Gulf Construction Online - CDE addresses green challenges

Manufacturers & Procurement

The Combo will be in the limelight at the Mining Show in Dubai this year.

CDE addresses green challenges

CDE says it offers bespoke solutions that are engineered to minimise waste and energy consumption and reduce the cost and risk associated with installation.

01 August 2019

CDE, a leading international provider of materials washing equipment for mines, quarries and the construction and demolition recycling industry, is championing sustainability and a “New World of Resource” as it eyes the global Number One position as the wet processing solutions provider of choice.

“CDE is committed to helping its clients get the best return on investment whilst minimising waste – whether in terms of mineral resources or water,” Adam Holland, head of mining at CDE, tells Gulf Construction.

“Indeed, the company designs and manufactures a range of equipment which it offers in the form of bespoke wet processing solutions for our customers and one of the main advantages linked to its sustainability-driven purpose is minimising waste and limiting water usage. This is done in part through effective dewatering and water recycling technologies. These include its AquaCycle thickener range – a highly-effective water recovery system that recycles up to 90 per cent of the process water for immediate re-use,” he says.

Holland ... offering best return on investment.

“Compact and efficient, the AquaCycle reduces the need for space, fresh water, and maintenance costs of settling and tailings ponds,” he adds.

The modular make-up of the CDE approach to wet processing means that each solution is bespoke to individual customers’ needs. From the company’s staple EvoWash sand washing plant to its mighty “tackle-all-feed” AggMax logwasher and high-efficiency water management systems, CDE products are engineered to minimise waste and energy consumption and reduce the cost and risk associated with installation, thanks to each module being pre-commissioned and tested in factory conditions.

“Turning waste into value is at the core of CDE’s mission,” Holland says. “In mining, this is best demonstrated through the company’s flagship plants in Australia, which transform a low-grade and overburden waste material into a high-grade valuable product. In mining and quarrying alike, we seek to process every grain of valuable aggregate, sand or ore from the customer’s reserves. CDE’s superior cut point technology allows accurate separation, which reduces loss of fines to ponds and enables the production of an additional sellable product for the customer.

“In the mining sector, we strive to divert tailings through a combination of CDE’s EvoWash wet processing plant, AquaCycle thickener, filter press, and decanter centrifuges. We recover the water and dry stack the material that can be used in rehabilitation projects or road brick manufacture, thus using our equipment to reduce or eliminate the requirement for tailings ponds and avoid sending materials to landfill.”

Holland points out that CDE’s advanced wet processing solutions offer a range of benefits to quarrying and mining sites, while providing a rapid return on investment.

AquaCycle overflow and conveyor at work at Asco’s facilities in Kuwait.

The company will again be Silver sponsor at this year’s Mining Show in Dubai (November 5 and 6), where it intends to repeat the success it enjoyed at last year’s event.

“At the 2018 Mining Show, CDE picked up solid mining leads, a number of which are currently under negotiations,” says Holland. “We have some very interesting opportunities that are moving forward positively,” he reveals.

Holland elaborates: “As a result of our participation at The Mining Show last year, we are now working on some very large longer-term opportunities in the Mena region in the mining, specialist sands and glass sand sectors.”

At the 2018 Mining Show, CDE exhibited its new H2-60 Infinity sizing screen – earlier launched at the Hillhead show in England where it showcased its full range of screens. The H2-60 is a double-deck horizontal sizing and dewatering screen that efficiently separates up to three fractions. The screen has a patented weld-free, laminar wall design that is of lightweight, bolted construction which significantly reduces fatigue failures. Maintenance requirements are also reduced which, considering the often harsh conditions on sites in the Middle East due to the very hot, dry climate, would be particularly attractive to customers in the region.

“Being of lightweight design which does not compromise strength and durability, the CDE Infinity screens require smaller motors compared to equivalent-sized screens from other suppliers – which means they need less power to keep them running,” Holland adds.

At this year’s Mining Show, CDE will be debuting its new all-in-one patented Combo in the region, following its successful global launch at bauma 2019, the leading construction equipment showcase held in Munich, Germany, early this year.

CDE’s Aquacycle and M2500 mobile sand washing plant in operation in Kuwait.

The new Combo integrates wet processing and water recycling on a single compact chassis. It is a turnkey solution that delivers in-spec washed products from a wide range of feed materials. Notably, the Combo accepts both natural and crushed rock feeds to produce up to two high-quality in-spec sands simultaneously. It can be used in the quarrying, mining, construction and demolition (C&D) waste recycling, industrial sands and environmental sectors.

Designed as an ultra-compact washing and water recycling solution that requires minimal civils and pipework, the plant can be easily relocated by operators across sites or to remote locations, according to CDE. Its bespoke, pre-determined design reduces the overall footprint on site compared to traditional equipment. Pre-wired, pre-commissioned and tested before dispatch, the plant is designed for rapid assembly and set-up, and can start processing materials within days of arriving at the site.

Commenting on CDE’s expectations for this year’s Mining Show, Holland says he anticipates a bigger and better show with many global companies having shown interest in joining the event this year.

“We will focus on our ability to provide innovative turnkey solutions to our customers, incorporating a combination of our equipment modules in a bespoke way to suit client requirements,” he says.

At this year’s event, CDE will also enjoy a number of keynote speaking slots and roundtable discussions addressing this approach across various sectors and demonstrating its innovative “CustomCare”, an after-sales product range designed to ensure CDE plants run with long-term optimal efficiency and minimal maintenance.

Holland comments that he is looking forward to the show this year because of the opportunities afforded by the region. “We see the Mena region as having a huge potential for growth in mining, particularly within the phosphate market in which we are developing a footprint.

“We have recently installed a washing plant for Centrex Metals in Australia that washes, scrubs and de-slimes free-digging ore to produce 30,000 tonnes per annum of premium 35 per cent P2O5 (phosphorus pentoxide) and ultra-low cadmium phosphate rock concentrate to be used in the manufacture of phosphoric acid for fertilisers. Given the world’s growing population and demand for farmed food product, this also aligns with CDE’s commitment to sustainability. With a capacity of 70 tonnes per hour, the modular pilot plant has been designed to accommodate the expansion of the project in Phase Two, which will double the scale of the operation to process 140 tonnes per hour (tph), equivalent to 800,000 wet tonnes per annum at a later stage. CDE’s modular approach was key to enabling this transition in a simple, quick and cost-effective way.”

Holland will be visiting Dubai later this year when he also tour a number of other countries in the Gulf region and meet customers in these markets.

CDE’s primary activities in the region are related to the sand and aggregates processing business, and Holland aims to repeat this in the mining sector, given CDE’s mining success in other regions to date. Among the companies that have benefited from CDE’s systems are Al Ourifan, Kuwait Portland Cement and Associated Construction Company (Asco), in Kuwait, and Middle East Development Company (Medco) of Saudi Arabia, besides many others. CDE counts 84 successfully commissioned projects in the Gulf region alone… and still counting.

Headquartered in Northern Ireland and with bases in Germany, India, Brazil, Australia, Dubai, South Africa and the US, CDE boasts wide experience in the mining, C&D waste recycling, industrial sands and quarrying sectors.

“CDE has been active for the past 27 years and has 2,000 plants that are operational worldwide and I can say with confidence that each one of these plants is slightly different from the others. CDE’s ability to design and manufacture each modular plant, bespoke to a customer’s needs is a unique selling point of CDE,” Holland says.

CDE has an excellent track record in delivering highly efficient solutions to the mining and quarrying sector, including unrivalled tailings management and mineral waste beneficiation systems, backed up by full-circle customer support in line with its “Customer for Life” model, according to Holland.

The modular approach to plant assembly is unique to CDE and brings significant advantages in terms of civil engineering requirements during installation; each module is container-sized and erected fully-tested, prewired and pre-commissioned in a controlled environment in CDE’s Northern Ireland assembly facilities, which facilitates safer and quicker installation when the plant arrives on site. “It allows us to install and commission very large plants in a very short time,” he says.

“Another advantage is the ‘Made in the UK’ quality that each plant boasts. The quality of the CDE equipment is second to none. The plant is exceptionally well built. We deliver additional services in customer-care, optimisation packages, telemetry and diagnostics with a view to offering an intelligent plant,” Holland says, adding that the machines can be operated by one or two people.

Backing its custom-designed machines is training and support of operatives during the commissioning phase of the plant and after-sales support offered by CDE’s regional service engineers and customer-care engineers based at its Dubai office.