HIGH PROFILE location, and similar to Iron Knob, processes low grade iron ore stockpiled over the history of mining since 1930, which will then progress into the Iron Empress and Iron Baroness Scree ore deposits in this region. The Iron Baron plant was integrated into the front end of an existing gravity separation circuit, and is fed at a rate of 700 t / h < 32 mm material for an annual processing capacity of 6.1 Mt.
At Iron Knob, the upgrading of the Fe content of the low-grade dumps is achieved by efficiently removing silica and alumina from the feed material. Silica levels in the feed material range from 14 % to 20 % and this is reduced to 6.4 % after processing. Alumina levels range from 5.9 % to 8.8 % in the feed material and is reduced to 2.8 % after processing. The plant also removes clays from the feed material and the combined effect sees the Fe content increase from between 43.4 % and 52.7 % in the feed to nominally a 60 % iron ore product.
Both processing plants include a range of equipment from the CDE Meta product portfolio including: M-Series modular washing plants M2500 and M4500, AggMax modular logwashers, EvoWash fine washing plants, spirals, jigs, transfer conveyors and radial stockpile conveyors. The plants also include a tailings management system which allows for the concentration of the 0-3 mm rejects into a sludge that is then pumped to the tailings dams. This tailings management system also facilitates the recycling of up to 90 % of process water.
A current innovative tailings related project for CDE is also in Australia with another customer for a wet tailings dam where CDE is receiving dredged material at about 20 % solids, 250 t / h and this needs to be upgraded at the lowest cut point possible while increasing the Fe content up to 62 %, decrease the silica and alumina, and pump a sludge of about 60 % solids back to the mine for processing.“ Currently R & D is looking at three elements of the design – the M5500 prescreen plant with EvoWash, but plugging in between the cyclones and dewatering screen a bank of spirals to get the upgrading levels needed. Then a secondary dewatering unit that takes that project and dewaters to 60 % solids. This project is a good example of adapting our available equipment in a modular way to a customer request.”
The CDE customer journey
Holland told IM:“ Innovation is at the heart of what we do, as well as putting the customer at the centre of everything we do. Our projects have three stages in the customer journey from concept to commissioning. Technical presales where we will start to work on the concept required by the customer, and if we don’ t have a piece of equipment to fit that need, then we will adapt and either design a new solution ourselves or adapt existing equipment and bring in other technologies around it to make it work. We do lab testing at this stage in collaboration with customers, and often ship bulk material to our main site in Northern Ireland for testing and analysis in support of the early design work. We then go through preliminary design and budget costing to make sure at this stage that the plant can be delivered within the required budget. Concurrent to this is continued technical advice and assistance with project definition where needed. Next is our awardwinning project management system that we call ProMan. Our ProMan system is proven to deliver highly efficient and productive plants through a process which ensures that lines of communication are clear and everyone involved from both the customer’ s side and ours knows exactly where the project sits at any given time, through detailed design and manufacture. Each modular unit is built in the factory and tested, pre-commissioned, and then sent to the customer site for installation and full commissioning. A dedicated project manager works with the customer throughout. The third part of the what we do is covered by CustomCare, a world class aftersales service that ensures maximum plant efficiency, providing maximum profitability.”
CustomCare is a service afforded to all CDE customers, once the equipment has been sold, to ensure efficiency levels are maintained and final product specifications are not compromised. This includes a lot of plant optimisation where needed as conditions and materials often change over time, requiring the plant to be adjusted in some cases to help the customer reach the utilisation level they need. Where a CustomCare programme is in place, CDE says its equipment is proven to achieve 95 % plant availability.“ A key challenge in
The CDE plant at SIMEC’ s Iron Knob
mining, especially in Africa, Australasia and South America, is water availability. Our AquaCycle thickeners and floc dosing units will recycle up to 90 % of water back into the plant for reprocessing.” These range from the A100 at 100 m 3 per hour up to the A1500 at 1,500 m 3 per hour and a range of units in-between. Another mining industry concern is power consumption – CDE designs are built around efficiency and Infinity screens are a good example. These are patented lighter screens with no welded joints, all bolted with modular components and efficient control systems contribute to lower power usage. Then there is capex – CDE says it wants mining customers to get the best result for their spend and the modular approach it argues really does deliver that.“ While it is quite new in mining, it means minimal civil works, tailored design and minimal maintenance once installed due to it having been precommissioned and tested in our factory. Modular also means a quick and safe installation.” Finally – availability is important.“ A new part of the CustomCare offering is called our CDE insite Suite, part of what we now call The Connected Plant – which covers CDEinsite Hub for 3D plant visualisation so the customer can‘ see’ into their plant and how it is operating, by inspecting data from different components, plus this component data can be sent to CDE to be used for reordering. CDEinsite Check for monitoring by regional service engineers on tablets and other mobile devices plant process flows and maintenance records again allowing CDE regional offices to react to any problems; and CDEinsite Sensor, which does as it says in the name and uses intelligent sensors to monitor key components through telemetry.” IM
JUNE 2018 | International Mining 53