Deswik Mining Consultants have launched in Australia the highly innovative fine grinding mill which they claim is efficient, green and smart.

A fine grinding mill is a machine that grinds mineral ore into standard particle sizes for easier mineral extraction.

There are many ways to extract minerals from ore. For example, when tiny grains of gold are spread through a gravel deposit the gravel is poured onto a table that is coated with mercury. When the table is vibrated the gold grains work their way to the table surface and combine with the mercury. This method works because gold has a strong tendency to combine with mercury. The gold of course then has to be separated from the mercury.

A different method is used to separate sulphide (sulfide) minerals from others in order to obtain their sulphur. In this case the conglomeration of minerals might be finely ground up and then vigorously mixed in a tank of water through which air is being bubbled.

In this process, which is called flotation, the sulphide minerals cling to the bubbles and are collected from the froth that spills over the top of the tank.

As mineral prices soar due to the boom in economies like China and India, it becomes more and more economically viable to reprocess that tailings from old mines using new technology.

As South African Mines have discovered, the Deswik mill has many distinct advantages over conventional mills.

The Deswik product has a highly variable speed hydraulic drive, patented vertical turbo disc impeller, inert bead media, small footprint, high availability, shorter delivery times, and high energy efficiency.

The simple and robust design of the vertical mill means ease of maintenance and higher availability.

The mill can offer greater mineral recovery at reduced capital and running cost.

The first test mill is currently being commissioned for Australian Metallurgical and Mineral Testing Consultants (AMMTEC), in Western Australia and will be available for testing in July of this year.

The Deswik mill is of vertical construction, manufactured in mild steel/stainless steel, with all wetted parts lined with hard wearing and contamination-free polyurethane resin. The chamber is water jacketed for cooling. A separate heat exchanger system is also available.

The impeller is a patented turbo-disc design unique to the Deswik mill. It is designed in such a manner that its assembly is modular and the configuration may be easily changed to achieve different end product size and distribution characteristics.

The Deswik mill is available in a range of sizes, from 250 litre mills delivering four (4) to eight (8) tonnes per hour (t/hr), to 5,000 litre mills delivering 75 – 150 t/hr dependent upon the required end product size.

The Deswik mill can produce particle sizes from a D-50 of 200 micron down to 0.1 micron. This is achieved over a range of some 200 different products at energy consumption levels as low as 3 kWh/ton. Recent production and testwork for various clients has indicated that in certain process circuits a Deswik fine grinding mill can assist in doubling the concentrate value increasing the recovery by over 50%.

Already the mill has generated interest in Australia due to its potential to improve recovery whilst significantly reducing power consumption.

As cleaner, greener technological processes are being demanded from Australian mining companies, the Deswik mill’s introduction could not come at a better time. In certain applications the use of the mill will more than halve the grinding and recovery costs.

Deswick specialises in fine grinding and fine grinding equipment. Their new fine grinding mill has just been released in Australia.