Xstrata Process Support (XPS), a subsidiary of global miner Xstrata Plc, has developed a new automated minerals crushing and blending pilot plant, based in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
The plant is designed to convert a wide range of ores into samples for process testing, and is described by XPS as significantly larger, more productive, more easily cleaned, and more automated than its previous manually operated laboratory-scale facilities. The unit crushes and screens ore at a rate of up to 150 kg/hr, compared with around 100 kg/day for the company’s former manually operated facility.
XPS claims that the combination of large-scale equipment and automated conveying and screening equipment increases production, improves plant safety and ensures test sample integrity.
XPS metallurgist and project manager, David Middleditch, said: “In the past laboratories used small-scale equipment because it was easier to clean to avoid cross-contamination between product runs. XPS opted for...