Minerals processing and materials handling equipment supplier Ludowici Africa has provided its Wear-Resist pipes to diamond-miner Debswana's Orapa diamond mine, in Botswana.

Ludowici Africa GM Mark Houchin says that Wear-Resist may extend the life of mild steel pipes by up to 30 times, where slurry abrasion problems occur.

He explains that the inside of mild steel pipes is lined with a 70% concentration of ceramic beads suspended in an epoxy resin, which extends the life of a pipe.

Houchin adds that the com-pany is in the process of developing a client database for the product and has carried out a number of Wear-Resist installations in South Africa. It has also given quotes to coal mines in Mozambique, as well as to goldfocused mining and exploration company Randgold Resources, which uses the wear-lined pipes in gold mines in Western Africa.

Reflux Classifiers Ludowici Africa was established in 2006 and supplies vibrating feeders, vibrating screens and discharge valves as its heavy capital equipment. Houchin says that the company also offers niche market equipment, such as reflux classifiers, which are used for the beneficiation of fine coal, as well as for recovering tailings on mineral sands and chrome mines.

Ludowici Africa has installed a few reflux classifier trial units and Houchin explains that the new technology separates particles by density difference. The process relies on settling particles in an upward-flowing stream of water, which is created at a distributor plate in the bottom of the reflux classifier.

It also has a set of lamella plates above the feed entry section, which increases the rate of settling of the particles and causes a zone of increased slurry density immediately below the lamella plates.

The lighter particles float on the top and the denser particles sink and accumulate on the distributor plate, which is the shape of an inverted pyramid that allows the denser particles to migrate towards a central discharge port. The rate of the dense particle discharge is controlled by two automated pinch valves.

Houchin explains that on coal mines, the good coal floats to the top of the reflux classifier, while with mineral sands, the heavy particle that sink to the bottom, are the good-quality minerals. He says that the reflux classifier has become popular in Australia and the company is carrying out tests at plants in Africa and he is fairly certain that the reflux classifiers will soon be widely used in African chrome, heavy mineral and coal mines.

Other Products The company also supplies coal centrifuges, vibrating feeders, vibrating screens, panels for screens, polyurethane products and woven wire and other pro-ducts to the mining industry. Houchin says that the company is able to offer a complete, one-stop shop, including capital equipment, consumables and technical support that other companies do not supply.

He says that the company also plans to supply vibrating feeders and screens, as well as coal stockpile discharge valves to coal mines in Botswana. It has supplied its coal stockpile discharge valves to the Goedgevonden coal mine in Witbank, Mpumalanga, and these are currently being commissioned.

Houchin adds that all the products that Ludowici Africa supplies are manufactured in South Africa, with the exception of its Hicom mills, which are manufactured in Australia. He explains that these mills offer ultrafine grinding and are able to reduce the volume of diamond-bearing ores or concentrates without damaging the diamonds.

He says that the mills have been used on diamond-miner De Beers diamond vessels, where they break seashells without damaging the diamonds. He adds that although the mills give good recoveries, the throughput is low and, as a result, not much more than 20 t/h of material can be processed, which is a serious constraint for some applications.

Future Prospects Houchin says that Ludowici Africa plans to supply its pro-ducts to the entire African continent and to roll out every product that the company offers.