More than ever before the hurdles necessary to bring a new project on line , or to expand an existing one are daunting . Listed Juniors deserve a medal for their efforts and a good deal of recognition is owed for the often thankless task .

There are many boxes to be checked , one of which is the plant ; its design , its cost and the effi cacy of the result . Nothing endorses a project more fi rmly to its investors than production on schedule , or even ahead of schedule . proven capability to a larger plant size . Our latest plant , at 120tph capacity is in fact a Combo Plant and clearly demonstrates APT ’ s specialist knowledge in this fi eld . Large engineering companies frequently encounter diffi culty designing their products downwards , it is not as easy as it sounds . APT on the other hand has had no trouble engineering upwards and we come from a broad base of experience of over eighty plants to grow from .

Ultra-fast lead times

APT realizes this and our plants have been brought into production for small to medium mines at literally break neck speed . For example , a 20tph gold plant was recently designed and built in just 14 weeks . It was then shipped to site and once there was erected , commissioned and in production in just 4 days ! In another case a large 40tph gravity tower for gold recovery was erected on site in just 6 days ! Through rigorous R & D our designs have been evolved to allow for a single plant that can treat the softer upper oxide material and then accommodate more competent rock from the transition and deeper levels . Called Combo Plants , these units can accept up to 50 % of the feed tonnage as hard competent rock and are ideal for a startup . Modules can be added as necessary to tailor the plant progressively to a deep level unit , for example by the addition of fl otation and cyanidation .

40tph Gravity Tower and CIL plant Modules allow progressive expansion

Scheematic of 120tph APT Combo plant for cassiterite recovery

Exploration with production

The ability now exists for a Junior Mining House or a private investor to bring a project on line at reasonable cost ahead of schedule whilst reserves are expanded to justify further investment . APT would be involved throughout the entire process from testwork through to implementation of the fi nal modules as the project matures . This can all be designed from the outset for ease of forecasting and fi nancial planning .

Low CAPEX and OPEX

In addition to the fl exibility of the solution and it ’ s rapid startup , the value package is enhanced further by very competitive pricing – often a fraction of that paid for a conventional plant . “ The reason is simple ”, said Gary McFarlane , APT ’ s Business Development Manager . “ We spend a large proportion of our engineering effort to de-complicate and unclutter our solutions so that what the client gets is a smart , robust product without bloat and waste .”

The breakthrough for the Juniors is that APT have progressively expanded this tried and