:: Diamond Core Resources Relies on Bateman in Fast-track Projects

Bateman Engineering achieved the tight project schedules to deliver and commission Bateman DMS (dense-media separation) and grease-belt diamond-recovery plants for Diamond Core Resources Ltd’s fast-track projects to bring two diamond prospects into operation in the Northern Cape, South Africa.

The objective was to establish exploration plants for bulk sampling and trial mining to prove the grade and value of alluvial-gravel and kimberlite deposits. If these proved viable, the plants would have to be expandable into full-scale operations that could be moved as the mining operations dictated. The Bateman grease-belt technology was selected because of its proven capability to recover diamonds effectively.

At the Silverstreams alluvial mining operation on the northern bank of the Orange River 10 km north of Prieska, very large amounts of material have to be processed in order to find and recover the relatively few but larger diamonds typical of this type of deposit.

The Bateman DMS plant, commissioned in May 2007, processes pan concentrate yielding a diamond concentrate that is up to 20 % of the DMS feed. This concentrate passes through an existing X-ray diamond-recovery plant, is then scrubbed, sized and passed over the grease belts.

The grease-belt plant, commissioned in June 2007, comprises three Bateman Conventional Grease Belts, processing the 2 mm to 12 mm fraction at 5 t/h, the 12 mm to 32 mm fraction at 10 t/h and the 32 mm to 50 mm fraction at 10 t/h. This plant is similar to the one supplied to Sonop Diamonds (Pty) Ltd at the end of 2005 (see Bateman Globe No. 56), except that the upper limit of the material processed has been increased to 50 mm. This has been achieved by amending the operating parameters.

The Paardeberg East operation, 40 km west of Kimberley, is a kimberlite mining operation where it is anticipated that more, but smaller, diamonds will be recovered.

Diamond Core Resources (DCR) acquired and refurbished an old Bateman 50 t/h DMS. The DMS plant produces a concentrate for downstream diamond recovery that constitutes less than 1 % of the DMS feed.

The DMS concentrate passes first through the attritioner and sizing screens at 5 t/h before the diamonds are recovered by two Bateman Compact Grease Belts that handle fractions of between 2 mm and 10 mm (2 t/h) and 10 mm to 25 mm (3 t/h). The tailings are dewatered and the grease processed for re-use.

This containerised plant, ordered in September 2006 and commissioned in April 2007, is securely housed in two 12 m HiCube containers.

DCR have also acquired a Bateman Ultrasep unit for water reclamation. The unit has a capacity of 300 m³/h and recovers for re-use more than 85 % of the process water that has to be piped 18 km from the Vaal River.