:: Trailer-mounted Diamond Recovery Plant for the DRC

Bateman Engineering has manufactured and is ready to ship a 5 t/h dense-media separation (DMS) plant to Jindal Minerals & Metals Africa Congo SPRL in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The plant will be used for alluvial-diamond mining and is movable so it can be relocated to new positions on the site as mining progresses.

The plant is mounted on two semi low-bed trailers that were manufactured in Rustenburg, South Africa. The first is an 11.5 m long,

20 t unit that carries the front-end circuit that processes 10 t/h of ore. This comprises a reception bin, static grizzly, scrubber for scalping off the waste, sizing screens and conveyors.

The second trailer is a 15.5 m long, 25 t unit carrying the 5 t/h DMS circuit comprising the DMS feed-preparation screen, ferrosilicon mixer, attritioner, sizing screens, cyclone, Bateman Compact Grease Belt and 275 kVA diesel electricity generator. Jet pumps are used to feed the material into the circuit and to the DMS cyclone and a conveyor removes the tailings to the dump. The grease belt processes about 3 t/h of DMS concentrate to recover the diamonds.

The plant was manufactured near Johannesburg in South Africa. It was ordered ex-works on 2 May 2007 and was ready for dispatch on 7 September 2007. It was fully assembled at the works, water tested and signed off by the client prior to dismantling and transport by road on the trailers to site. The peripheral equipment and essential spares in containers accompanied the consignment.

It is estimated that the 3,500 km trip to the DRC site will take about 45 days. The on-site assembly, commissioning and training of the operators, under supervision of an engineer from Bateman Engineering, will require a further 14 days.

More information on the project may be obtained from Mike van Rensburg, Project Manager or Robert Abate, General Manager, Modular Plants on +27-11-899-9111 or email at Modular@BatemanEngineering.com.