InfraStructures - March 2013 - Australian Construction Supplier Reaps Cost Reductions Through Waste Fines Recovery and Water Treatment - Canada's National Equipment Magazine - Le Magazine d'Équipement National au Canada

Australian Construction Supplier Reaps Cost Reductions
Through Waste Fines Recovery and Water Treatment

Undoubtedly Australia’s largest building and construction materials supplier, Boral Limited has over the years secured its market leading position with the development of three main divisions, namely construction materials, cement and a diverse range of building products. Alongside significant operations in United States and Asia, Boral has successfully established The Boral Construction Materials division in their domestic market with around 400 operating sites; ensuring that the construction materials division has a regional focus to serve the company’s local markets.
Situated in Moora, north of Perth, Boral Ltd is currently on contract with a quarry operation owned by Simcoa Operations, a company committed to producing the world's highest quality silicon from a site that has been in operation for over 20 years.

At the outset, Boral’s ultimate aim was to produce a high quality quartzite ore for use by Simcoa in their silicon production process. This ore is typically 25-75 mm in size, with all 0-7 mm previously being sent to the waste lagoons. Boral essentially wanted to implement a process whereby water could be recycled and recovered from within an extremely dry climate where water supply is limited.

Boral invested in a CDE EvoWash 101 Fines Recovery Sand plant complete with an M1508 Radial Stockpile conveyor and a LQPP 25 flocculant make up and dosing system.

With the chosen equipment, the end result is a high quality, fine sand recovery with an efficient cut at 63 μm. Before the introduction of the new CDE fines recovery plant, the operation was losing a significant proportion of quality fines to the waste ponds.

The main ore product is smelted by Simoca Operations for a variety of purposes including silicon chips, improving the strength of aluminium, optical glass, and use in solar energy, namely for the production of solar panels.

The improved opportunities for the recycling of process water and reduction of fines to settling ponds have facilitated a move to production throughout the year, where previously the site was operating only over an 8 month period.

The by-products of the production process are currently sold off to third parties in the region for various uses including further processing and general aggregate use, thus ensuring that there is zero waste from the process.

Source: CDE Global