Sonop installs a grease-belt
system diamond-recovery plant
Bateman Engineering has designed and supplied a grease-belt final
diamond-recovery plant to Sonop Delwery between Christiana and Bloemhof
in the Northwest Province, RSA. The lump-sum turnkey order for this
containerised modular plant was received on 15 June 2005 and delivered
exactly five months later.
At the site, Sonop Delwery use pan concentrators and dense-media
separation (DMS) plants to produce concentrate for the grease-belt
recovery plant. Tailings dumps are also being re-treated.
The final recovery plant comprises three conventional grease belts,
each with two feeders to ensure an even distribution of concentrate
over the belts. The fines belt, with a capacity of 4 t/h, treats a
concentrate feed of 1 mm to 6 m in size, the middlings belt handles
6 t/h of a feed between 6 mm and 12 mm and the coarse belt handles
10 t/h of feeds of between 12 mm and 30 mm.
This is a standard, proven, semi-automated, hands-off Bateman Engineering
design with low capital and operating cost. With a low requirement
for operator skill and maintenance by skilled technicians and electricians,
Bateman Engineering grease belts are well suited for use in remote
areas. The system is gaining in popularity, several having been supplied
to diamond processors in Southern Africa in the past two years (e.g.
see Bateman Globe No. 55).
Sonop's recovery plant was built into seven containers at a workshop
near Pretoria, fully tested and then dismantled, transported about
400 km by road to site, reassembled and commissioned. Because the
plant remains housed in the containers at the site, the containers
ensure that the diamonds can be recovered securely. Furthermore, as
the containers are thermally-insulated, they also provide comfortable
working conditions, both day and night.
More information may be obtained from Neels van Niekerk, Project
Manager or Stoffel Nel, Bateman Engineering Project Engineer, on +27-11-899-9111
or email modular@BatemanEngineering.com.
