Gold star for Haver Screening Group
Hydro-Clean uncovers more profit and reduces water and energy consumption for Russian gold producer
HAVER Screening Group’s Hydro-Clean washing technology is helping a gold producer in eastern Russia to increase production, reduce water consumption and minimize wear.
The producer had been using a test set-up comprising washing drum and two-bearing screen to separate the sand and clay from its mined gold ore, but this method was providing inadequate washing results, causing excessive equipment wear and consuming large volumes of water and energy.
Working closely with the customer, HSG (Haver Screening Group) set up their Hydro-Clean 700 unit and rinse screen as a separate test operation to prove it could successfully wash the operation’s three distinct products better than the existing test equipment.
Each product has varying degrees of impurities, ranging from easy-to-wash to sticky material that is nearly impossible to clean with the current washing system, but since installing the HSG washing combination, the operation has been able increase production from 5 tonnes/h to 25 tonnes/h, and has reduced its water and energy consumption by up to 70% and 30%, respectively, for every tonne of material.
In preparation for a large mine upgrade project, these results have led the gold producer to include the Hydro-Clean in its plans for all future mineral washing.
Suitable for use in clay-heavy material deposits, the Hydro-Clean employs high-pressure nozzles, rotating at 90 rev/min, to spray up to 90% recycled water on the material at pressures up to 200 bars (2,900 psi) to remove silt and clay particles as small as 63 microns from mineral mixtures.
While the high-pressure nozzles mounted at the top rotate and spray the material with water, turbulence in the drum creates additional scrubbing and abrasive forces that enhance the cleaning process to break up agglomerates and clean the particles of stubborn material.
A UME 1,200mm x 4,500mm rinse screen follows the Hydro-Clean unit to rinses away the loose sand and clay contaminants. The end result is a cleaner gold ore product with a clay content of less than 2%.
In operation, the Hydro-Clean system saves up to 9,000 litres of water and up to 1.8 kW of energy for every tonne of cleaned material, compared with the washing drum system. In addition, it experiences little wear with a low-maintenance design that allows for simple replacement of the few standard components that are subject to wear.
Owing to the success of the Hydro-Clean 700 test unit, the gold producer plans to install a larger washing operation – using several HSG Hydro-Clean 1000 units – that will be capable of washing up to 4 million tonnes of gold ore per year.
