International equipment supplier Roytec Global has seen an increase in tendering activity, with a significant increase in its global pipeline, largely owing to its diversification in terms of products, markets and commodities, says CEO Alan Fanton.

This was critical, he adds, as the owner-managed business has had to support growth and a more sustainable business.

However, he stresses that projects are taking longer to reach the final investment decision (FID) and execution stages, which results in “problematic delays” for forecasting and the scaling of Roytec’s business.

“Fears of a global recession are impacting commodity prices in the short term, which is an external factor that significantly influences our revenues. However, the transition to green energy should drive demand for the so-called battery and critical minerals and provide the growth we are looking for as a business,” Fanton comments.

Looking ahead, he says that Roytec has received separable portions for equipment design orders on several projects, including dry stack tailings for a local vanadium mine, lithium projects in Australia and Canada, a rare earth project in Australia and an expansion at a bluechip coal producer in Australia.

These projects have a direct link to R240-million of equipment orders in the next two quarters of the year, the time when FIDs are taken.

Fanton says that Roytec’s focus is to become a brand of choice in global mining with its proprietary and partnered equipment lines and to build confidence in its global supply chains in western markets.

“Our strategic goal is to build global revenues with significant contributions from sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, the Americas, East Asia, Europe and Central Asia.”

Roytec Global is an international equipment supplier specialising in mineral separation and filtration technologies, whose customers consist of junior miners through to large multinational mining companies and engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) contractors.

The company’s head office is in Johannesburg, South Africag, with subsidiaries in Perth, Australia (established in 2018), Toronto, Canada (established in 2020) and Yantai, China (established in 2022).

Roytec has worked in jurisdictions in sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, North America, South America and Asia, and in minerals processing and hydrometallurgical refining applications and markets across a wide range of base metals, precious metals, battery minerals and other commodities.

ROYTEC PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Roytec Global is an owner-managed business with a passion for excellence and reputation for agility, flexibility, innovation and delivery.

Services include test work - both laboratory and pilot plant, equipment selection, sizing and specification, contracts execution, installation and commissioning, while the company’s aftermarket offering includes sales support, spares and services.

Roytec has a wide range of separation and filtration equipment.

Its main revenue-generating products are thickeners, vacuum belt filters and flotation cells.

Other products include magnetic separators, polishing and attrition mills, pin bed clarifiers, dynamic bed clarifiers, filter presses, tower presses, flocculant packages, vacuum disk filters, ceramic disk filters, dual media filters, linear screens and ion exchange packages. These are either proprietary equipment lines or partnered equipment with licence agreements for western markets, the company says.

Product differentiators for thickeners and clarifiers are the Radflow feedwell, ETAQ dilution pump and bolted design.

The Radflow feedwell in isolation or in combination with the ETAQ dilution pump significantly improve thickener throughput and performance with significant savings in flocculant consumption and therefore, operational expenditure (opex). We have several case studies supporting our statements which our customers are welcome to review.

The bolted design makes use of shear connections for better joint sealing, the company adds, noting that the modular nature of the design allows for tanks to be shipped containerised or break bulk to take advantage of the best total cost of ownership for the customer.

Product differentiators for vacuum belt filters are the extensive references in potash, lithium, graphite, copper and cobalt SX/EW, large factory and production capacity, and the variety of rubber belt materials and applications know-how.

Product differentiators for flotation cells are unique backward inclined impellers resulting in larger circulation and lower power consumption, air distributor with improved air dispersion into the stator/rotor zone, flat design capability, extensive references in lithium and graphite, large factory and production capacity.

“Our markets are minerals processing and hydrometallurgical refining applications in a wide range of base metals, precious metals, iron ore, coal, battery minerals and other commodities,” says Fanton, who adds that thickeners, clarifiers, flotation cells, filters, magnetic separators and mills are used in minerals processing applications such as particle size reduction, separation, concentration and dewatering.

Thickeners, filters and ion exchange packages, he explains, have additional applications in hydrometallurgical refining such as washing, separation and removal of impurities.

“All the main line products are used on flowsheets for the processing of the so-called battery minerals. These future-facing minerals will ensure project pipeline growth globally,” he concludes.