The converter aisle at Hartley Platinum, Zimbabwe, with two Peirce Smith converters.

Autoclave for low temperature pressure leaching of copper ore at Gunpowder copper mine, Australia.

PGMs and Base Metals

BATEMAN offers a global service for platinum group and base metals producers. It has done this by drawing together and consolidating the company’s best process and engineering skills and expertise, in platinum group and base metals production, from its offices around the world. This will ensure that the best engineering and project execution practices are assembled to benefit clients and will provide the best possible process solutions while minimising the time to bring projects to completion.

According to Steve Burks: “The similarity in the processes used for platinum group metals (PGMs) and sulphide nickel, copper and cobalt ores, and even to recover zinc and lead, provided the main rationale for this consolidation.

“During the past few years in which it has been involved in the largest PGM projects as well as several major base metals projects around the globe, BATEMAN has installed or studied the feasibility of the whole spectrum of unit processes essential for the extraction and processing of PGMs and base metals.”

This has resulted in an intimate knowledge of the appropriate general ore dressing processes, including crushing, milling, size classification, dense media separation (DMS), gravity and magnetic separation, flotation and liquid-solid separation (thickening and filtration). Experience with pyrometallurgical processes includes drying, smelting (AC, DC and slag reduction furnaces), converting (Peirce Smith, TBRC, Ausmelt and other similar techniques), roasting, granulation, acid production, off-gas handling and scrubbing.

For base metals, involvement with leaching processes has included heap, vat, tank and bacterial leaching, pressure leaching (concentrates, mattes and whole ore) and chloride and ammonia leaching, the latter two involving the need for specially resistant materials. Base metals purification has been undertaken using solvent extraction (SX) with either BATEMAN mixer settlers or pulsed columns, ion exchange, molecular recognition technology, precipitation, cementation, electrowinning (EW), electrorefining and crystallisation.

In precious metals refining, where essentially the same unit processes are involved as for base metal refining, the BATEMAN team has been accumulating experience almost continuously for more than a decade. In these plants, special materials and construction techniques were necessary to cope with the toxic and corrosive reagents involved.

This minerals processing knowledge is supported by extensive plant design and project management capabilities arising from decades of project experience. Materials handling and environmental control is always a vital part of projects which BATEMAN is well equipped to handle in-house.

The BATEMAN projects track record over the past five years in the PGM and base metals market includes Rasimone Platinum concentrator, Potgietersrust Platinum concentrator, Impala Platinum Limited-Refineries’ EPMR and platinum circuit, Hartley Platinum surface works, Western Platinum base metal refinery, Stillwater plant extensions (PGM / nickel / copper), George Fisher (lead-zinc), Kasese Cobalt, Empress Nickel, Sanyati Copper, Bulong Nickel, and Gunpowder/Mt Gordon Copper.

Besides the major projects during this period, BATEMAN has also been involved in about 20 feasibility and project
development studies. In addition to technical aspects, the work has often involved assisting clients to source the finance required.

“The global approach to serving this market was boosted by the benefit which could be derived by pooling our regional knowledge,” said Burks. “This will enable us to source the best consulting and design services, laboratory facilities and equipment suppliers as well as to maximise regional familiarity when transporting supplies and equipment to remote sites around the world.”

For more details on the services available to PGM and base metal producers, please contact Steve Burks on +27-11-899-2756 or email pgm@batemanengineering.com

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