From our Ore to Your Door - Episode 10: Mineral Processing

By this stage, the ore has been mined from the ground, but it has a long way to go before it reaches your door. We transport ore to preconcentration at the mineral processing plant, where the magnesia nodules are given their first wash and are segregated into size.

The product goes into the hopper as ROM (run of mine) or screened ROM if it comes from a satellite operation. It then goes through the first wet screen and is sized accordingly. The materials that are sized less than 16mm are sent to tailings, as they are not required in the current process. All the material from 16mm to 65mm goes through a log washer and a second screen - this makes it ready to feed the beneficiation plant.

Material over 65mm goes through a jaw crusher and another screen for washing. Anything that is still sized over 65mm after the jaw crusher goes through the secondary cone crusher. This way, we ensure all product is fed to the beneficiation plant at less than 65mm in size.
In the beneficiation plant, we sort the crushed and screened magnesite using dense media cyclones and x-ray transmission ore sorting. This allows the efficient removal of impurities like silica and calcium.

Once this upgrading process is complete, we crush the material to its final particle size and stockpile in preparation for transport to the Parkhurst processing plant. We continuously test the finished magnesite for chemical analysis and particle size to ensure we achieve the required levels of quality and highest consistency.