Because of its unique nature within the scope of Met-Solve Laboratories Inc., we have featured today the development of the Met-Solve Analytical Table (MAT). The primary business of Met-Solve is in metallurgical testing and consulting – so why would a lab sell a single piece of equipment? 

Its conception was a result of a need within our lab for a better analytical table than the similar unit previously used in the lab for several years. With the help of some of our colleagues in the industry, a new table was produced with improved features.

Shaking Speed Control

One of the single biggest improvements was the use of a variable frequency drive ( VFD) to adjust the oscillation speed. With the previous table, the entire deck needed to be removed, belts changed or sheaves adjusted before reassembling the unit in order to adjust speed. With a VFD no disassembly is required – just a press of a button. Our technicians can now run multiple samples with a variety of speed requirements with ease. 

Tailings Launder

A bigger and better tailings launder was devised. The tailings launder on the previous unit was narrow, which made it both difficult to clean and allowed some tailings to occasionally spray over the edge. This incomplete recovery of the tails could lead to errors in later data. A larger launder with a completely smooth, seam-free discharge fixed this issue.

Automated Surfactant 

Surfactant addition is often required to prevent particles (especially gold particles) from floating on the surface of the water due to surface tension. An injection system automates the addition of surfactant during the test which gives the user more freedom to monitor the test and provides more consistent results. 

Result Consistency

As with any laboratory equipment, a key aspect of the design must be to provide consistency and repeatability of tests.  Met-Solve has always been in an advantageous position to complete quality control tests with numerous real world client samples available. Below are some of the data produced during the testing phase confirming that consistency and repeatability were improved with the new design.

Why Met-Solve?

Given that equipment sales isn’t an area in which Met-Solve typically delves, the MAT may seem like an outlier. However it is the extensive project and testing background of Met-Solve that puts our team in a unique position to offer technical support for the table, which motivated us to put the unit into production. To this day we continue to use our shaking table for laboratory tests which has given us the necessary experience to offer remote support and troubleshooting as well as recommendations for making the most out of the table. 

For an example of real world MAT applications, CLICK HERE for Sepro’s news release about the Minsur Cancha 35 project.