adminConrad Mwanawashe Business Reporter
SMALL-scale miners are expected to record improved gold production following the invention of a portable and cheaper gold hammer mill which will allow miners to process ore on site. Processing ore on site allows the miner to retain slime that can be reprocessed to extract more gold through leaching.
About 40 percent of gold is realised at the primary processing of gold ore on the James Table and Copper plate while the remaining 60 percent is realised through leaching.
The new gold hammer mill, designed and manufactured by small-scale miner and mechanical engineer Mr Davison Svuure, can be used on site so that the miner can reprocess the slime at a later stage.
“Miners who take their ore to stamp mills realise only 40 percent of their gold from their ore with the mill owner realising the remaining 60 percent through leaching. On this mill the miner retains his slime which he can further process through leaching unlike taking ore to someone else’s stamp mill,” said Mr Svuure.
The gold hammer mill sells at prices below about one tenth of the conventional stamp mill prices.
Mr Svuure’s gold hammer mill retails at $2 200 for a diesel powered and $2 800 for an electric powered mill. A stamp mill costs anything above $30 000.
“The gold hammer mill is much smaller than the conventional stamp mill or Ball Mill. It uses a choice of either an electric motor or a diesel engine and for that reason it can be used anywhere. It is portable and therefore can be moved from one mining site to another without hustles,” he said.
The design uses an average of two litres of diesel per hour and it mills at least a tonne per hour. The gold hammer mill works with either a copper plate or a separator, just like the conventional mills.
“It can mill ore as little as a ‘shovel full’ unlike the conventional stamp mill or Ball Mill where the minimum is a tonne.
“Artisanal miners usually want to extract and mill small quantities of ore at minimum costs and be able to sell quickly to refinance operations and this portable mill comes in handy,” he said.
Mr Svuure said he was inspired to develop cheaper equipment after he realised that small-scale miners were facing capital challenges.
As a mechanical engineer, Mr Svuure designs, manufactures and installs other mining equipment such as Ball Mills, conveyors, hoists and amalgam barrels.
Small-scale producers delivered a total of 3,1 tonnes during the first half of 2015. This is a significant improvement from the one tonne realised in the comparable period of 2014.
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