Modern Mining April 2019

MODULAR PLANTS

and spiral plants, and even Resin- n-Pulp (RnP) plants. “In some cases, we can fit the entire plant on a truck. In fact, we’ve devel- oped a mobile truck-mounted chrome plant which we call the ‘Chromemobile’, which is perfect for treating the ore from smaller chromite deposits.” Elaborating on MET63’s RnP system, which is ion exchange technology, Swarts says this allows the recovery of metals directly from mine residue slurries by adsorption of soluble metals onto resin particles, with one of the benefits being the reduction of the environmental impact of the resi- due stream. “We are going to build a mobile plant to demonstrate the technology,” he states. “It will be able to establish and de-establish

MET63 is not just about the provision and installation of processing ‘hardware’; it also provides a full range of consulting and advi- sory services, including process consulting, audits and due diligence, de-bottlenecking and optimisation studies, and pre-feasibility and feasibility studies. It has been particularly suc- cessful with chrome operation optimisations, achieving in some cases production improve- ments of up to 50 %. Summing up, Swarts says that MET63 is an innovator dedicated to providing creative solutions to its clients. “There are plenty of competent modular process plant suppliers around but we differentiate ourselves by pro- viding technology-based solutions that allow exceptional savings and fast design and instal- lation and which often allow clients to exploit resources that would otherwise be uneconomi- cal. Certainly, we’ve grown very rapidly at a time when mining generally has been in a downturn – which suggests that we’re provid- ing a much needed service to the industry.” 

rapidly at the sites of prospective clients. It will be designed such that it can easily tie in to the existing residue stream.” Technology partners of MET63 include Dynamic Engineering of Klerksdorp in the case of comminution plants and Woodgrove Technologies of Canada and Maelgwyn Mineral Services Africa (representing Maelgwyn Mineral Services of the UK) with respect to flotation cells. Woodgrove is the developer of Direct Flotation Reactor (DFR) technology while Maelgwyn is known for its Imhoflot™ pneumatic flotation technology. The use of DFR and Imhoflot™ float cells allows MET63 to sup- ply highly compact flotation plants. Flotation modules can treat up to 120 tons per hour. In a recent collaboration, MET63 is working as a development partner with Yokogawa on its advanced control and management systems for ‘Smart Processing’ modules, which will bring a high degree of automation, information man- agement and remote operation to the modular plant field.

A skid at the fabrication facility awaiting despatch.

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April 2019  MODERN MINING  33