Bevex Mining Services has numerous prospects in Africa to manufacture, supply and operate modular plants for clients in the gold and chrome industries. VBKOM was contracted by BEVEX to supply Metallurgical Consulting and Project Management Services in support of their plant manufacturing and operational processes. A specific assignment centred around an alluvial gold washing plant.

To maximize the gold recovery an accurate gold deportment study was completed and a Particle Size Distribution (‘PSD’) developed on the source. Testing/trialling of any alluvial gold resource is vital to ascertain the correct energy environment to set up the correct systems of recovery. A Gold Process Flow Diagram (‘PFD’) was developed and the aforementioned information was used to determine the plant throughput, mass and water balances, equipment sizing and final expected recovery.

The value in conducting a metallurgical process simulation is that key design and operational issues can be simulated and tested in order to maximise alluvial gold recovery. For the specific assignment these were:

• Liberation of gold particles (which was addressed in the scrubber),
• Material classification (as per the PSD data),
• Determining the optimum energy environment for the efficient operation of the sluice to ensure maximum self-cleaning, and
• Ensuring that any deleterious heavies be removed early in the process via magnetic separation.

VBKOM wishes to thank BEVEX for affording us the opportunity to work together. For more information on gold and chrome plants, recoveries and technology, do not hesitate to visit BEVEX’s website at https://bevex.co.za/ .