MINERAL TECHNOLOGIES
Whatever minerals a mining company is after , there has to be a process , or a chain of processes , of separation . From its origins 75 years ago extracting heavy minerals from the local sands on Australia ’ s East coast , Downer ’ s Mineral Technologies business soon started developing its own equipment , started selling it to other mining companies and evolved into a process solutions specialist , designing , testing and manufacturing the machinery needed to gain the best possible grades and recovery at a reasonable cost .
Mineral Technologies does not try to compete with the very largest mine building contractors , preferring to stay focused on niche areas , taking pains to understand both the process and the customer ’ s company ’ s issues . It is frequently called in when margins are tight and a case has to be made – it will design the plant , test the process at its Australian labs , develop a flowsheet and come up with a guaranteed process for the customer . “ We pride ourselves on being flexible and thorough when developing a package ,” explains General Manager of global sales Ken Roberts , who joined the company in January 2017 , bringing with him over 30 years of experience in both mining operations and equipment sales .
There ’ s no denying that the mining industry has been in the doldrums for some years now , however this has not entirely been a bad thing for Mineral Technologies , which has seen demand for some of its specialised services hold up well , as the need to cut costs and optimise revenues has never been more pressing . As well as mineral sands , it has provided costeffective process solutions for iron ore , silica sands , coal , chromite , gold , tin , tungsten , tantalum and many other minerals in Australia , the Americas , Africa , Europe and south Asia .
Tailings dumps can be a perennial headache for miners . “ We are getting more into retreatment of old tailings ponds and dumps ,” says Roberts . “ Remediation is more and more closely regulated by governments but it needn ’ t be a burden – it can create value for the customer too .” A good example – the two tailings
84 November 2017