Modern Mining April 2017

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38 MODERN MININGApril 2017
feature
MODULAR PLANTS
According to Roy Hazell, Sales
Director for FLSmidth Sub-
Sahara Africa, the RC™ has
already proved itself in fines
beneficiation in North America,
Australia, Asia and parts of Africa, including
South Africa.
“This will increasingly become the technol-
ogy of choice and will eventually replace other
conventional technologies,” says Hazell. “It has
successfully demonstrated its superiority in
fines recovery over traditional technology such
as spiral plants and teeter bed separators.”
The modularisation of this solution also
enhances its suitability for mine sites in remote
areas, where many of the smaller mining opera-
tions in Africa are located, he says.
“The modular plant consists of modules of
standard container sizes for each of the vari-
ous stages of the process – from the oversize
protection screens and feed tanks to the reflux
classifier, dewatering screen, pumps and
cyclone cluster,” he says. “The modules can be
fabricated and fitted with the equipment and
Modular REFLUX Classifier boosts
An example of a modular
plant with FLSmidth’s
REFLUX™ Classifier (RC™).
As Africa’s mining commodity focus has changed over
the years, smaller mines with relatively low throughputs
have come on stream, opening the door for FLSmidth’s
REFLUX™ Classifier (RC™) with its superior fines recovery
and modular construction.
automated control units under factory condi-
tions, before being fully tested and sent to site
for quick and easy assembly of the various
modules.”
The modules themselves, which have a small
footprint of only about 30 m2, are designed to
international engineering standards in terms
of safety, access and maintenance, so they will
comply with requirements on any customer’s
site.
The modular RC™ can be installed either
in an interstage or tailings treatment applica-
tion, and can also be inserted as an add-on to
existing sites. As the feed to the plant and the
recovered product can be piped as a slurry, the
modular plant can even be located ‘across the
fence’ from the main plant.
“An added advantage of the RC™ technol-
ogy is that it is able to easily manage variations
in feed and is far more forgiving as the feed con-
ditions change,” says Hazell.
FLSmidth’s modular offering focuses on 100
tonne per hour (tph) throughput, as this is the
size best suited to fines recovery across a broad
spectrum of commodities; however, the largest
RC™ – the 3000 model – can process through-
puts of up to 200 tph.
“The technology works well on any applica-
tion where specific gravity differences between
product and reject are apparent,” he says. “It is
already established in chromite recovery, espe-
cially with platinum group metals from the