It is “time to shake up the status quo” and strive for maximum extraction and safe disposal of ore, says private metallurgical company GoldOre (Pty) Ltd, which states that if extraction losses could be reduced to close to zero, “the re-mining of tailings dams could be prevented altogether with the resultant massive power saving”.

Founder and CEO Adrian Singh says this is possible through using the company’s revolutionary technology, the MACH Reactor – a hydrodynamic, venturi-based, cavitation device that generates picobubbles.

These picobubbles are crucial for the efficient recovery of fine to ultra-fine valuable minerals that would otherwise be lost in conventional flotation systems (in platinum-group metals, or PGMs, and copper plants, for example).

They are also crucial for the efficient dissolution of gas into pulp, which Singh notes “is crucial for improved metal leaching in gold plants”.

The MACH Reactor, he tells Mining Weekly, is currently used for recovery enhancement in both the PGMs industry as well as the gold sector, though application extends to base metal and industrial mineral recovery too.

The MACH Reactor also finds application in environmental remediation, such as cyanide destruction and arsenic precipitation, as well as water treatment industries for the treatment of acid mine drainage, for example, which helps towards creating a cleaner future.

The MACH Reactor tags onto existing concentration and extraction plants, much like a turbo on a car, and is easy to retrofit onto existing plants, Singh explains.

The value proposition, however, is that the MACH differentiates itself not only in being “technically superior to other devices”, but that it also requires zero maintenance throughout its 10-year-plus lifespan”.

As such, Singh enthuses that companies can “not only improve recovery with the MACH, but also save on reagent, maintenance and energy costs which improves their bottom line”.

“In one application in the mining industry, the benefits of the MACH were so profound as to turn a loss-making operation back to a profit generating asset,” he adds, noting that in other scenarios, the life-of-mine was also improved with the MACH by improving the viability of certain ore sources.

“For companies that are looking to develop projects, the MACH can be a crucial tool to improve project economics and feasibility and facilitate the acquisition of funds.”

The MACH may be leased or purchased, and there is a payback on capital invested usually within six months, which Singh says “makes it a very attractive investment for mining companies”.

GoldOre (Pty) Ltd is a proudly South African private company founded, by Singh, 13 years ago, and markets the worldwide patented and proprietary MACH Reactor technology, of which he is also the proud inventor.