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May 2016
MODERN MINING
37
MODULAR PLANTS
feature
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
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.
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.”