Bentonite Processing Plant Reduces Process Time, Ensures Supply

H Birkenmayer (Pty) Ltd specialises in the local manufacture of EIRICH Industrial Mixers in South Africa as well as a range of concrete brick & block making equipment.

With over 55 years of experience, Birkenmayer understands the harsh and demanding operating conditions encountered in Africa. It is this extensive knowledge that has established us as a leader in our field in Southern Africa.

Birkenmayer operates from well-equipped premises in Johannesburg, in close proximity to the international airport, where complete plants are manufactured and an extensive service and product support system is maintained. Customer services include a comprehensive stockholding of spare parts for our equipment and the backing of highly skilled and experienced staff.

Plants are designed, manufactured and installed to specific client requirements, with assistance being offered in the overall planning of complete projects.

Birkenmayer prides itself on being a major supplier of industrial mixers and equipment to the foundry, refractory, metallurgical and concrete industries. As a manufacturing partner of Eirich Industrial Mixers, the company focus extends into the processing of industrial waste streams, pelletising and the agglomeration of process generated dusts and fines.

World wide partnerships enable offerings in fine grinding technologies, incorporating tower and pendular mills as well as the Eirich Maxmill range.

Industrial minerals company G&W Mineral Resources’ bentonite processing plant at the Matsopa-Koppies mine, near Parys, will be able to handle both wet and dry bentonite and has significantly reduced the process time, says process technology supplier Birkenmayer product development manager Louis Eksteen. The new high-throughput processor at Matsopa-Koppies can handle dry and wet product and was designed to mix, activate or granulate a significant portion of mined bentonite and to output the prepared material to special weatherproof bunkers at the mine.

“The technology is significant because it removes several process steps from the previously long process sequence. The new plant, if required, can mix, activate and granulate mined material, which previously took three to seven days, within one hour of the material being mined, and can screen, crush, dry and bag the material within two to three hours, reducing the logistical cycle by 98%,” Eksteen explains. “From the bunkers, the processed bentonite can be safely transported to G&W’s Wadeville plant, where undercover milling and automatic bagging operations are located. Certain components that do not need further milling will be bagged on site and shipped directly from Matsopa-Koppies,” he adds.

The new plant site and layout means that there is significant crude stock and final product stock on hand in a plant that is not as dependent on the weather as the current installation, he says. The plant improves available backup stock, which is important for the foundry industry and also produces a higher quality and greater consistency of product than the previous plant, Eksteen says. The plant was designed by Birkenmayer using German plant technology developer Eirich’s technology, which reduced the number of process steps. Project engineering house Alliance Conveying is responsible for the installation of the Eirich equipment and the implementation of the technology, as well as for the on-site implementation of the project.

The plant will be operational by the end of 2010, says G&W MD Sanet Burger. Bentonite clay becomes difficult to process in wet weather using traditional processing technology, and wet conditions also render the mine inaccessible to workers and vehicles, she explains. G&W specified that the new plant had to be able to operate during wet weather to speed up throughput during favourable conditions and to provide sufficient storage for dry crude on site. The existing orebody at Matsopa- Koppies is of a high quality and has estimated reserves in excess of 35 years, concludes G&W mining operations head.

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