NMS Assists Sinomine Resource Bikita Lithium Ore 2M T/A Crushing System in Zimbabwe in Trial Operation

Recently, Sinomine Resource Group Co., Ltd. (SR) held a production ceremony for the crushing system of the 2M t/a renovation and expansion project of the Bikita Lithium Gravity Separation Plant in Zimbabwe, marking the official commissioning and trial operation of the project. After more than a month’s trial operation, the system operates stably, the equipment performs excellently, and all technical indicators reach the design.

This project is provided by NMS Engineering Co., Ltd. NMS Engineering), a subsidiary of NMS, with EPC general contracting services covering production line process design research, steel structure manufacturing and installation, complete equipment installation, debugging, and delivery.

Launch ceremony

The Bikita mine is located in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe. It is the only large-scale lithium mine in Africa at present. It is 325 kilometers away from the capital Harare. There are highways and railways connecting the capital, the capital of Masvingo Province, Durban Port in South Africa, and Port of Beira in Mozambique. The transportation is convenient.

Project site

The project adopts a three-stage one closed circuit crushing process flow, and the entire set of crushing and screening equipment is provided by NMS. The primary crushing workshop is equipped with HPF grizzly feeder and JC jaw crusher, while the pre-screening and medium fine crushing workshop uses YKR screen, HPF vibration feeder, and CC single cylinder hydraulic cone crusher.

The closed circuit screening workshop and manual selection workshop use GPF vibration feeder and YKR screen, while the finished product screening and washing workshops use YKR screen, GZG vibration feeder, FG spiral classifier, and 2ZKR linear vibration screen. The finished product warehouse workshop uses GZG vibration feeder.

The material for the project is granite pegmatite lithium ore, the particle size ≤ 700mm. After three-stage and one closed circuit crushing, the finished particle sizes are 0.3-0.85mm, 0.85-19mm, and 2-19mm. After the project is put into operation, the production capacity of Bikita chemical lithium feldspar concentrate (Li ₂ O4.3%) is expected to be 180000 tons/year, as well as mixed concentrate (spodumene, nepheline, etc., Li ₂ O4.3%) of about 67000 tons/year, spodumene concentrate (Li ₂ O5.5%) of about 300000 tons/year, lithium mica concentrate (Li ₂ O2.5%) of 90000 tons/year, and tantalum concentrate of about 300 tons/year.

The project has a fully automated PLC control system that can achieve one click automatic control, real-time parameter monitoring, and fault diagnosis. The safety, intelligence, environmental protection, and energy consumption indicators all meet high standards. In terms of dust removal, for the discharge point of the jaw crusher in the primary crushing workshop, a wet dust collector is specially equipped for fixed point dust removal. The removed dust is added with water and enters the workshop’s submerged pump pool, which is then transported to the dense irrigation of the backend DMS system through the submerged pump. The vibration feeder under the manually selected buffer silo flushes water for ore washing and dust reduction, ensuring that materials entering the secondary cone crusher will not raise dust. Install high-pressure spray devices at the inlet of the jaw crusher and fine crushing cone to effectively reduce feed dust. The subsequent screening of finished products and washing with water will reduce dust points in the workshop. The dust removal equipment used in the project is provided by NMS Environment Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of NMS. In addition, the project has specially designed 8 tape sampling machines to facilitate subsequent process flow inspections.

Wet dust collector produced by NMS Environment Technology Co., Ltd.

NMS Engineering Co., Ltd. has rich experience in EPC project general contracting, relying on the strong technical strength, comprehensive design level, and high-quality beneficiation equipment of NMS. From project consultation, on-site investigation, sample analysis to scheme design, installation and commissioning, guidance and maintenance, production line construction can provide customers with one-stop services. During the project implementation, NMS Engineering Co., Ltd. adheres to green environmental protection and safe production, tailoring design schemes for Bikita Mine, comprehensively planning, reasonable layout, strict control of construction cycle, and strictly following high standards in design, manufacturing, and construction. The project was installed the steel structure of the plant in the middle of December 2022, overcoming the difficulties of COVID-19 cross infection, acclimatization, uncertain arrival time of on-site goods, and the arrival of steel structure goods in late January of the next year, and finally completed the commissioning with materials after three and a half months.

When the project is completed and put into operation, it will further enhance the profitability and integrated development of the entire industry chain of SR, becoming a model demonstration project for it to enter the mining industry. At the same time, it will also be beneficial for NMS to further explore the mining market in Zimbabwe and even radiate to the entire African mining market.