THICKENING & FILTRATION
we complement one another and ultimately , it ’ s our customers who ’ ll benefit .”
Tailings management forms an important element of Weir Minerals ’ broader integrated solutions approach , which considers problems and challenges from all perspective and draws on a range of experts – process engineers , design engineers , product experts and materials scientists , among others – to identify potential challenges and opportunities and provide tailored solutions .
Charlie Stone , Weir Minerals VP Sales and Business Development-Mill Circuit , said : “ This latest agreement enhances our overall tailings offering and enables us to provide our customers with a complete tailings solution . Under the brand name IsoDry , we will continue to offer customers a range of mechanical separation technologies , such as thickeners , filter presses , centrifuges , and vacuum belt filters .”
Weir Minerals has strengthened its tailings team to support the market and ensure that it can provide innovative solutions based on each customer ’ s specific requirements .
The agreement provides the opportunity for potential future collaboration on technology , harnessing ANDRITZ separation technology in conjunction with Weir Minerals ’ minerals and tailings processing technology . Many of these products – Warman ® pumps to transport fluid tailings , GEHO ® pumps to handle paste , Cavex ® hydrocyclones to dewater tailings and the Multiflo ® range of dewatering solutions – have been integral to helping miners manage their waste for generations , they said .
Weir Minerals and ANDRITZ have also reiterated their shared commitment to sustainability ; it is an essential part of both their business and corporate strategies . Both companies say they have outlined ambitious plans to reduce their carbon emissions , while their approach to ESG initiatives extends to all aspects of their organisations .
DELKOR units up efficiency in Ukraine iron ore
As part of its modernisation drive , an iron ore mining and processing plant in Ukraine installed 3 x 62 m diameter TAKRAF DELKOR high-rate thickeners with a view to reducing electricity consumption by one and a half times for the pumping of tails , as well as rationalising the use of process water . The project concerns the design , engineering and supply of three DELKOR 62 m high-rate thickeners for the dewatering of iron ore tailings as part of the processing plant ’ s modernised slurry thickening complex . This modern complex , of which construction was completed in 2020 , has now done away with outdated slurry pump stations , adopting , instead , the efficient process of thickening , hydraulic transport and storage of slurries . Employing DELKOR ’ s latest generation feedwell design that comes with improved flocculation together with improved flocculant and slurry kinetics , these elevated thickeners boast large feedwells , which rank as some of the largest ever built , DELKOR says .
Ramesh Mahadevan , Regional Managing Director – DELKOR , had this to say upon successful commissioning of the thickeners : “ This project is a very important reference for us in Ukraine . Given current global conditions , working with a new end user is a noteworthy achievement and one for which our entire DELKOR team must be commended .”
TAKRAF , the owner of DELKOR , meanwhile , says there has been strong demand for DELKOR technology in Latin America , noting a recent order for TAKRAF Peru for the supply of 2 x 38 m paste tailings thickeners with a capacity of 455- 623 t / h . The order , placed by a Peruvian entity processing tailings from a nearby iron ore mine , forms part of an expansion to develop a second plant . This will enable the entity to handle more tailings from the mine , according to TAKRAF . Design requirements for the thickeners include accommodating the process demands for a paste application with a target of 65 % +/ - 3 % solids content for the underflow . This required an equipment configuration that allowed it to operate under an expected yield stress of 200 Pa in the underflow material , the company noted .
Bolted thickeners in Mozambique
FLSmidth was recently chosen as the preferred provider for four large bolted thickeners for a large customer in Mozambique . Two of the thickeners are designed to reduce water load on
A Ukraine iron ore producer recently installed three 62 m diameter DELKOR high-rate thickeners , with a view to reducing electricity consumption
the filters allowing for a drier filter product , while the other two thickeners recover water from the plant tailings . The installation , which includes E-Volute feedwell technology for superior flow distribution , will contribute to achieving optimal water balance in the customer ' s coal plant in Mozambique .
Measuring 45 m in diameter , the thickeners will assist in achieving a drier product from the filter plant and control the density of material to the belt filters . According to Howard Areington , FLSmidth ' s General Manager for Capital Sales in Sub-Saharan Africa , this will improve the plant ' s output .
An important aspect of a bolted thickener is that its construction is quicker and safer , he says , requiring only a fraction of the welding to be conducted on-site . This suits the conditions for the project , which is remotely located . The extent of welding in the construction of normal steel thickeners typically runs into kilometres . It is far more cost effective to do this in controlled workshop conditions , where quality can also be better managed . By contrast , the amount of onsite welding required by a bolted thickener can be measured in metres .
As mentioned , the thickeners include E-Volute feedwell technology for superior flow distribution . This leads to lower flocculant consumption , better settling rates and improved overflow clarity for the optimal performance of the thickener .
“ Controlling the cost of flocculant - the single most important reagent in this process - is key to our thickener design ,” Areington says .
16 International Mining | OCTOBER 2021