[miningmx.com] — ROCKWELL Diamonds said on Monday it has successfully completed the installation of a new in-field screen and the bulk x-ray and single particle sorter plant at its Saxendrift mine.
These were the first two strategic capital projects initiated by the new management team of the group.
The in-field screen was commissioned to address the high sand content in the gravel that was impacting the mine’s ability to achieve its productions targets.
Rockwell Diamonds said the project came in under budget and has been delivering the anticipated benefits for the past four months.
“The screen is running in excess of 95% efficiency notwithstanding the fact that it is operating at 17% above its design throughput,” read a company statement, adding the mine has been able to increase its processing capacity by 30%.
“Another meaningful positive impact of the new in-field screen is enhanced pan plant efficiency,” said Rockwell’s CEO James Campbell.
“We are now also in a position to consider mining certain blocks that have a higher sand content, that could previously not be processed and have the potential to increase the life of mine at Saxendrift.”
He said the screen, along with contops and a change in the bottom cut-off has enabled Rockwell to increase throughput by over 30%, while maintaining operating costs at levels of a year ago.
The commissioning of the bulk x-ray technology that was done to improve concentrate efficiency and final sorting of diamond bearing ore, and carried a capital cost of $1.5m.
Having started processing old recovery tailings at Saxendrift on April 16, a total of 316 stones totalling 1,109 carats have been recovered in the first four weeks of production. This included 14 stones exceeding 10 carats with the largest weighing 52.67 carats.
“The preliminary results from testing the bulk x-ray machine are extremely encouraging: diamond recoveries have exceeded expectations and we are increasingly optimistic that this technology will provide a more efficient alternative to the traditional pan plants used by Rockwell until now,’ said Campbell.
“Once the proof of concept has been fully tested, it is our intention to deploy the technology into our new projects.”
