Project Overview
A mining client in Pakistan engaged Xinhai to deliver a complete 1,500-tonne-per-day copper concentrator for a hard-rock sulphide deposit. Under an EPCM contract, Xinhai handled ore-dressing test work, flowsheet design, equipment manufacturing, civil and structural construction, installation and commissioning — handing over a plant that produces a clean, marketable copper concentrate.
The Challenge
The deposit presented a moderately complex copper sulphide assemblage with variable head grade. The client needed a robust, easy-to-operate flowsheet that would maintain concentrate grade and recovery despite feed variability — and a single partner who could carry the project from test work to a running plant in a remote location with limited local infrastructure.
The Xinhai Solution
Bench and pilot flotation test work in Xinhai's own laboratory defined the optimum grind size and reagent regime. The resulting circuit combined:
- Three-stage crushing and closed-circuit ball-mill grinding to the target liberation size;
- A rougher–scavenger–cleaner flotation circuit using XCF/KYF air-inflation cells;
- Concentrate thickening and pressure filtration for transport-ready product;
- Tailings thickening to recycle process water in a water-scarce region.
By matching the reagent suite to the ore in our test lab before a single machine was built, the plant reached its design grade and recovery targets quickly during commissioning.
Results
The concentrator was commissioned on schedule and ramped to its 1,500 TPD design capacity, producing a clean, high-grade copper concentrate for export. Xinhai trained the client's operators on-site and continues to support the plant with spare parts and remote technical assistance.