REPROCESSING AND RETREATMENT
to continue running the unit and gather data on its operation, he added.
“We are now talking to a number of key mining companies for the next
phase of international mining sites outside of Australia,” Rasmussen said.
PNEUMATIC FLOTATION
Elikhulu tails
Gold is at the core of Pan African’s Elikhulu tailings retreatment operation in
Evander, Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Last year, the miner poured first gold from the operation and completed
the construction ahead of schedule and within its R1.74-billion ($123
million) budget. Pan African is now focused on hitting its steady-state
production rate of around 55,000 oz/y of gold at an all-in sustaining
production cost of $650-$750/oz.
DRA Group played a key role in the development of Elikhulu, with the
diversified global engineering, project delivery and operations management
group, together with the Pan African owners’ team, carrying out detailed
engineering, procurement, construction and full commissioning of the plant
and tailings facility.
Over the next 14 years, Elikhulu will process an estimated 1 Mt/mth. This
project, which broke ground in August 2017, has created over 400
permanent jobs, involved 3.5-million man-hours, 2,000 t of steel, 40,000 m 3
of concrete and 5 Mm³ of earthworks, according to DRA.
DRA was contracted to complete the definitive feasibility study in July
2016 and, after a positive outcome, the contract with Pan African was
expanded to include the full engineering capabilities of DRA Global.
Over the last 10 years, water infrastructure for the Elikhulu mine had
played a critical role in the success and advancement of the project.
DRA said: “Water supply was a challenge from day one, with many others
failing to find a lasting and reliable water source for the project. DRA,
through years of experience and a continued focus on innovation,
engineered a water source that finally offered a solution to supply water to
the plant as a whole.”
Elikhulu is being incorporated into the Evander Tailings Retreatment Plant
(ETRP), which has a throughput of 200,000 t/mth and was also completed
in 2018. Combining the two has allowed the enlarged Elikhulu plant to
process 1.2 Mt/mth for around 70,000 oz/y of gold output, according to Pan
African.
Valves
Corflex has also been a part of the project, supplying 450 mm pinch valves
to operate at 25 bar for the tailings operation.
The company says it supplies pinch valves equipped to cope with higher
pressures than any other equivalent valve.
The company explained: “Pinch valves are probably the most suitable
valve for use in slurry handling as, in the open position, they are similar to a
rubber lined pipe. When closed, they must seal and not be allowed to leak.
Other types of valves have problems with abrasive material or pressure.”
IMHOFLOTG-Cell
•
•
•
•
•
Highly dispersed pre-aeration
Low energy, no moving parts
Low residence time, smaller footprint
Coarse and fine materials
Flexible processing
REFRACTORY
GOLD PROCESSING
LEACHOX
• Imhoflot-G-Cell flotation
•
•
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Ultrafine grinding using Ro-Star mill
Partial Aachen reactor oxidation of sulphides
Treats preg-robbing ores
High gold recoveries
Low capital and operating costs
More Aachen Reactor Technology…
• Pre-oxygenation
• Aachen assisted Leaching
• Cyanide destruction
M AELGWYN M INERAL S ERVICES
www.maelgwyn.com
Maelgwyn Mineral Services Maelgwyn Mineral Services
Limited Africa (Pty) Ltd
Corflex supplied 450 mm pinch valves to operate at 25 bar for Pan
African’s ETRP
Ty Maelgwyn, 1AGowerSt. 1331 Staal Road
Cardiff, CF24 4PA, Wales, UK Stormhill ext 2, Roodepoort,
1709, South Africa
Tel +44 29 2034 0800 Tel +27 11 474 0705
[email protected][email protected]
MAY 2019 | International Mining 9