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Heap leaching of nickel lateritesHeap leaching of low grade nickel laterite ores is receivingconsiderable attention from nickel producers internationally. Iftechnically and commercially viable, it will represent a paradigm shiftin the industry. Mintek is drawing on its experience in heap leaching inother areas to develop expertise in nickel laterite processing, under theauspices of a project with an industry partner. The Mintek technology,at this stage, is not unique - it is rather a general competency in thiswork in this exciting area.Thermal magnesiumFollowing a review of the economics of the Mintek Thermal MagnesiumProcess, Anglo American has decided not to pursue commercialisation,since it is felt that it would not be able to compete with the low-cost Chineseproducers. Mintek will continue to look for opportunities for applying thetechnology.Pics from topto bottom:Columns forheap bioleachprocess development.The FloatStarand optimisationstrategyis installed onthe majority ofSouth Africa’sPGM concentrators.An industrialmilling circuit.PROCESS-CONTROL PRODUCTSthan expected, mainly as a result of timing problems at various clients’sites. FloatStars were implemented on a trial basis at Aquarius Platinum’sEverest operation, and at a major nickel producer in Australia. At thewhich set the limits within which the level setpoints can be moved, wereincorporated into the Grade-Recovery Optimiser. Five more banks ofcells were incorporated into the FloatStar control scheme at Tati Nickelin Botswana, and a successful re-installation was undertaken atthe Crocodile River PGM plant. Service contracts were concludedmajor copper producer in Chile.of minerals in a sample. Such a technique, if successfullydeveloped, could be used to assist in the design andof control schemes.MillStar milling control was implemented on two ball mills at azinc producer in Mexico, and this will probably be followed by aFloatStar installation during 2007. Following a successful trialperiod, MillStar stabilising control was installed on the 3 000ton-per-hour SAG mill - one of the world’s largest - in Chile. Thecompany has requested Mintek to investigate the feasibility ofinstalling stabilising control on two further SAG mills.A new version of the mill power optimiser, which uses dynamicdata to optimise the load setpoint, was implemented at the Mixedand UG2 plants at Lonmin’s Karee operations, and at EasternPlatinum C Stream. The optimiser previously underwent trials interms of the corporate service contract with Lonmin (Annual Report2006), which as well as the servicing of all current process-controlinstallations and software upgrades, includes an agreement forMintek to trial-install new technology at Lonmin’s plants in return forreduced prices on purchases.33annual report 2007