Modern Mining April 2019

MODULAR PLANTS

electrowinning section utilises APT’s cylindri- cal Kebab cells for high efficiency. Although the majority of APT’s customers are in gold mining, the company’s equipment can treat most ores. “Over the years we’ve done wolframite, tin, tantalite, copper, manganese, lead, chromite, graphite, rubies, bauxite and many other commodities and we’re also now looking at fluorspar. In general, we can handle anything that needs to undergo gravity separa- tion, flotation or CIL processes,” says McFarlane Illustrating APT’s geographic spread, among the company’s current contracts are the supply of a 3 000 tonne per month gravity/flotation plant for the Cononish gold and silver mine in Scotland (following the earlier supply of a bulk processing pilot plant for the project), the sup- ply of a 35 t/h TriTank system to a gold mine in Sudan, and the provision of a 25 t/h plant for a lead project in Bosnia. Recently completed contracts include a 20 t/h bulk sample scrubber plant for the Nayega manganese project of Keras Resources in northern Togo, which was installed within 10 weeks of order, and a 3 t/h tailings treatment plant in northern Zimbabwe for a regionally based client. The plant comprises a ball mill, feeder, classifier and two TriTank CIL tanks. The plant was delivered on time and installed in just four days. Looking forward, McFarlane says that the prospects for APT are very positive. “The huge mining megaprojects tend to get all the public- ity, both in Africa and globally. The reality is though that much of the world’s mining output derives from artisanal operations and small to medium-sized mines, which are only rarely in the news. These markets, which are the ones we address, are growing very rapidly. We’ve virtu- ally doubled in size over the past three years and we anticipate further growth ahead.” 

various configurations depending on the min- eral, throughput and float characteristics of the operation, allowing a TriFloat tank to be used as a complete rougher, cleaner and scaven- ger system. The technology can be applied to sulphide, oxide or silicate minerals, and is par- ticularly suited to high-yield flotation circuits, such as those required in graphite recovery. A major advantage APT has over its com- petitors is its close partnership with Peacocke & Simpson (P&S), based in Harare, Zimbabwe, which has an Africa-wide – even global – reputation for its mineral testwork expertise. Established in the mid-1980s, the company undertakes testwork using technologies such as gravity concentration, flotation, pulp or heap leaching, pressure attrition leaching and magnetic separation. Says McFarlane: “In con- junction with P&S, we can develop flowsheets for our customers that perfectly suit the charac- teristics of their ore.” Newly launched products from APT include the GK-X, which APT describes as a “revo- lutionary” 10 t/h centrifugal concentrator, incorporating modern materials that are wear resistant and totally rust free. The advanced flow design with the unique rounded cone base progressively accelerates the feed mate- rial, resulting in earlier G acquisition in the lower cone section. High recoveries of even fine gold are achieved. The GK-X incorporates a simple but effective automation system for ‘hands free’ harvesting of the concentrate on a pre-set interval. Also relatively new is a small-scale carbon elution and electrowinning unit, the Elu-X, which is based on the Open Zadra (non-pres- surised) system. According to APT, it has been engineered in a minimalist way, with safety and ease of use in mind, and delivers consis- tent high performance at an affordable cost. The

A TriTank TT20 cyanidation plant in Zimbabwe.

“We’ve virtually doubled in size over the past three years and we anticipate further growth ahead.”

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April 2019  MODERN MINING  39