Modern Mining May 2016

MODULAR PLANTS

is a non-toxic, natural compound devel- oped in-house by APT and forms part of its GroundBreaker range of gold mining products. According to the company’s recent release on GoldFix, the product is designed to take the customer from concentrate to smelted nugget in six simple steps and even the smallest amounts of gold can be captured efficiently. Another new product, introduced in 2015 and also forming part of the GroundBreaker range, is the GoldMasta sluice, an entry-level device targeted at the artisanal market. It is manufactured from durable, non-corroding material and production can start as soon as it arrives on site. It can be relocated with ease and a power outlet is not required. Two or more GoldMasta units can be placed in series and the units can also work in combination with the GoldKacha concentrator, resulting in a compact package with extremely high recovery. Also added to the APT line-up recently is an ‘all in one’ solution for explorers and small min- ers known as the ‘RG30-T Production Kit’. This combines the RG30 scrubber and GoldKacha Mark 4 with the GoldKonka Upgrader and GoldJigga field jig to form a complete mining kit able to process relatively large bulk samples and produce concentrates. The equipment is mounted on a neatly designed, rugged trailer allowing the operator to easily move from one resource to another. Discussing the marketing of APT’s products, McFarlane says that most of the company’s business derives from ‘word of mouth’ rec- ommendations. “We have a lot of satisfied customers out in the field and, over the years, they’ve passed on their positive experiences with our products to others in the mining com- munity. We also network with customers and

potential customers at events such as confer- ences and exhibitions and this has also proved to be rewarding for us.” Summing up, McFarlane says that APT has experienced excellent growth since being founded and continues to stay busy despite the recession in mining. “We’re fortunate in that we have a huge potential customer base for our smaller plants,” he notes. “Remember that for every junior, there’s scores, even hun- dreds, of smaller miners who tend to remain active even through the downturns and we’re seeing steady demand for our products from this group. We also deal with the artisanals and this of course is a vast, almost endless, mar- ket. Certainly, demand is not as buoyant when it comes to bigger plants but here again we’re doing reasonably well since – as I’ve already explained – the juniors are looking for econom- ically priced plants and are turning to us. So really we can’t complain too much – yes, con- ditions are tight but we’re still growing, both in Africa and overseas.” 

Above: Gravity tower and TriTank CIL plant installation in progress. Top: An RG800 80 t/h gold recovery plant. APT’s standard gold processing plants incorporate its RG scrubber wash plant with either the Knelson concentrator (as seen in this photo) or APT’s GoldKacha for optimal gold recovery.

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May 2016  MODERN MINING  37