APT are proud to announce that we have been awarded the design and manufacture of one of our TT300 TriTank plants, set to go to Zimbabwe.
Modern Mining April 2019 Issue: APT thrives in a downturn
“Somewhat paradoxically, modular process plant supplier APT (Appropriate Process Technologies) has not only managed to survive the mining downturn of the past several years but has actually thrived, with 2017 and 2018 being its best-performing years ever. The company’s customers are primarily junior, sub-junior and artisanal miners operating in Africa although, increasingly, it is supplying to projects further afield, notably in Europe and South America.” Modern Mining, 2019
GroundBreaker Musings
The GroundBreaker division has been a hive of activity; orders for RG30 wash plants for ruby recovery in East Africa as well as for alluvial gold recovery into Guyana, South America. This isn’t where it stops, read the full article for more on some of the activity surrounding our smaller scale plants.
Scotgold Resources Limited ("Scotgold" or the "Company) Project Update on Cononish Gold and Silver Mine
Take advantage of the stronger commodity prices - PROPERLY
The gold price is doing well, and we at APT foresee it getting to around US$1350 quite soon. There are some other runners too, and in general this should be a time of plenty. Plenty of opportunity that is, but you still have to do the deed and produce, and that is far easier said than done. Take advantage of commodity prices properly, here’s our take.
A Farewell to 2018: the year in review
APT LAUNCHES ELU-X ELUTION UNIT
Time is Money in the Mining Industry | Mining Equipment Suppliers
Time is money has never been so important a concept in the mining industry; from the drastic downturn of 2015 and 2016, where new investment virtually dried up, though to 2017 with an upturn, it is abundantly clear that money is still very tight. Money in the bank earns interest, but money in a mining venture is dead until the first minerals flow or gold is poured. Here’s our take.
Comminution & Beneficiation The APT Way | Mining Equipment
Classically comminution is associated with crushing and grinding to a fine size, something like the well established norm of 75 microns. But especially where the purpose is either flotation or even more so gravity concentration then the coarser the mineral can be liberated the better, within the upper limits of the process of course. Even where the purpose is cyanidation, finer grinding is dictated by the dissolution curve, and going beyond the optimum just entails extra grind energy. In a nutshell, it is definitely a case of horses for courses and one size definitely does not fit all. Then there is the effect of mineral hardness and brittleness. Some minerals, for example scheelite or cerussite grind far faster than the host rock and if the only consideration in the P80 of the total then certainly the target would have been preferentially ground well beyond that, rendering recovery difficult to impossible. So the methodology is to first remove any naturally occurring fine target before gently crushing the remainder in closed circuit with a screen to take off successive amounts as they are generated. Rolls crushers are particularly useful for this gentle crushing role.
Impact crushing has proven to me metallurgically advantageous because the energy goes into splitting the rock upon fracture planes or zones of weakness, like grain boundaries. The result is mineral liberation at a disproportionately large particle size and APT has termed the phrase ‘early liberation to describe this. APT uses its own design RD impactors for this duty, which utilize very high impact energy for breakage.
In cases where minerals are hosted in an oxidized matrix it is useful to use an efficient scrubbing device like the APT RG scrubber, where the retained rock load in the scrubber acts like an autogenous mill to break up the friable lumps without pulverizing the mineral itself.
FLOWSHEET IMPLICATIONS
A typical APT approach is to first target the scrubber amenable fines and then impact the oversize after a jaw crush to reduce oversize lumps. The resulting product is recycled to the scrubber to remove the generated fines and the surviving oversize either goes around again, or progresses to a rod mill for a further nip. The RD impactor may be replaced by a rolls crusher in certain cases.
A typical flowsheet is depicted below, in this case for ultra soft target mineral.
TESTING
APT’s associate laboratory Peacocke & Simpson is equipped with all of the comminution devices to test which is best suited to your ore’s mineralogy. The lab then applies gravity or flotation and/or cyanidation to verify the choices and estimate the potential recovery. Usually a 100kg sample is required.
DESIGN
Once the groundwork has been established, APT’s engineers can progress to a process design and plant costing with confidence, and then install the correct plant for the job.
For further information, please contact us here, we are always happy to help.
Mining in Zimbabwe | Equipment Available and Testimonials
Mining in Zimbabwe has been an adventure for us here at APT over the years, and with the recent attention in the country, we think it fitting to place some focus on the huge potential it has. APT has installed and commissioned several processing plants in the country, from gold recovery through to chrome recovery, tantalite recovery, tailings re-treatment and more. We have assisted a variety of miners, from those just starting out through to those well advanced in their mining journey, in both knowledge and experience. We don’t anticipate the Zimbabwean mining sector slowing down anytime soon, so if you’re looking into getting started there, you’ve come to the right place!
Here are a few testimonials from our past and present Zimbabwe based clients. The videos linked to each product are for the same product, though on differing mine sites:
"I have worked with a team to make the RDGK15 into a very competent gold recovery pilot plant. The plant is highly portable and was run as a product/pilot plant. The percentage recovery of gold was greater than suggested from constant supervision of the RDGK15 combo unit. The simplicity of the GoldKacha makes it a very easy unit to achieve regular good percentage gold recoveries." - Neil Greenway | Director, Greenline Services
"We've used an RG30 Scrubber for some time now. The Scrubber breaks down tenacious clay and screens all fines to the GoldKacha Concentrator which we find extremely efficient. A winning combination, thank you APT" - Henry Jenkins | CEO, Goldchip Investments
"I would have no hesitation in recommending the APT TriTank system to anyone considering slurry cyanidation, it is a paradigm ahead of the old tank system" - Paul Mitchell | Max Mine
We invite you to browse the APT website, see our videos and scroll through the various plant options available. For detailed information on mining in Zimbabwe and APT's experience, please contact us.
We look forward to assisting you in starting your Zimbabwean mining venture!