A unique element about Glen Douglas is that it has a load-out facility . The sinter is sent on a stacker and is then reclaimed to go onto the conveyor to the rail siding .
“ The plant produces approximately 1.5 – 1.6 million tonnes of product per year and moves another 250 000 – 300 000 tonnes of overburden .”
The secondary circuit produces minus 40mm lump material , which is one of the metallurgical products . The biggest demand , however , stems from products produced at the tertiary crusher : a split between metallurgical sinter and super sand aggregate .
“ A unique element about Glen Douglas is that we have a load-out facility . The sinter is sent on a stacker and is then reclaimed to go onto the conveyor to the rail siding . We can load directly onto rail , which is rare for an aggregate operation ,” says Hattingh .
Environment and safety matters
Glen Douglas is Afrimat ’ s largest quarry and the second biggest aggregate producer in South Africa . It currently employs 180 people .
The mine has a strong focus on safety , health and environmental best practice .
One initiative that has been beneficial from a cost as well as an environmental perspective is the reclaiming of discard material .
The mine has two sets of discard material settling ponds . “ As soon as the one is full , we swap to the other . The first one is dried for one month . The team then reclaims the slimes , takes it back to the plant , and puts it through a separate crushing and screening circuit . If the one settling pond fills up , we switch to the other pond ,” says Hattingh .
Glen Douglas then produces agricultural lime from the waste .
“ There is a big demand for agricultural lime . We cannot keep up with demand . Of course , there ’ s also the added benefit of dealing with the discarding of the slimes , which is a problem during washing . We are fortunate that we can reclaim and sell it . We roughly produce about 70 000 – 80 000 tonnes per year ,” Hattingh informs .
Glen Douglas mine has two product streams at its operations : metallurgical product used in steel production , and aggregate for the building and construction sector .
Glen Douglas produces agricultural lime from plant discard . Deriving from the settling ponds and transported to the plant , it is spread out , dried , and sold to the market .
22 _ QUARRY SA | March 2017