Already SADA has received two expressions of interest for the modular relocatable plant, suitable for coking coal operations. The washery will be sold as a result of the termination of the washing contract by BHP Billiton, Illawarra Coal at their New South Wales Appin operation.

BHP chose not to extend the contract after it expanded the capacity of its Westcliff washery, making the Appin washing capacity redundant.

SADA has owned and operated the on site 200tph plant since it was awarded the washing contract in 1992. The contract was last reviewed and extended in 1998 and terminated at the end of May with dismantling beginning in June.

The plant has a self-contained water cycle comprising belt press filters and a nine metre high rate thickener.

The SADA plant produces a single product hard coking coal at a nominal rate of 200tph. It utilises cyclones and fine coal recovery based on 6 banks of LD7 triple start spirals and two banks of Denver cells and two Maxwell cells with Denver mechanisms for froth flotation with drying by a 75sqm drum filter.

The plant has had much of the work done to upgrade it to a 300tph plant. The major remaining work is the increase of the drum filter capacity.

The raw coal is fed from a Jacques CF 3650 hammer mill crusher to an 8 x 16 double deck low head screen. The de-sliming screen is a 20 x 8 banana screen as is the product drain and rinse screen. The reject screen is an 8 x 16 low head screen while the two DM cyclones are 710’s. The classifying cyclone is 900mm in size while the thickening cyclone is a Krebs 350mm.

The SADA relocatable wash plant consistently operated with 97% availability and carbon recovery consistently greater than 95%. Depending on ROM coal quality washery yields for this small but highly productive plant were in the range 82 to 90%.

SADA has experience in contract washing at Metropolitan Colliery, Wollondilly washery, Glenlee washery and Southland Colliery as well as the Appin Colliery.