Features and Benefits

Broad material-size processing spectrum with 95%-98% extraction yield

  • Unlike any other equipment on the market, the machinery is capable of handling infeed, scrubbing and screening of material from fine sand up to large rocks (often covered by mineral-rich dirt/sand) without any additional screening or feeding machinery. The scrubbing and screening trommel system allows for extremely high throughput and can handle the very toughest mining applications like clay and shale.
  • The Extrac-TEC revolutionary and patented, new transverse spiral concentrator belt provides the HPC machines with a unique method of classifying and retrieving heavy particles. Control of the size, profile, motion, inclination, retention-time and other key variables of the separation bed is key to the effectiveness of the system.
  • An independent second phase extraction via a modified four-part sluice box system utilizing turbulent, laminar and effectively quiescent water flow facilitates extraction of small particles from 1/3 inch or 8mm down to 300 mesh fine or 40 microns (powder sized particles just visible to the naked eye).
  • The feed of material coming off the transverse spiral belt to the sluices is at a steady flow rate to prevent surging and the loss of fine mineral particles.
  • Due to this comprehensive and highly efficient capability across a broad processing range, high yield extraction is achieved without any other machinery aside from materials handling equipment (bulldozers, etc.).

Efficient cleanups with minimal concentrate volume means less material for final cleaning.

  • There is no need to shut machinery down or stop processing in order to do a cleanup. Simply turn off the water flow to the concentrate sluice, remove, rinse and replace the sluice mats and continue processing – easily done in a minute or two.
  • Cleanups are performed as often as required by the grade of your deposit – once every 12 hours for low grades and more frequently for higher grades. Each cleanup produces an extremely small amount of concentrate from approx. 0.5 gallons (2 liters) for the HPC-10 to about 1.3 gallons (5 liters) for the HPC-30.

Versatility

  • Smaller units are perfectly suited to bulk sampling, exploration / prospecting or artisan-scale operations whilst high capacity machines form the base of a full scale commercial mine.
  • Although the HPC technology has been designed for placer mining conditions, it is clear that the equipment has broad application in traditional hard rock mining. Together with grinding or crushing machinery, the equipment is capable of supplementing and possibly even replacing massive extraction plants in concentrate upgrading and extraction processes at a fraction of the capital and operating costs.

Mobile, self-contained and simple to set up

  • All models are trailer mounted, fully mobile systems. This allows for access to typically remote or inaccessible mining locations at minimal cost.
  • Setup is completed in minutes for smaller units or hours for large units vs. days or even months for other systems. This is vital since setup in a poor yield location means relocation of equipment, incurring significant downtime if setups are slow or significant materials-handling costs if machinery is not relocated.

Simple, secure and highly efficient final recovery stage from continuous process

  • Removal of the final mineral concentrate material from the machine is completed in a matter of minutes and does not require a system shut-down. This allows for concentrate processing on a continual basis.
  • The concentrate sluices can be fitted with lock-down security covers to elimitate possibility of easy theft of gold in sluices.
  • The final stage mineral concentrate has automatically been reduced to ultra-high-yield material which means that only a few pounds / kilograms of concentrate are sent to the final recovery step. This is extraordinary considering that competitive processing systems require hours to clean out and give several cubic yards / tons of concentrate which take days to process and extract the finished product.

Environmental performance

  • Based on the transverse spiral classifier’s ability to concentrate the ore before the final stage of recovery, the equipment uses up to 75% less water than competitive systems. This can be further reduced to nominal requirements via an additional water recirculation system.
  • Beyond the direct environmental benefit of reduced resource usage, allowing for operation in dry areas, this facilitates operating with settling ponds which mean that absolutely no solids or silting waste are discharged and operation is possible in sensitive areas such as fish-stocked streams, rivers and lakes.
  • No chemicals are used.
  • Compliance with environmental legislation has been proven again and again with consistent “A” ratings from Canadian Environmental Inspections.

The bottom line – viability

  • The majority of mechanical components are non-proprietary. This means that only generic consumables are required for operation and maintenance.
  • Reliable/robust heavy industry design has been employed for minimal maintenance in harsh environments.
  • Energy efficient demands on pumps and drive motors allow for low fuel costs.
  • Manning is minimal and operator training requires only standard skill-levels.
  • The “bottom line” is a high yield, cost effective and reliable construction with minimal, basic skill, operator requirements and extremely low operating costs which ultimately facilitate profitable working of ore bodies in any location worldwide.