Coal Waste Dumps & Terrikon Processing
For more than 22 years, GRAVICON has designed, manufactured, and commissioned modular beneficiation complexes for processing coal waste dumps (terrikons), technogenic deposits, and small natural mineral deposits. Since 2000, hundreds of technogenic deposits across multiple continents have been studied, including coal terrikons, ferrochrome and ferromanganese slags, metallurgical and coal slimes, metallurgical slags from ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, and legacy gold tailings. Based on this experience, GRAVICON developed a standardized modular plant range with nominal capacities of 20, 50, 100, and 200 t/h, expandable through parallel processing lines. A representative example is the GRAVICOM-50T complex commissioned in 2008, which processed terrikon material with 68% ash content, producing anthracite concentrate with 6–8% ash, operating 29 days per month at 20 hours per day, with only one scheduled maintenance day per month. After four years of continuous operation and completion of the dump processing, the complex was relocated to a new site, where it continues to operate, demonstrating the mobility and long service life of the solution.
Modular complexes are specifically intended for projects where construction of a stationary preparation plant is economically unjustified. Key advantages include short payback periods of 3–7 months, project implementation within 6–8 months, and a fully closed water–slurry circuit without conventional settling ponds. Circulating water storage is reduced by 8–10 times to 500–1,000 m³, typically arranged as 2–3 reservoirs of 8 × 8 × 5 m, allowing placement inside the processing building alongside technological equipment. Sludge is discharged in a dewatered, transportable form, enabled by elevator-free discharge, eliminating the need for a dedicated tailings management system. Typical operating parameters include feed size up to 300 mm, electricity consumption of 70–390 kWh, water consumption of 5–30 m³/h, staffing of 5–7 persons per shift, total site area of 2,200–4,000 m², and plant weight of 51–179 tonnes, with a guaranteed service life of at least 10 years. Continuous modernization of jig geometry, pneumatic drives, discharge systems, fine fraction recovery modules (–3 mm), and automation has transformed terrikon beneficiation from a process once considered infeasible at 65–75% ash into a technically proven and highly profitable operation, with many complexes successfully redeployed to process second and third waste dumps over their lifecycle.