CANADIAN TECHNOLOGY
Woodgrove is a world leader in providing equipment and process control to the mining and mineral
processing industry. With the merger of Portage Technologies and Woodgrove in January 2016, the
company offers complete process plant advanced control from crushing through to dewatering, and
has tailored the impressive offerings of Portage to Staged Flotation Reactor circuits. Partners in
Woodgrove have provided products and services to over 200 mining operations globally since 1988
n Required floor space is only 50-60% of that
used by conventional mechanical cells
n Air consumption reduced by approximately 80%
n Fewer units needed to achieve equivalent
results
n Building height reduced by up to 3 m on large
plants
n Better circuit control
n Reduced wear and maintenance costs due to
lower impeller tip speeds.
Chelopech mine in Bulgaria has two circuits
running with the SFRs installed in 2012/13, and
2014 – and many new flowsheets are including
SFRs worldwide. Two recent contracts awarded
are Vedanta’s Gamsberg project in South Africa
(500 t/h Pb/Zn), and Dundee Precious Metals
Krumovgrad project in Bulgaria (2,500 t/d gold).
BHP Billiton has a 95–100,000 t/d copper project
in Chile awaiting final approval to use the SFR
technology.
Woodgrove’s Semi-Continuous Pilot Plant
(SCPP) was built to serve both greenfields and in-
plant projects. There are pilot plants located in
Chile, Peru, South Africa and Canada. They have
been set up in both recognised testing facilities
where drill core or selected ore samples can be
properly prepared for the tests, and where
bucking and assay services are available along
with a met lab for standard lab flotation tests;
and on-site in various mining operations where
flotation feed samples are taken directly from the
plant.
This pilot plant requires 20-30 kg of ore per
run and feed flowrates are approximately 12-20
litres/min. Each run can simulate as many
roughing/scavenging or cleaner stages as
required to achieve the desired metallurgy. The
reagents and conditions can be varied at each
stage of the run. This allows the operator to
quickly zero in on the correct pilot conditions in
order to maximise grade and recovery for each 30