Iron Ore Concentrate Filtration
As part of our new line of CX-Series ceramic disc vacuum filters, we launched our fully re-designed CX12-204 ceramic disc vacuum filtration system for this project. They’ve been constructed to dewater iron ore concentrate produced from an open pit mine in eastern Liberia. This project was a part of the 15Mtpa concentrator expansion, inclusive of wet processing. Measured by installed surface area, this filter plant is the largest ceramic disc vacuum filter installation in the northern hemisphere and the African continent.
Highlights
Design of this project included significant characterization of the orebody and the role of low-grade gangue minerals, such as goethite on filtration performance.
Significant redesign of reagent handling infrastructure was undertaken to increase storage capacity and efficiency in consideration of the remoteness of the project.
This project was delivered with full remote VPN integration to ensure remote monitoring of the local PLC network and allowing the development of a predictive analytical framework for plance, equipment maintenance.
Challenge
This project is constructed in a remote location of West Africa, requiring significant thinking on reliability and redundancy of the design.
Additionally, the project had an aggressive delivery schedule, requiring fabrication and quality assurance to be fully completed within 50 weeks from initiation of engineering.
Solution
We delivered the integrated scope of work on time, from eleven different fabricator workshops to marry with the global logistics plan to site. This project execution required a significant increase in internal resources and external contractors to ensure that timelines and deliverables would be met.
Benefit
The project remains in construction, with commissioning intended for Q1 2025. This plant has been designed for 15Mtpa but with expansion possibilities in-line for 20Mpta in 2026.