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BIOMIN Team News
Operational Update:
Runruno Processing Plant
BIOMIN
Newsletter Second Quarter
Operational Update:
Jinfeng Operation
Recent Events
Contact BIOMIN
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BIOMIN celebrates one year in style
On 14 May Biomin South Africa celebrated the one year
anniversary of taking over ownership and management of the
BIOX® business. It was celebrated with a function at the Lapa at
Woodlands Ofice Park on 16 May.
Attendees included friends, colleagues and contacts from across
the industry and was a great opportunity for old contacts to be
renewed and new contacts to be made.
Some of the highlights for Biomin for the year included the
successful installation and commissioning of the ASTER™ Plant
as the Suzdal mine in Kazakhstan. The decision by Nordgold
to implement the ASTER™ process at Suzdal was the result
of an extensive on-site pilot campaign, where the eficiency of the process was clearly demonstrated. Built from essentially
redundant equipment available on site, the ASTER™ plant was
constructed and commissioned in approximately 2 months. The
process has performed exceptionally well since commissioning
and continues to exceed both the design criteria and our
expectations.
We also saw the oficial start of construction on the Runruno project in the Philippines. The processing plant will include both
the BIOX® and ASTER™ technologies and will also be the irst application of our Generation III BIOX® design. Construction is
now progressing well and we expect commissioning later this
year or early next year.
One of the highlights for the year for me was the BIOX® Users
Conference held late last year. China was selected as the venue
for the conference and included a visit to the Jinfeng BIOX® plant.
We had representatives of most of the BIOX® plants and a few
of our advanced projects, and was of value to each attendee. If
you are interested in inding out more, please view our previous newsletter by clicking here
We look forward to the next year and the challenges and
opportunities that it will present. BIOMIN strives to continually
deliver on its vision to custom-design premier, relevant solutions
for the effective processing of refractory ores for our clients. If
you have any questions regarding any of the BIOMIN processing
technologies please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
Regards,
Jan van Niekerk
Managing Director
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BIOMIN
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Runruno Processing Plant:
Runruno ASTERTM: Step change in ASTERTM size and novel application to dilute slurry
Construction continues in the Philippines on a third
ASTERTM plant which will form part of the FCF Minerals
Corporation’s (FCF’s) Runruno processing plant.
This plant has been designed to treat a 5 000 m3/d, 350
mg/L in the feed, and has the following distinguishing
features which set it apart from the existing two ASTERTM
plants:
• Upon completion, it will be the largest ASTERTM plant
in operation globally;
• The intended solution requiring treatment will be a dilute slurry with a solids-concentration level of
between 4% and 6%;• Suspension of the solids therefore necessitated
considering low shear agitators which are not required
when treating tailings solutions.
The topography of the proposed site also meant that
the footprint of the processing operation was restricted
with consequent implications for the ASTERTM reactor
coniguration. The inal BIOMIN speciication was therefore to conigure a total of four degradation reactors, constituting three primary reactors and one secondary
reactor.
This speciication was arrived at following extensive pilot test work conducted in South Africa and the tests
conirmed that the selection of ASTERTM as the thiocyanate
degradation technology is feasible. Important outcomes
from testing, which lasted almost one year, showed that
the microbial population required a period of adaptation
to an ever present solids exposure and thereafter, near
complete degradation of the SCN- was achieved.
It was subsequently possible to increase the SCN- feed
concentration with no impact observed in the resulting
extent of removal. In addition, the primary degradation
stage of eight hours conirmed that the rate of SCN- removal
was unaffected while treating solids concentrations of
up to 6%. The Runruno design speciication was easily conirmed and is summarised in the table below.
The microbial culture to be used at the Runruno application
is currently being maintained in South Africa. It has its
origins in the same stock cultures used to commence
the Pan African Resources’ operations at the ASTERTM
Consort and Nordgold’s Suzdal ASTERTM operations.
Like the BIOX® microbial consortium, the identiied ASTERTM species are non-pathogenic. All six microbial
species detected in the ASTERTM culture have been found
to be ubiquitous and have been isolated from a range of
soil, water and sludge environments around the world.
The following table lists the dominant species to date
(see next page)
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Summary of Runruno ASTERTM
operating conditions
Parameter Unit Design
Plant design m3/d 5 000
Primary reactor volume m3 600No of primaries 3
Secondary reactor volume m3 600No of secondaries 1
Feed SCN- mg/L 350
Feed CN- mg/L 20
Overall retention hours 11
CIL diluted slurry pH < 9
CIL diluted slurry concentration % 4.5
Efluent SCN- mg/L ≤ 0.1Efluent CN- mg/L ≤ 0.1Dissolved O
2mg/L ≥ 6
Temperature oC 24
SCN-/CN- removal : Primary stage % ≥ 81.5SCN-/CN- removal :
Secondary stage
% ≥ 99.9
Nutrients: Molasses kg/m3 0.15
Nutrients: Phosphorous kg/m3 0.15
Sludge recycle % v/VFeed None
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Operational Update:
Runruno
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Overview of Runruno circuit (above)
Visual of ASTERTM reactor cut out (above)
Visual of ASTERTM
module (left)
Dominant Species Identiication, Role and Biological Classiication
The listed organisms are classiied as lowest risk with regard to potential pathogenicity. That is, the organisms
listed above have been classiied in Risk Group 1 according to the Technical Rules for Biological Agents
(TRBA) classiication of the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA). In addition, the organisms listed above have been classiied in the lowest risk group,., Biosafety Level 1, by the US Centre
for Disease Control (CDC).
The accompanying igures demonstrates 3D simulations of the ASTERTM 3-Primary / 1-Secondary degradation
circuit in the overall Runruno processing plant. The
ASTERTM culture is expected to be dispatched to the
Philippines in the third quarter of 2014.
ASTERTM Dominant Species Role in SCN-
and / or CN-
Degradation
ClassiicationBAuA
ClassiicationCDC
1.Ralstonia eutropha Degrades SCN- Risk Group 1 BioSafety
Level 1
2.Bosea thiooxidans Degrades SCN- Risk Group 1 BioSafety
Level 1
3. Pseudomonas stutzeri isolate OC-10 Degrades CN- Risk Group 1 BioSafety
Level 1
4. Microbacterium schleiferi strain 118 No direct role Risk Group 1 BioSafety
Level 1
5. Acinetobacter sp. ST-01 or
Acinetobacter venetianus strain L17Degrades
environmental
pollutants
Risk Group 1 BioSafety
Level 1
6. Cuprivadus necator Degrades SCN-
and CN-
Risk Group 1 BioSafety
Level 1
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Operational Update:
Runruno
Processing
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The Jinfeng Operation - consistent performance backed by
continuous improvement
Some highlights of the Jinfeng BIOX® plant to date include:
• Consistently exceeded testwork and projected BIOX®
plant performance;
• Proven robustness in the application of BIOX®
technology;
• High environmental compliance standards
Guizhou Jinfeng Mining Limited (GJML) is a Chinese mining company and the owner of the Jinfeng Gold Mine
located in China’s Southern Guizhou Province. GJML is an 82 % owned subsidiary of Eldorado Gold Corporation, an international gold mining company based in Vancouver,
Canada. The Jinfeng BIOX® plant has been in operation
since it’s commissioning in 2007 and is expected to produce approximately 145 000 to 155 000 ounces of gold
in 2014 at a cash operating cost of $650 to $670 per ounce, according to Eldorado Gold Corp’s 2014 projections. The operation has 1.9 Moz reserve and 2.9 Moz resources with
an expected 13 year life of mine.
The Jinfeng BIOX® plant is currently the third largest
BIOX® plant in the world at a design capacity of 790 tpd
of concentrate and a design sulphide grade of 9.4 %. Live
volume of the reactors is 1026 m3 which makes it the second
largest operational reactor in the global BIOX® network.
The plant consists of 2 modules, and each module has a
design reactor coniguration of 4 primary and 4 secondary reactors. The ore at Jinfeng is extremely refractory with
less than 10% gold dissolution with direct cyanidation.
Continuous optimisation of the BIOX® circuit has resulted
in augmenting the reactor coniguration to a 5 primary and 3 secondary reactor coniguration while still achieving up to 98% sulphide oxidation. The oxidised BIOX® product is
washed in a 3-stage counter-current decantation (CCD) circuit and acidic solution from the CCD thickeners is
pumped to a series of six neutralisation tanks. A two stage
neutralisation circuit is employed using lotation tails slurry for the stage one pH adjustment followed by lime slurry
for the latter stage 2 adjustment. the sulphide processing
plant and open pit.
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Figure 1: Image of the Jinfeng Mine Site (Eldorado Gold Corp, 2014)
Figure 2: Jinfeng Sulphide Ore Processing Plant (Eldorado Gold Corp, 2014)
(left) Figure 3: The
Jinfeng Gold Mine
Open Pit
*Note: Images courtesy of Eldorado Gold.
More photos are available on the Eldorado
web-site: www.eldoradogold.com/assets/
china/operations/jinfeng/
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Operational Update:
Jinfeng
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Figure 1 shows a panoramic view of the Jinfeng
Mine site and Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the sulphide
processing plant and open pit.
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1. An Optimised BIOX® Operation
Sulphuric acid is one of the main reagents consumed at the
Jinfeng BIOX® plant. The acid or limestone consumption
during bio-oxidation is a function of the sulphide mineralogy
and gangue components of the concentrate, the extent
of sulphide oxidation and the relative rates speciic to the mineral oxidation kinetics. Pyrite, which is the main sulphide
mineral in the Jinfeng concentrate, produces sulphuric
acid during bio-oxidation while carbonate minerals such
as ankerite, and minor amounts of arsenopyrite consume
acid during bio-oxidation. The BIOX® process is very
effective at oxidizing more than 95% of pyrite present in
the ore. The oxidation kinetics of pyrite are slower than that
of arsenopyrite and the dissolution of ankerite and with a
concentrate mineral ratio of pyrite minerals to carbonate
minerals relatively low, the overall bio-oxidation process at
Jinfeng is net acid consuming.
In an effort to reduce the BIOX® acid consumption, the
Jinfeng lotation plant operation has been optimised to produce a nominal concentrate sulphide grade of 11%
sulphide sulphur. It is important to note that this has not
negatively impacted lotation gold recovery. Moreover, the Jinfeng team has reconigured the BIOX® circuit to a
5 primary / 3 secondary reactor coniguration to increase the primary retention time which allows for increased
levels of pyrite oxidation and hence results in higher
levels of sulphuric acid production. The primary reactor
pH levels have been allowed to increase and operate at
approximately pH 1.8. This has resulted in a 66 % reduction in sulphuric acid consumption. This is a classic example of
how the BIOX® technology can be adapted to the changing
needs and conditions of an operation during its lifespan.
Continued optimisation of the Jinfeng operations have
resulted in higher than design-feed tonnages fed through
the milling circuit as well as sulphide oxidations in excess
of 98 % across the BIOX® plant and higher–than-design
Carbon-in Leach (CIL) gold recoveries.
To complement the improved process performance, the
plant optimisation has also resulted in overall lower than
design reagent consumptions in both the BIOX® and CIL
circuits.
2. Proven Robust Application of the
BIOX® Technology
Maintaining stable BIOX® reactor temperatures is essential
to maximising BIOX®’s performance. Typically, operating temperatures of a BIOX® plant should be kept stable
between 40 °C and 45 °C. Experience at the Jinfeng
operation, however, has also shown that the BIOX®
operating temperature can operate at 48 °C for certain periods of time while still maintaining the required level of
plant performance. This afirms and points to the robust nature of the technology and the ability to operate outside
the design limits for certain periods of time. Maintaining
temperature consistency is however, always the best
recommended way of achieving the desired results.
3. High environmental compliance
standards
The formation of a stable arsenic precipitate is one of the
advantages that the BIOX® process provides over certain
other processes through the ixation of dissolved arsenic produced from the bio-oxidation of arsenic sulphide
minerals. This is facilitated in a two stage neutralisation
process where the BIOX® liquor pH is increased to pH 4
to 5 using limestone. In the case of Jinfeng the carbonate
content of the lotation tailings is high enough to use as the reagent in the irst stage of neutralisation. This signiicantly reduces the plant operating costs. The slurry
The Jinfeng Mine is one of the most eficient operating BIOX® plants in the world and has realised continuous
improvements to date. For the beneit of our other clients using BIOX® technology, and with the kind permission of GJML,
we have outlined a few indings relating to the improved performance of this plant:
continues on next page...
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Operational Update:
Jinfeng
Operation
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Operational Update:
Jinfeng
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Reference List: Eldorado Gold Corporation. 2014. China Assets, Jinfeng Operation [online]. Vancouver: Eldorado Gold Corp.
Available from: http://www.eldoradogold.com/assets/china/operations/jinfeng/
[Accessed 25 June 2014]
pH is then increased to pH 7 to precipitate out the remaining iron prior to solids deposition on the tailing storage facility.
The Jinfeng operation currently meets all of the People’s Republic of China’s Legislative and the USA Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements for the safe disposal of arsenic bearing material.
In conclusion, we can conidently say that the BIOX® process has continued to prove itself as an extremely robust and
environmentally friendly technology for the treatment of refractory gold ore bodies. The technology is ideally suited to any
location, be it remote (central Asia or Africa) or near areas with high levels of urban infrastructure (Australia). The Jinfeng Gold Mine has consistently shown high levels of performance making it a world class operation.
The BIOX® Reactors in operation
The BIOX® reactors in operation
A secondary BIOX® reactor in operation
The BIOX® section of the Jinfeng processing plant
Recent Events
Mining World Russia 2014
On 10 April Biomin’s Managing Director Jan van Niekerk presented a technical report “Complete Refractory Gold
Solutions” at “Gold and Technologies” Conference which
was held in Moscow during April as part of the broader
Mining World Russia Forum.
The Conference has enjoyed great popularity among
executives and representatives of Russian and Western
gold mining companies, engineering companies,
scientiic and research institutions and vendors of mining and process equipment. Click here to view the
presentation.
On 11 June 2014 Biomin’s Managing DirectorJan van Niekerk presented the report “Industry delivery of BIOMIN’s BIOX® and ASTER™ Processing Technologies” at Biohydromet’14 international conference held in Falmouth, UK. Biohydromet’s biennial event is organised by Minerals Engineering International (MEI). This year, the conference was focused on the latest developments in biohydrometallurgy. Click here to view the article on this event.
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(left) Jan van Niekerk
presenting at “Gold and
Technologies 2014”
Conference.
Image credit: Snapshot from videoclip published at
www.youtube.com
Jan van Niekerk
among delegates of the
Biohydromet’14 MEI Conference in Falmouth.
Photo: Courtesy of MEI www.min-eng.blogspot.com
Biohydromet’14
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Recent Events
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Recent Events
ALTA 2014
On 29-30 May 2014 BIOMIN’s Wallies Olivier and Craig van Buuren attended the ALTA 2014 conference in Perth,
Australia. At the event, Wallies and Craig presented on
“Application of GIII Design Principles During the Runruno
BIOX® Plant Development” and “BIOMIN’s Novel Integrated Technologies For Optimising Refractory Gold
Processing Solutions”.
This annual event is organised by ALTA Metallurgical
services and is a major forum for minerals engineering
and industry professionals in Nickel, Cobalt, Copper,
Uranium and Gold industries. Click here to view the
article on this event.
On 25 June, BIOMIN’s Managing Director Jan van Niekerk presented the report “Complete Refractory
Gold Solutions” at the international Hydrometallurgy
2014 conference held in Victoria, BC, Canada. This
international symposium is organised by the Canadian
Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM).
The Hydrometallurgy conference is a major event
that provides forum for discussions on topics related
to hydrometallurgical research and updates on
hydrometallurgical operations worldwide.
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(Above) Wallies Olivier and Craig van Buuren in a
social mood with delegates from Outotec, Ekato,
Mintek and SNC-Lavalin at ALTA 2014
Jan van Niekerk
at a session
during the
Hydrometallurgy
2014 conference
Photo: Courtesy of Paul Tedrick
Photography www.paultedrick.com
Hydrometallurgy 2014
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Recent Events
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Contacting the Biomin team
Jan van Niekerk,
Managing Director - BIOMIN South Africa
+27 87 702 2001 | [email protected]
Wallies Olivier, Manager Projects
+27 87 702 2002 | [email protected]
Craig van Buuren, Manager Process
+27 87 702 2003 | [email protected]
Ilhom Rashidov, Marketing Manager
+998 90 1893173 | [email protected]
Rail Fatkullin, Marketing Manager
+998 93 1808882 | [email protected]
Chris van den Heuvel, Senior Metallurgist
+27 87 702 2005 | [email protected]
Jonathan Guo, Chief Representative China
+86 138 0139 5059 | [email protected]
Zintle Mbadlanyana, Metallurgist
+27 87 702 2007 | [email protected]
Melinda Howie, Ofice Administrator+27 87 702 2004 | [email protected]
Irina Unjina, Accountant - BIOMIN Uzbekistan
Friederike Baumann,
Director - BIOMIN Technologies SA
Hennie Snyman,
Non-Executive Chairman - BIOMIN South Africa
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