Trialling of Dry Sorter

Mounting stress on South Africa’s water resources, combined with growing concerns about the environmental impact of mining operations, makes Aury Africa’s 400 tph dry sorting technology ideal for environmentally-conscious mining houses.

Aury Africa aims to bring its first dry separator to South Africa for trial at a coal mine in 2019, Business Development Manager, George Sturgeon reveals.

The company, a subsidiary of design and construction coal group DADI Engineering Development Group, is in discussions with its sister company
Meiteng Technology Group to bring in its Telligent Dry Separator (TDS).

The TDS was developed by high-technology company, Tianjin Meiteng Technology, another DADI subsidiary, in 2015. Aury Africa launched the
technology locally at the South African Coal Processing Society’s biennial conference in Secunda in September 2017. At that time, three operating mines in China were using the equipment.

The TDS constitutes intelligent dry separation technology. Aury Africa Managing Director Sydney Parkhouse explains that “basically coal is conveyed on an enclosed conveying system, single layered.

The enclosed system, which incorporates dual X-ray technology, is simple to operate. It can be retrofitted to an existing coal-processing plant in
various configurations.” The system features image-identification technology, with the separator accurately identifying and separating coal without using water or any other medium. There is also no slime generation, with the TDS subsequently producing a higher yield of coarse coal at low operational cost at an increased return-on-investment, compared with conventional process systems.

Self-diagnostics
The technology can process 300mm to 50mm and 100mm to 25mm raw coal, with an upper throughput of about 400tph. The higher tonnage
output makes the TDS more efficient compared with competitor dry sorter technology. Aury Africa is continuously striving to improve the technology’s
separation capabilities in order to achieve coal sizing down to 12mm.

George highlights that the technology is fully automated and modular, with a self-diagnostic system. “The longer the unit runs, the more accurate it
becomes – the margin of reject material compared with coal is reduced, as the TDS learns and adapts continuously,” he elaborates.

Aury Africa Production and Support Manager John Wills emphasises that the TDS does not use any water during operation making it a fundamentally
invaluable technology for ‘greening’ the coal-mining industry. Sydney mentions that, in August last year, seven TDS systems had either been commissioned, or contracts had been signed. Currently, 46 systems are either operational, being commissioned, or contracts signed. “The growth has been exponential, owing to its successes in the field,” he adds.

Mineral samples
Aury Africa is considering different applications for the TDS in the complete mineral beneficiation chain. For example, a four tonne sample from a manganese mine in the Northern Cape was sent to Tianjin in China in July for separation trials using the TDS.

“We invite interested mining companies to submit their mineral samples to Tianjin to be trialled on the TDS, until such time as the equipment is
available in South Africa,” George highlights. The mineral and reject material must be trialled to differentiate X-ray absorption
rates. The computer software is programmed by the development
of algorithms during the trialling period, after which the equipment
is set up accordingly.

“Mining partners across the commodity spectrum are able to see how the TDS can improve yield and quality at their mines, and ultimately reduce operating and maintenance costs.

We are open to procure units for clients in South Africa to trial at their mines, and to show them the benefits of the TDS system,” John concludes.

Aury Africa
Sydney Parkhouse
Tel: (011) 026-6642
Email: syd@auryafrica.co.za
www.auryafrica.co.za