HIGH PROFILE
GKD Filter Presses cater for a wide range of mining applications
IM Editorial Director Paul Moore spoke to growing mineral processing equipment supplier GKD about its background, attributes and ambitions in the mark ket
GKD is widely known as a high-end media weaving company headquartered in Germany, but it has also been manufacturing mineral processing equipment components for about 30 years and is renewing its focus in the mining market with a range of full solutions. We caught up with its GM – Mining Division James Chaponnel, for some insights.
Q GKD is a relatively new player in mineral processing equipment- can you provide some background as to how and why the company was set up? A GKD is widely known as a high-end media weaving company headquartered in Germany, but it has also been manufacturing mineral processing equipment components for about 30 years. The journey began in South Africa, where Roy Van Blerk as the CEO of the South African GKD subsidiary, partnered with Delkor, supplying screening and filtration media and certain components for solid liquid filtration equipment across Africa. In 2004, GKD acquired Delkor, rebranding as GKD-Delkor. Under Roy ' s leadership, the company quickly grew, securing large mining contracts and selling thickeners, filter presses, vacuum filters and linear screens throughout Africa. In 2010, Andritz purchased the Delkor brand, recognising its success in the thickening and filtration market. Fast forward to 2020, with the non-compete expired, Roy, Candice O’ Sullivan as Managing Director and Etienne Barkhuizen as Mining Market Segment Director, targeted the African mining market again. They established GKD representatives in 12 countries, winning projects and expanding their installations. With success in Africa, the team aimed to offer their products globally
. In mid-, President of GKD USA,
2023, Tom Powley approached me to lead the global mining office in the USA. I was impressed by their product quality
, delivery times, and cost efficiency along with their customer-focused approach, efficient in-house product execution, and agile operations, backed by substantial R & D funding. Currently
, we are setting up a global mining hub in Salt Lake City, Utah to handle RFQs from North and South America and support customers with engineering, field service, and project needs. In the Americas, we also have facilities in Cambridge, MD; Santiago, Chile; and Antofagasta, Chile, along with representatives in Canada, Mexico and Peru for local support.
Q There are a lot of options for mining projects looking for solid / liquid separation solutions- what differentiates GKD? A Our team consists of handpicked engineers, project managers and professionals from Tier 1 OEMs. They understand client needs, equipment functionality and user challenges. GKD designed and manufactured the first linear screen belts along with a host of other synthetic filtration weaves which have since been adopted by other weavers and as such, we know how to treat the filtration media for optimum performance and life. Large organisations often assume they know what ' s best for customers, but it ' s the maintenance ance staff dealing with issues who truly understand the problems. We are constantly incorporating our in-house maintenance teams’ feedback into optimising our designs. At GKD, we collaborate ate with clients to address their specific issues rather than offering generic solutions s.
Q Can you summarise the range of equipment types that you currently supply? Are there any models that stand out? A GKD currently offers thickeners up to 60 m in
James Chaponnel, GM- Mining Division, GKD diameter in both bolted and welded designs, vacuum belt filters up to 4.8 m wide, linear screens up to 30 m 2 and filter presses from 470 mm x 470 mm up to a filter within the tailings‘ 2.5m plate format.’ Our filter press range includes both single plate shift or multi plate shift designs that are used in industrial applications but also sold into mining by Tier 2 and 3 OEMs, however, our flagship models are the GKD1500 concentrate filter and the GKD2500 tailings filter. Out team designed these filters with an unbiased approach, incorporating what we believe are the best features of each of the Tier 1 filter press suppliers. The machines include fast opening and closing technology, 16 bar maximum feed pressure, a cloth shaker, drop-in, easy to replace filter media, plus are supplied‘ membrane ready’ with a recessed plate that is designed to be compatible with a membrane plate, a robotic high pressure washer to through wash the cloths when filtration rates drop & finally a patented deluge wash system to wash the cloth between every filter cycle. This deluge wash system does not require large heavy hoses connected to each filter plate but also doesn’ t suffer from nozzle alignment as seen when using a fixed wash header. Another advantage is that GKD can offer these filters at the pricing structure of a Tier 2 supplier, and with a lead time of around 36 weeks. A hurdle we face currently while getting the brand known is a lack of installed base in North America. GKD is mitigating this risk by working with clients on a financial & field support basis to increase the level of comfort for EPCs and clients. We are not a small startup but a reasonably sized organisation of around 1,000 employees, with significant financial backing and a Board who believe in our global entry into the mining market.
Q What level of customisation are you able to offer customers? A While we have pre-engineered packages for each size of product within each product range, we can also fully customise any of our equipment inexpensively
. We currently have a customer that has a pretty unique process & very quickly and easily we have been able to workshop the problems with their site staff and engineers to design a solution that addresses their unique problems.
Q Do you offer digitalisation options for customers such as real time sensors and analytics to monitor equipment performance? A GKD recognises the importance of digitalisation, trending data, and the use of machine learning to enhance product optimisation and efficiency. We can tailor a customised solution for individual
24 International Mining | APRIL 2025