Getting the best out of tailings

A high throughput dewatering solution for efficient dry stacking and process water recovery at Lang Lang Mountain View Quarry, VIC Australia

The Barro Group, a leading supplier and distributor of premixed concrete, quarry, and associated products, is a family-owned business operating since 1946. One of their forty-five operating sites in Australia is the Lang Lang Mountain View Quarry in Victoria, Australia.

The challenge

Free the water masses trapped in the tailings as efficiently as possible

With a capacity to process over 500 tons of sand per hour, creating a need to deal with the tailings produced. Disposing tailings into dams to take care of the sludge was no option for Barro. They required an efficient solution, that would not only easily meet environmental requirements, but also reduce freshwater consumption by reusing the water trapped in the tailings. They encountered ANDRITZ who invited them to an unusual place – a German harbour.

Our solution

A dewatering solution proven in the port of Hamburg

The requirements for the dewatering solution were clear: A continuously operating machine with high throughput, which can achieve good residual moisture levels and is very maintenance friendly. Drawing from probably the largest solid/liquid separation portfolio in the market, ANDRITZ suggested the CPF-Q heavy-duty belt press as the best fit – and invited Barro to visit a reference machine. The location? The famous harbour of Hamburg, Germany, where a similar belt press model was operating on harbour sludge, similar to sand dewatering. The machine‘s performance on-site was convincing and three units of the CPF-Q heavy-duty belt press with three GT3000 heavy-duty gravity tables were ordered in October of 2022. ANDRITZ was also chosen to deliver a high-rate thickener for the preceding thickening process, with final commissioning taking place in May of 2024. Since commissioning, the ANDRITZ solution has been operating very reliably and is supporting Barro‘s duty to environmental protection.

Results

A continuously low freshwater intake thanks to process water recovery

Directly during start-up, the equipment was proving the calculated results. With a machine throughput of up to 16.5 tons of dry solids per hour – for each of the three belt presses – the tailings treatment process can keep up with the high-capacity throughput of the Lang Lang sand wash plant making any thoughts about a tailings dam obsolete. The simplicity in operation and the maintenance-friendly design of the machine allows operating staff to devote their main attention away from tailings treatment and concentrate instead on their products. And all of this is achieved while continuously recovering 120 m³ of water per hour for all three heavy-duty belt press – for a reduced needed freshwater intake of up to 2,880 m³ per day, due to the efficient recovery from tailings.

“The careful use of resources and the minimization of freshwater consumption is our duty to environmental protection. The efficient tailings treatment at Lang
Lang quarries plays a huge part in that.”

FRED MOSCHINI

General Manager, Concretes & Quarries Victoria, Barro Group Pty Ltd