. The complex consists of four approved open-pit mining areas, three approved underground mining areas and other mining-related infrastructure.

Notwithstanding challenging global conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project kicked off in late 2021. Despite a variety of challenges surrounding the pandemic, the thickener was delivered in mid-2022, with installation taking place a few months later, TAKRAF explained. A few months after installation, and the thickener was successfully commissioned in early 2023, with continued and successful operation ever since, it says.

Raymond Leung, Sales Manager, DELKOR, said: “Our DELKOR thickener is a proven performer across a variety of applications. The benefits of our DELKOR thickeners include their low capital cost, smaller footprint, effective use of flocculants and advanced automation.

“One of the standout features of this project is the great collaboration between our DELKOR Product & Service Center in Bengaluru, our DELKOR specialists both at our client and at our various TAKRAF Australia office locations, and our committed suppliers. I would like to thank all stakeholders for their commitment in overcoming all challenges related to this project.

“This project again serves to underline our group’s global solutions capabilities and our ability to deliver, and will serve us in good stead as an important future thickener reference in Australia.”

Metso Outotec to deliver crushing, flotation and thickening tech to OZ Minerals West Musgrave

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

Metso Outotec says it has been awarded an order for the supply of key minerals processing technologies to OZ Minerals’ West Musgrave copper-nickel project in Western Australia.

The OEM’s scope of delivery includes an MP1250™ cone crusher, as well as Planet Positive classified flotation units and high-rate thickeners.

The TankCell® e630 flotation units (pictured) are the most proven large-scale cells in the 600 cu.m-plus category and come with the largest installed base of operating cells in the world, according to Metso Outotec.

Metso Outotec’s high-rate thickeners, meanwhile, were selected for their state-of-the-art technology and based on references from similar process plants, it said. Laboratory test work was conducted by Metso Outotec to aid thickener selection.

Kai Rönnberg, Vice President, Minerals Sales – Asia Pacific at Metso Outotec, said: “We are very excited to work on the West Musgrave project with OZ Minerals. We were able to align with the project’s key value drivers at an early stage and provide expert technical support.

“OZ Minerals has selected leading-class Planet Positive process equipment for their nickel and copper production process, and they will also be able to benefit from our extensive aftermarket capabilities and footprint in Western Australia.”

In September, the OZ Minerals Board greenlit the build of the West Musgrave copper-nickel project. The feasibility study the board signed off on detailed a 13.5 Mt/y operation with average production of circa-28,000 t/y of nickel and circa-35,000 t/y of copper over a 24-year operating life.

Marathon Gold taps Metso Outotec for Valentine processing plant equipment

Comminution of minerals, Environmental, Equipment maintenance, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , , ,

Marathon Gold has awarded Metso Outotec with orders for key processing equipment for the Valentine gold project in Newfoundland, Canada.

The combined order value of approximately €15 million ($14.9 million) has been booked in Minerals’ Sepetmber-quarter orders received.

“We chose Metso Outotec equipment because of their brand reputation, technology-oriented equipment, commitment to safety and environment, and their service footprint in Atlantic Canada,” Paolo Toscano, Vice President, Projects, Marathon Gold Corporation, said.

Metso Outotec’s scope of delivery consists of a VF Series™ grizzly feeder, a Nordberg® jaw crusher, Planet Positive Premier® SAG and ball mills, a Mill Reline Machine (MRM), vibrating screens and a high-rate tailings thickener with Reactorwell™ feed system.

Andy Lingenfelter, Vice President, Minerals Sales in North and Central America, added: “We are excited to work on the Valentine gold project with Marathon. We were able to align with the project’s key value drivers at an early stage and provide to-the-point technical support.

“Marathon has selected leading-class equipment for their gold production process, and they will also be able to benefit from our broad-based service organisation.”

An April 2021 feasibility study outlined an open-pit mining and conventional milling operation at Valentine with a 2.5 Mt/y processing rate over a 13-year mine life with a 31.5% after-tax internal rate of return and initial capital costs of C$305 million ($228 million). The project has estimated proven reserves of 1.4 Moz (29.68 Mt at 1.46 g/t) and probable reserves of 650,000 oz (17.38 Mt at 1.17 g/t).

FLSmidth to highlight full flowsheet expertise with ShalkiyaZinc project delivery

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

FLSmidth has signed a contract, valued at around DKK950 million ($130 million), to supply a range of mineral processing equipment to ShalkiyaZinc, the operator of a zinc-lead mine in the Kyzylorda Region of Kazakhstan.

The equipment will transform the plant into a world-class facility that efficiently separates minerals with a minimised environmental impact, the OEM says.

Under the agreement, FLSmidth will supply two underground crushing stations with a materials handling system to the process plant; a full package of comminution and separation equipment, including SAG and ball mills, mill circuit pumps and cyclones; the zinc-lead concentrate flotation and regrinding circuit, including nextSTEP, VXP vertical mills, concentrate thickeners and Pneumapress filters; and reagents preparation and dosing area. Full plant automation is also included, as well as installation and commissioning supervision services.

The new concentrator will be supported from FLSmidth’s new in-country service Supercentre in Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

The equipment delivery is to be completed during 2024, with commissioning to start before the end of that year.

Mikko Keto, Group CEO at FLSmidth, said: “We are excited to receive this first order from ShalkiyaZinc, which highlights our full flowsheet expertise. The wide range of equipment included in the order will help ShalkiyaZinc save on both capital expenditure and operating expenditure; our new nextSTEP flotation technology will improve the quality of the concentrates, the SAG mill will provide more flexibility, while the automation and digital solutions will further enable water and energy savings alongside safer operations.

“We look forward to making this a success on so many levels.”

Assel Rakhimova, Chief Project Director of Tau-Ken Samruk, which owns ShalkiyaZinc, said: “After testing and basic design work executed by FLSmidth, we are pleased to enter this new phase of collaboration with the procurement of critical technologies to improve the productivity and sustainability of our plant. We believe in successful execution and look forward to receiving the ordered equipment according to the schedule for installation and to continue working with FLSmidth on commissioning services and spare parts.”

Metso Outotec delivers new generation feedwell for improved thickener, clarifier performance

Environmental, Metallurgy, Mineral processing, Mining services, Water management, , , , , , ,

Metso Outotec says it is launching the Metso Outotec Reactorwell™, a new generation feedwell for maximising thickener and clarifier performance while minimising flocculant consumption and bringing significant operational cost efficiencies.

The feed system features high solids retention and mixing efficiency. It also eliminates feed short-circuiting and offers low shear for ideal floccule growth and even discharge symmetry, the company said.

The new feed system provides optimum feed conditioning for thickeners and clarifiers, and, thanks to its many benefits in addition to low flocculant usage, the Reactorwell is part of Metso Outotec’s sustainable Planet Positive portfolio.

Brian Berger, Vice President, Thickeners and Clarifiers at Metso Outotec, said: “The Reactorwell enables a big leap forward in thickener and clarifier performance as it utilises maximum settling area due to its high exit symmetry. It also provides improved overflow clarity as well as higher underflow density. Additionally, the Reactorwell allows better thickener operability with an improved response to process changes.

The Reactorwell is, the company says, easy to maintain due to its intelligent design and modularity. It consistently achieves high unit area throughput and the improved Autodil™ performance minimises the need for pumped dilution, leading to lower total cost of ownership.

Metso Outotec grinding mills and thickeners heading to greenfield nickel project

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

Metso Outotec says it has been awarded a contract for the delivery of several horizontal grinding mills and thickeners to a greenfield nickel project in Indonesia. The value of the order is approximately €24 million ($28 million), and it has been booked in the Minerals business Q3 (September quarter) 2021 orders received, the company said.

Metso Outotec’s scope of delivery includes five grinding mills with a total installed power of 10.6 MW, as well as 13 HCT high-compression thickeners, which are part of the company’s Planet Positive offering. “We are pleased to have been chosen as the supplier of this key equipment for this major project,” Markku Teräsvasara, President, Minerals and Deputy CEO of Metso Outotec, said.   “A diligent verification process with the customer confirmed that Metso Outotec grinding mills and thickeners will provide significant added value to their process.

“The customer selected our grinding mills based on robust, proven technology, and industry leading availability. The HCT thickeners are proven to provide the best washing efficiency, thus reducing the loss of nickel metal in leaching residue.”

Weir Minerals and Andritz expand tailings processing collaboration with IsoDry

Comminution of minerals, Environmental, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining events, Mining services, Sustainable mining, Water management, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Weir Minerals and Andritz have signed an agreement at MINExpo 2021 expanding their shared commitment and strategic cooperation to supply equipment for processing tailings in the mining industry.

The foundations of this agreement have been built on a shared understanding and vision to enable the sustainable and efficient delivery of the natural resources essential to create a better future for the world, they say.

Since 2018, Weir Minerals’ and Andritz’s partnership has seen them collaborate on joint tailings projects. This shared history as partners has reinforced their abiding belief that, together, both Weir Minerals and Andritz are stronger, they said.

This shared success has led both Weir Minerals and Andritz to renew their ongoing commitment and announce they’ll be expanding their offer to all regions around the globe.

Using Andritz’s proven separation and dewatering technologies, Weir Minerals says it has strengthened its whole-of-mine capabilities, showcasing market-leading products from extraction to comminution, mill circuit and tailings management.

“Weir Minerals has been providing tailings solutions for decades; we have dedicated research facilities – the Weir Technical Centre in Melbourne, Australia, and the Sustainable Mining Centre in Venlo, Netherlands – that are challenging conventional ways of thinking about tailings, while also developing practical, innovative and sustainable solutions that will reduce operating costs and improve safety,” Ricardo Garib, Weir Minerals Division President, said.

“Decreasing ore grades mean that mines are producing more tailings than ever before. One of the challenges with tailings management is that there cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach; each mine requires a tailored solution that carefully considers the minerals being processed, as well as the site’s climatic and geological conditions. Weir Minerals prides itself on having both the expertise and equipment that allows us to partner with miners everywhere to plan and implement tailings solutions based on their operations’ unique challenges and this agreement with Andritz enhances those capabilities,” he said.

Steve Huff, President Andritz Separation, said: “Andritz has a long history working across a range of different industries. We are very proud of the work we’ve done with Weir Minerals; together, we’re excited about continuing to provide a joint offering of sustainable and value-added tailings solutions. Both companies bring a different expertise and know-how to the partnership; we complement one another and ultimately, it’s our customers who’ll benefit.”

Tailings management forms an important element of Weir Minerals’ broader integrated solutions approach, which considers problems and challenges from all perspective and draws on a range of experts – process engineers, design engineers, product experts and materials scientists, among others – to identify potential challenges and opportunities and provide tailored solutions.

Charlie Stone, Weir Minerals VP Sales and Business Development-Mill Circuit, said: “This latest agreement enhances our overall tailings offering and enables us to provide our customers with a complete tailings solution. Under the brand name IsoDry, we will continue to offer customers a range of mechanical separation technologies, such as thickeners, filter presses, centrifuges, and vacuum belt filters.”

Weir Minerals has strengthened its tailings team to support the market and ensure that it can provide innovative solutions based on each customer’s specific requirements.

The agreement provides the opportunity for potential future collaboration on technology, harnessing Andritz’s separation technology in conjunction with Weir Minerals’ minerals and tailings processing technology. Many of these products – Warman® pumps to transport fluid tailings, GEHO® pumps to handle paste, Cavex® hydrocyclones to dewater tailings and the Multiflo® range of dewatering solutions – have been integral to helping miners manage their waste for generations, they said.

Weir Minerals and Andritz have also reiterated their shared commitment to sustainability; it is an essential part of both their business and corporate strategies. Both companies say they have outlined ambitious plans to reduce their carbon emissions, while their approach to ESG initiatives extends to all aspects of their organisations.

Ukraine iron ore miner cuts electricity consumption, process water use with DELKOR thickeners

Environmental, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Mining software, Steel and iron ore, Water management, , , , ,

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.

FLSmidth high density thickeners optimise recoveries at DRC copper-cobalt mine

Base metals, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , , , ,

FLSmidth says it has delivered a thickener solution to help double production rates at one of the world’s largest copper and cobalt producers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The order for the solution, which included six of FLSmidth’s high density thickeners, was placed in 2020, with delivery now completed.

The mine already had FLSmidth thickeners on site, with the company’s proposal for the mine’s expanded requirements  based on test work to confirm the characteristics of the material to be treated, according to FLSmidth General Manager Projects and Account Sales, Howard Areington.

“The tests confirmed that we could use a similar design to what we had installed on the mine some years previously,” he says. “This solution included six counter current decantation (CCD) thickeners and one pre-leach thickener, each measuring 31 m in diameter.”

These units deliver high solids underflow to optimise the recovery of dissolved metals, according to FLSmidth. In addition to the steeper floor slope, these thickeners were designed with a high torque ring gear drive design, with high tolerances that make for minimal maintenance over long periods of time, the company says.

“Our high density thickener design ensures consistently high underflow densities which allows the operator to sustain high production rates and better recoveries,” Areington says.

These CCD thickeners are manufactured from LDX2101 duplex stainless steel. This provides mechanical benefits without compromising chemical resistance, allowing the mass of each unit to be reduced, the company explained. The pre-leach thickener, which was not exposed to corrosive conditions, is constructed from carbon steel.

“We also designed and supplied five impurities removal thickeners, which are high rate thickeners, also in LDX2101 stainless steel,” Areington says. “The sizes of these units ranged from 20 to 30 m in diameter.”

Fabrication of the equipment was carried out in South Africa while accommodating the demands of the COVID-19 lockdown, which required careful planning and flexibility. With components and platework delivered to site, the welding and construction was conducted by the mine with installation assistance from FLSmidth and its agent in the region.