SGS and Glencore Technology have extended an agreement and certification that sees SGS extending Albion Process™ Testwork to Africa.
SGS and Glencore Technology have extended an agreement and certification that sees SGS extending Albion Process™ Testwork to Africa.
SGS is a globally trusted provider of laboratory testwork services, and while the company already had a relationship with Glencore Technology through SGS Lakefield, the extension opens up the potential for more large packages of work of high relevance and value.
For Glencore Technology, it extends further the global reach of Albion Process™ testwork as it has grown 300% in the last 12-24 months and is seen as uniquely viable in terms of capital costs, operational costs and project feasibility.
The new testwork service locations will now include Randburg in South Africa, with other locations being discussed elsewhere around the world.
Glencore Technology’s Paul Voigt, said “The extension to Africa has been under discussion for quite some time. We know the importance of local contact and context. It’s also part of a wider focus we have for the African continent.”
SGS’ Niels Verbaan said, “This is a natural and highly relevant extension of our work with Glencore Technology on Albion Process™ Testwork. We look forward to a larger global footprint to help operations in Africa and the Americas, especially those with complex mineralogies, to get an objective opinion on process options”
Both Voigt and Verbaan felt it was also a significant proposition that Albion Process™ Testwork has been perfected to require only small sample masses and that no pilot plant is required.
SGS is the third certified provider of testwork, joining Core Resources in Australia and TOMS Institute in Russia.
Albion Process™ is a combination of ultrafine grinding and oxidative leaching at atmospheric pressure. It tolerates a more variable feed and lower grade to work where others may not. It can therefore make some projects feasible and profitable where alternative technologies were unable to.
The sulphides in the feed are oxidised and valuable metals liberated, with the economic metals recovered by conventional downstream processing.
Independent analysis presented at Extraction 2018 suggested it has much lower capital cost than traditional leaching technologies like pressure oxidation (POx) plants (Clary et al. 2018).
Albion Process™ has success in delivering consistently high recoveries in refractory gold and in base metal concentrates with six plants in operation globally.
ABOUT SGS
SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 89,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 2,600 offices and laboratories around the world.
SGS’ fit-for-purpose solutions encompass the skills of qualified geologists, geostaticians, analytical chemists, mineralogists, metallurgists, process engineers and mining engineers brought together to provide accurate and timely mineral and process evaluation services across the entire mining life cycle.
