SCREENING
With the introduction of Compact Screens, Sandvik says it is providing a new approach to screening for gold and similar mineral processing applications built on proven performance
Screening by design
Paul Moore looks at the critical role of screening in the flowsheet, highlighting recent technology developments from a range of global OEMs in that sector
The screening industry is similar to other major flowsheet elements in mineral processing in that it combines fundamental designs and principles used over many decades, with improvements and evolution in key components; all with the backdrop of industry consolidation.
A great example is FLS. Since acquiring Ludowici and its Honert design vibrating screens, FLS has evolved its screening offering significantly, whilst maintaining the field proven fundamental mechanical design principles that made the original designs very successful.
The importance of screening within the FLS business was also recently highlighted by its announcement of a new Crushing, Sizing & Screening( CSS) business line, effective 1 January 2027 – the CSS business line it says will bring together related capabilities connected to how customers plan, operate and optimise their flowsheets around these technologies. It is intended to strengthen lifecycle coverage and improve customer productivity by creating clearer ownership of CSS-related customer needs, technologies and service opportunities.
IM had the chance to talk in-depth to Brad Shepherd, FLS Head of Screen & Centrifuge Lifecycle, who said its screening improvements have been mainly focused around increasing capacity, availability, safety and maintainability – all part of adapting to today’ s larger and more complex concentrator plants.
He stated:“ The key developments include a stronger and more refined structural design, improved exciter and drive systems and much better screening media integration. We have also placed a lot more focus on areas such as application engineering, ensuring that each screen is matched to the specific duty, with all the associated characteristics and process requirements, rather than simply supplying a standard machine.”
He added:“ Our screening equipment is also backed up by much deeper process knowledge, stronger aftermarket support, and more advanced condition monitoring capabilities, plus a much more broader understanding of how screen performance affects overall plant dynamics both upstream and downstream. So, our customers are not just getting a screen, they’ re getting a full solution that’ s aimed at improving uptime, throughput, wear life and generally the total cost of ownership. Broadly, the screens have moved from being robust standalone machines to highly engineered and application specific assets that are designed to perform reliably in modern mining circuits to help customers operate more safely, efficiently and sustainably.”
Shepherd says that the reality is that there are multiple screens in circuits today that are surpassing their design duty and do not match the mining operation’ s needs in terms of throughput and that this is a major headache in the market.“ We’ ve really only got a couple of levers in that particular situation. One is to replace that screen with potentially a larger screen or a different design screen to meet those requirements. The other lever is looking at the full flowsheet design and really understanding what we can do with respect to the media selection and utilising all of our smart technologies in that space to improve the efficiency of the existing surface area that they have.”
He adds that because there are still significant constraints being seen in the industry, particularly in existing brownfield sites, in being able to put in larger screens.“ There simply may not be enough leeway to do so from a civils perspective as in the supporting structure of that plant may not be sufficient to be able to take on that larger mass.”
Shepherd continued:“ A lot of these screens whose limits are being exceeded are managed using what I call coping loops. Users have actually coped through their maintenance programmes to be able to deal with the inefficiencies of that particular
Large FLS double deck vibrating screen
12 International Mining | OCTOBER 2026