Modern Mining October 2018

DIAMONDS

Innovative diamond dredge

The iDredge™, commissioned by Swedish company Africa Resources AB and designed and fabricated by South Africa’s Imilingo Mineral Processing, produced an impressive 14,1 carats from 1 200 kg of gravel deposits in the Kasai River of the DRC in the first test run on 29 August 2018.

O ver many years, traditional river- based alluvial diamond mining has seen divers scouring the riv- erbed with heavy suction pipes coupled to centrifugal pumps. Thomas Häggkvist, the CEO of Africa Resourc- es AB, approached Imilingo Mineral Process- ing in October 2016 for a possible solution to the cumbersome and hazardous diving condi- tions involved in alluvial diamond recovery. “Modern mining techniques and sorting technology have been severely lacking in allu- vial diamond mining and the iDredge™ has certainly delivered in injecting some much needed technological advancement in the industry,” comments Häggkvist. Jaco Prinsloo, MD of Imilingo, who has extensive knowledge of diamond processing through his experience when working as the lead engineer for DRA on several large diamond mining projects, worked with an innovative team of engineers to design and fabricate the iDredge™. “The vessel consists of a floating platform connected to two pontoons,” says Prinsloo.

Centre: Jaco Prinsloo, MD of Imilingo, pictured at the recent Electra Mining show in Johannesburg. Shown in the background is the iDredgeXRT™ (photo: Arthur Tassell). Below: The iDredge™ – christened the ‘Thérèse’ – on the Kasai River in the DRC.

“A Dragflow 60 kW submersible pump with high-depth compensators provides suction and allows particles up to 60 mm in size to be pumped through the 150 NB pipe. An onboard rotatable crane submerges the pump and is there to make the pump accessible for maintenance

22  MODERN MINING  October 2018

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