German developer and manufacturer of customised industrial agitators Ekato reports that having the right agitator solution with the proper design will save downtime and money at gold mining operations. In the recent market environment, the gold price has been subject to massive price fluctuations.

“This is the right time, however, to think about investments that will have a sustainable impact on the production costs for each ounce of gold,” the company notes. By increasing the efficiency of the agitation processes within a large-scale operation,  potential improvements such as possible short-term amortisation cycles can be  exploited, with a direct impact on the return on investment (ROI).

This applies to open tank, pressure or bioleaching processes for small as well as large operations. Agitators are designed and built to  reduce downtime, and shafts and gearboxes are built to maintain operations during normal and unplanned situations, which can  include a restart in a settled bed after a power failure, or running during emptying and  filling conditions.

To handle these situations, agitators have been designed to cope with all these  potential operational conditions. By doing so, ongoing maintenance and spareparts costs, which account for most of the service  budget and decreased production output, can be reduced.

The proper interaction  between mechanical and process design is essential to create the right agitator solution that provides reliability during the life of a mine and beyond. Gassed processes in mineral processing applications have indicated potential for  improvement. Energy costs, gassing systems, batch cycle times and oxygen costs can be shortened, and recoveries increased, when the right impeller type is used.

A multitude of accumulative experience, research and development laboratories and lab-scale tests with modern simulation technologies lay the foundation for the design and technology that are able to predict the achievable process results at operations. Batch cycles are shortened and recovery of minerals improves when appropriate  agitators are used.

An agitator, which mixes properly, does not allow acids to concentrate or damage the vessel, and the adsorbents will be equally distributed. Properly designed agitators will provide homogeneous mixing and prevent mixing inefficiencies. Further, Ekato notes that experienced scale-up of equipment also leads to cost  saving.

Scaling up, which refers to using hardware and software technology to store and distribute large quantities of data, also leads to saving of agitators and vessels, as well as peripheral equipment such as pumps and compressors. “The best way to assess this potential is to invest in a feasibility study, which will have a large impact on the later costs without delays in the project schedule,” the company says.

Choosing the right construction materials and high-quality coatings decreases downtime and lowers spare-parts costs. Additionally, modern simulation tools such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) support the efficiency of impeller designs and blade shapes to improve fluid flow and lower abrasion.

Further, fast homogeneous mixing will prevent the build-up of acid hot spots that will also have a corrosion effect on the  impeller and blades. The company notes that, during a volatile gold period, investment decisions should be well planned and, therefore, more time and money should be focused on the efficiency and maintenance of equipment at mines. 

It is essential that an equipment manufacturer has the relevant knowledge and understands the methods and techniques of the agitation process. Application of modern simulation  methods, such as finite element analysis and CFD, as well as high-quality, first-class manufacturing standards, lays the foundation for detailed technical discussions with mechanical and process experts for the customer.

Technical solutions and process guarantees are the tools that equipment manufacturers offer a mining company to provide it with a full-range agitator solution. The company mentions that to achieve the best results, the customer and agitator solution provider need to work hand in hand so that there is a clear understanding of what is needed.

Ekato says, with these conditions in place, it provides gold operations with efficiency  improvements at low amortisation cycles and a high ROI. “An agitator manufacturer with a high- level understanding of the technology  involved, and an innovative team, can provide the gold mining industry with the efficiency it needs,” it says.

The company states that having technological systems in place will ensure the mining company’s profitability in the long term, even in the volatile gold period. Ekato notes that the increased efficiency  of processes does have an enormous influence on investment and processing costs.