After having a 14 month project suspension during which the mine was sold to the Chinese Minmetals Group, the Sepon Expansion Project has been re-started.

Delkor is the supplier of the CCD thickeners and clarifier, 8m x 24m and 1m x 35m units. Sepon is expecting the clarifier to be cold commissioned in April and the CCD circuit before October of this year.

The CCD circuit is novel in that it is the first supply of a forced dilution system on a Delkor thickener, diluting the feed from 15% solids down to 4% solids. This is achieved using a draft tube/impeller arrangement.

The wetted surfaces of the thickeners are SAF2205, the tank support and bridges are carbon steel. The drives selected were the SR130-2 for the CCD thickeners and the SR130-4 for the clarifier. The drives were all fabricated and tested in Chile.

To date installation on site has gone smoothly with the site project engineer stating that it was the best thickener installation he has been involved with, which includes jobs from two of our biggest competitors.