Gold Mine Waste Disposal Solution for Papua New Guinea
High Capacity Gold Mine Incinerator The G500
In cooperation with the team at Addfield Projects we successfully completed another mining waste incineration solution in Papua New Guinea for disposing of all hazardous and non-recyclable waste generated as part of their Gold Mining operation.
In this instance we have installed a G500 stepped hearth incinerator at their Mount Fubilan mine one of the biggest Gold mines in the world. The installation and commissioning took our team four weeks to complete ensuring the entire project was completed successfully and local operatives were trained in correct usage and maintenance. Throughout this project we were expertly supported by our expert Australian distributors Aust Combustion Engineering.
There had previously been an incinerator installed onsite which had served them well for many years but had gradually worn out its environmental sustainability and with the leaps made in recent years in incineration technology moving to an Addfield incinerator made the most sense. The G500 was selected by the Ok Tedi Mining (OTM) who had already been mining Copper, Gold and Silver from the mine for more than 20 years.
The G500 mining incinerator is now installed and able to safely destroy all of the waste produced daily from the many workers based on the site alongside being able to provide a local source of waste disposal for much of the hazardous and non-recyclable waste generated as a byproduct of the mining operation.
This new installation can dispose of as much as 500kg of mixed solid waste an hour which keeps it safe from requiring transportation off the island to landfill, polluting the surrounding oceans of being disposed on in a non-sustainable manner. Environmentally protective waste disposal such as this is essential everywhere especially on remote island installations.
Long-term approach to gold mine waste incineration
Gold mines come in many sizes and being one of the worlds largest the Ok Tedi mine operates almost as a community of its own. Having worker housing, shops and restaurants on site all producing additional waste destined for the G500 incinerator.
A genuine investment in the local environment surround this open pit mine. To ensure continuous waste disposal is achievable the G500 was installed with a fully automatic waste loading system and the latest in incineration design and optimisation to enable a steady and clean disposal of half a ton an hour of mixed waste.
Once loaded into the ram charger the waste is pushed onto the first step of the stepped hearth incinerator before being agitated and transferred down the following steps as further waste is loaded. This process ensures that the solid waste is reduced by as much as 97% volume making it much easier to finally dispose of at the end of the process. This ash is automatically removed at the end of the cycle able to be safely disposed of.
For operational benefits the G500 has waste oil burners included which allows for further environmental benefits allowing waste oil created on-site to be used to dispose of as fuel for the burners rather than causing a hazard for the community.
Fully Sufficient Waste Disposal Facility
The entire installation, which weighed in, in excess of 50 tonnes, was delivered pre-installed and housed within two 40ft containers. The lower housing the incinerator’s stepped hearth primary loading and incineration chamber, and the upper container the flue gas cleaning secondary chamber, which ensures a full 2-second retention to clean the gasses thoroughly prior to releasing them back into the environment via the chimney stack.
This installation of the G500 incinerator at the Mount Fubilan mine in Papua New Guinea is a genuine investment which will deliver more than just financial returns in being much more economical to operate and maintain. It is also a great opportunity for the Ok Tedi mine to clean up the environment and dispose of all the waste produced from open-pit mining. This installation is already being established within social development programs on the island as a way to offset and reduce the impact that the mine has on the ecology of Papua New Guinea, and it is a fantastic example of a major mining operation taking the environment seriously and investing in a project that will benefit not just those operating it today but also many years into the future. A real investment into the ongoing clean environment of Papua New Guinea and an installation that everyone involved with is equally proud of.
