Commissioning Of Grib Complex Marks Successful Implementation Of Modular Plant Design

The commissioning of the mining and concentration complex at Russia's Vladimir Grib field, for which Tenova Bateman CIS supplied the process solutions and equipment for the treatment plant, marks the successful delivery of the project from concept to production. The execution maximized modular design aspects, with equipment and systems suitably robust to perform in the sub-arctic environment of Russia's Far North. Process design and EPCM services specialist, Tenova Bateman, is part of the total technology solutions provider, Tenova Mining & Minerals.

The Grib diamond deposit, exploration of which started in 1996, is amongst the largest in the world. It is being developed by OAO Arkhangelskgeoldobycha (a subsidiary of OAO Lukoil), one of the long-established companies in Russia's European North, specializing in exploration, mining and minerals processing.

Thecontract, awarded by OAO Arkhangelskgeoldobycha (OAO Lukoil) to Tenova Bateman in 2011, covered supply of a process equipment package for a 4.5 Mtpa diamond treatment plant. The supply and supervision contract included the electrical equipment and state-of-the-art automatic monitoring and process control system, as well as two 60 tph and one 1 tph dense media separation (DMS) modular plants.

Close co-operation between OAO Arkhangelskgeoldobycha, OAO Lukoil, project general designer ZAO Mekhanobr Engineering and Tenova Bateman facilitated achieving the challenging schedule requirements. Construction commenced in mid-2012, in September the first equipment was delivered, and in January 2013, the major coarse crushing equipment had been placed on foundations.

Commissioning started in September 2013, with wet commissioning from late January to May 2014 and a gradual ramp up of the plant to its design throughput of 570 dry tph of feed ore. On 25 May 2014, 72-hour testing of the facility was complete with the design performance successfully achieved on the first attempt. Installation and commissioning of the process plant was performed under Tenova Bateman CIS supervision. Intense focus and commitment to safety resulted in no lost time incidents on site.

Equipment was sourced worldwide from globally recognised manufacturers of mining equipment and process developers, with all equipment complying with Russian standards. Particular attention was given to the equipment delivery to the remote site, since the existing roads have certain load size and weight limitations. Out-of-gauge equipment was supplied as individual parts with the weight of each piece not exceeding 37 tonnes. All equipment was successfully delivered on time with the necessary paperwork to meet Russian conformity and permits for use.

The mill's discharge is fed into three double-spiral classifiers to wash the -1 mm material and then to the 60 tph Tenova Bateman DMS plants and thirty X-ray separators manufactured by Russian ZAO NPP Burevestnik.

Density control systems enable automatic regulation by measuring the medium density using electromagnetic density meters, allowing the average density to be maintained close to the required set point. For process control purposes, the QC area is equipped with a standard 1 tph Tenova Bateman dense media separation modular plant.

The plant is situated in a sensitive forest area and utilises a closed circuit water supply.The combined pumping station is equipped with slurry pumps for tailings transfer to the tailings storage facility. An automatic flocculant preparation and dosing station feeds flocculants into slurry pipelines.

The electrical and process control equipment was designed by Tenova Bateman CIS in cooperation with Compax (Israel). A central operators control room allows for plant control and management information systems. A distributed network allows for localised control of all key process areas for system integrity.

The success of the project resulted from early engagement in the contracting and implementation methodology. The project co-operation between OAO Arkhangelskgeoldobycha (OAO Lukoil) and Tenova Bateman CIS started as early as 2008 during the deposit preparation for the industrial development and execution of the bulk sampling campaign. This included beneficiation of ore samples at a 5 tph Tenova Bateman Modular Plant, which was designed for autonomous operation without any connections to external utilities.

Tenova Bateman Modular Plants have been supplied to Russia for over 15 years and have proven especially efficient in remote areas with harsh climatic conditions, poor infrastructure, and limited skilled manpower.

The services that Tenova Bateman CIS provides in the Russian Federation are focused on delivering solutions that meet the requirements of Russian clients, the administrative and technical requirements, along with international technology and work methods. This provides a distinct advantage and leads to project successes such as AGD.

Tenova Bateman CIS offers a complete range of services, ranging from testwork, development of international feasibility studies, TEO K and Stage P, the full suite of EPCM services and equipment supply, through to final commissioning and performance tests.

Tenova Bateman manages the complete project lifecycle from concept to commissioning, optimizing the flowsheet of a project through state-of-the-art process engineering and successfully delivering completed projects using leading-edge project management systems. Comprehensive services for new process plants and brownfield upgrades, cover a wide range of commodities and are tailored to both large and small projects. With some 500 modular plants installed since the 1960's, Tenova Bateman Modular Plants offer competitive mineral processing packages for lower tonnages, while reducing risk by precommissioning before site erection. Tenova Bateman's engineering and EPCM skills and modular solutions have been proven on some of the most exacting mineral resource projects, in the most difficult of terrains.

Tenova Mining & Minerals is a total integrated solutions provider to the global mining, bulk materials handling and minerals beneficiation and processing sectors, offering innovative technological solutions and full process and commodity knowledge across the mining & minerals industry value chain.

Technical Enquiries: Contact Anna Boriskina e-mail: [email protected]: +27 11 899 9111.

Tenova is a worldwide supplier of advanced technologies, products, and engineering services for the metals and mining & minerals industries. More information is available at www.tenova.com.

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