PROJECTS
Flash Splash Slurry Heater
This unit is designed to preheat 600 tons/hour of pre-leach slurry. The technique used is to flash cool the post-leach slurry and to condense the flash vapours in the pre-leach slurry. This unit has been spectacurlarly successful from a process point of view allowing the solids density to be raised thereby increasing the mass flow through the plant while reducing the amount of make-up steam required.
Rare Earths
Mineral processing and solvent extraction
I went through the process of providing preliminary engineering for a Pre-Economic Assesment (PEA) of a rare earths mining and separation project. Some five years later I am signing off the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) as the Qualified Person both on the mineral processing and RE separation plant.
On another smaller project I completed the detail design and installation of a small scale mixed RE concentrate plant including filtration of the RE source, defluorination, leaching, solvent extraction, precipitation, drying and calcining.
Tantalum and Niobium Refinery
Design of a 20tpd concentrate tantalum and niobium refinery operating 24/7 to BFS level. This design included AHF and H2SO4 digestion, tantalum solvent extraction, acidulation, niobium extraction, loaded organic washing and stripping, precipitation with aqueous ammonia, washing and filtration, drying and calcination to final product. Raffinate neutralisation with limestone and lime; ammonia regeneration via lime boil and steam stripping/rectification back to aqueous ammonia.
Cactus to Biomethane
Growing of 2ha of thornless Opuntia cactus in a nursery to establish growth rates at different densities with 8 different varieties. The objective is to scale this to >1000ha.
Harvested cactus would be macerated and digested to produce biogas that would be upgraded to pipeline grade biomethane. Commercial scale is targeting 5PJ/year requiring some 6000ha of cactus.