Dredging Projects Done on a Large Scale Basis

For a good while now a wide range of objective tests has been carried out to allocate prospective gold mining organizations to investigate an assortment of aspects of planned mining areas. These tests fluctuate depending on the planned technique of extraction. When it comes to dredges, particularly wheel excavator equipped dredges, the following tests for evaluation are essential: a full granularmetric curve which is delegate of the whole ore body is essential, especially if the body might have material that surpasses the capabilities of the dredge to excavate or convey; to produce the information adequately to show the granularmetric curve, test holes ought to be dug and all material from those test holes need to be sized, in general, the test hole or casing that is utilized to extract the samples need to be sized to fit in no less than the biggest ring size of the dredge pump that is going to be pumping the material; in the case of likely usage of a 14 inch (356mm) pipe size mining dredge for example, (1000 total installed HP and 150 HP on the excavator), a sample tube of no less than 12 inches in diameter needs to be driven, with all material kept inside the tube that is tested for measurement. This can be carried out by using a tube and auger testing mechanism. Except for the accessibility of this kind of equipment, test holes can be dug with a backhoe, dragline, or, if the soil conditions allow it, a front end loader can also be used. A test pit can also be dug by hand, however remember that a hand dug pit needs a correctly reinforced test hole.

Sizing of material 
Materials that are taken from test holes need to be sized, especially in the case if there it is seen that there might be some material that is simply too big to pass through the pump of the dredge. If material that is too big is discovered, further testing should be carried out to set up the amount of material that goes above the pumping capabilities. This information should then be used to further define the mixture of the fitting size of equipment. If the material can be without problems dug to bedrock with a backhoe or dragline, it is safe to guess that a bucket wheel dredge can suitably carry out the excavation phase of mining. If cementation is found, a study of the amount of success of the test machine is necessary. This analysis needs to be balanced against the excavation potential of the wheel excavator equipped dredge that is going to be used. If there is clay it may call for the using of a flushing system on the wheel excavator to make sure on going dredge production. Further beyond the probable necessity for a flushing system, if clay is found it will have a lot to do with the choice of processing equipment that is going to be used. Correct testing of the ore body calls for at least three test holes. These holes should be situated at the upstream, midway point, and downstream point of the deposit. If we were to suppose that the study of material from these holes shows that a dredge is appropriate for excavation and hydraulic transport of the material, it is realistic to suppose that the full project will provide to be good for exploitation with a dredge. In the occurrence that outcome indicates a dredge is not appropriate, more testing will be called for. Other alternatives like that of increasing the size of a dredge or even giving up a certain area of the deposit can also be taken into consideration depending on the circumstances.