Jigging Comeback in Minerals Dressing
The past year has seen a big increase in the market for jigs producing
clean saleable products by removing associated waste material. This
is due to recent improvements making jigging a very effective means
of separating particles of different densities in a homogeneous bed
of granular material.
Bateman Titaco owns the APIC Jig, one of the most efficient gravity
separators. These jigs deal effectively and efficiently with both fine
and coarse material, obtaining recoveries of better than 95 % for coarse
materials and90% for fine materials. Their capacities range from 10
to 800 t/h and they are used to wash coals, upgrade non-metallics (diamond,
garnet, etc.),recover ferroalloys from slags and upgrade a range of
ores.
The APIC Jig submits the bed of particles in the water to underbed
pulsation which effectively produces adensimetric stratification of
the particles. The denser particles (sinks) settle and the less dense
particles (floats) rise to the top of the material bed. Products can
be sinks, middlings or floats by using more than one compartment. The
jigs are easy to start and operate and are very flexible with a large
range of adjustment. Operating costs are low and, because of the slow
motion of the material, plant wear is low.
The jig’s underbed pulsation technology was originally developed
by the Fives-Lille Group (FCB) in France for coal washing. In the past
years its use has been extended to minerals processing by Bateman Titaco,
with research input from its partners Mintek, RSA. More recently the
improved JIGSCAN control technology from JKMRC (the Julius Kruttschnitt
Mineral Research Centre, Australia) was added through an extended partnership
and exchange arrangement. The advanced technologies embodied in the
APIC Jig have now been proven in several applications and have greatly
enhanced the processing capabilities of jigging.
Plants recovering metal from slag have been supplied by Bateman Titaco
to Anglovaal’s Feralloys at Machadodorp, Samancor’s Tubatse
Ferrochrome at Steelport, Metalloys at Meyerton and Ferrometals at Witbank
(all RSA) and to AAC Zimbabwe’s Zimbabwe Alloys,Gweru and to Zimasco
Alloys (Pvt) Ltd, KweKwe, Zimbabwe. A plant for upgrading manganese
ore was supplied to Cranford Civils, Otjosondu, Namibia.
A plant supplied at the end of 1998 is recovering ferro-manganese and
silicon-manganese from a 7M tonne slag dump owned by Transalloys Pty
Ltd near Witbank, RAS. In terms of atoll-treatment contract between
Translates and Titaco, Mintek and FNB, Bateman Titaco and its associates
own and operate the plant. This hands-on operating experience is enabling
Bateman Titaco to further develop and improve the APIC Jig and its associated
technologies.
More recently Bateman Titaco has retrofitted the Metalloys and Tubatse
plants to incorporate the new APIC fines jig. This has resulted in improved
recovery and overall throughput of the facilities. Fine jigging of heavy
materials is a recent innovation of the joint venture with significant
added value potential for its clients.
Research and development underway at Mintek and JKMRC is aimed at further
control enhancements of underbed air-pulsed jigs so that a wider range
of materials can be separated. Jigs for ultra-fine materials are also
being developed.
For further information, please contact Vincent Dieudonné,
General Manager, Jigging, on +27-11-899-2343 or email jigging@batemanengineering.com.
The Transalloys plant under construction with conveyors linking
the screening plant on the left to the main plant containing the crushing
and jigging facilities on the right.
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