Modern Mining June 2021

COVER STORY

to projects where power costs are high, or where power is self-generated. Commenting on how the technology came into being, Singh says that, having been in the mining industry since 1989, with a wealth of experience in production, research, laboratory techniques, plant design and technology development, he felt it was time to put together the various bits and pieces of ideas he had gathered over the years. Exactly on Christmas day in 2010, the concept of the MACH REACTOR was born. As Christmas is generally a time of feasting, the idea was scribbled on a paper ser- viette, and the rest is history. The MACH REACTOR went on to be granted patent rights in just about every country in the world. What is the MACH? The MACH REACTOR, explains Singh, is a hyper shear mass transfer reactor that harnesses the exceptional power of controlled cavitation to gen- erate pico-bubbles to greatly enhance the mass transfer of gas into solution and create a highly charged environment promoting chemical reactions that would otherwise traditionally not be possible. “In the flotation application, these pico-bubbles nucleate on the very minerals that we would like to float and so create a situation where particles ‘give birth’ to bubbles and thus facilitate the flotation of valuable fines, in particular, those that are tradition- ally lost to tailings owing to their very poor probability of making contact with a flotation sized bubble. The flotation of fully liberated fine mineral leads to a kind of flotation euphoria where higher concentrate grades as well as recoveries are possible at reduced mass pulls, a feet hitherto unachievable without the MACH,” he says. In the leaching application, the pico-bubbles

act as a vehicle to finely disseminate and dissolve gases required for leaching while removing passiv- ating layers, reducing boundary layer thickness and improving diffusion and hence mass transfer. The benefits of higher recoveries, faster kinetics and reduced reagent consumptions combine to reduce Capex and Opex and improve project IRR and NPV values. The technology therefore aids in the extraction of minerals in the most efficient way possible, help- ing mines achieve and surpass production targets and improve their profit margins. It can be deployed across applications, including platinum group metals (PGMs), gold, base metals, as well as for environmen- tal applications such as cyanide destruction and acid mine drainage – “the possibilities are endless and the market is global,” says Singh. “The MACH is a cavitational reactor which gen- erates very fine pico-bubbles. This is useful in extracting very fine minerals which are traditionally lost to flotation circuits,” he says. “Because of the

The MACH REACTOR uses the power of cavitation to drastically improve metallurgical processes.

June 2021  MODERN MINING  13