GEMCO processes raw ore into clean lump and fine ore products of various sizes and grades, in accordance with customers’ requirements.

Primary crushing and screening reduces ROM ore to less than 150mm.

Ore is crushed, washed and screened to a top size of 75mm and a bottom size of 0.5mm. Any smaller material is pumped as a slurry to tailings dams.

Manganese is then tumbled in drum scrubbers with water to remove clays, and again screened. Ore greater than 10mm is called lump ore, and ore between 10mm and 0.5mm is called fine ore.

In a heavy media drum, lump ore is separated from waste. Heavier manganese sinks in the drum and becomes lump product, leaving lighter, non-manganese material as waste. A heavy media cyclone separates the fine ore from waste material.

Finally, a post heavy media drum is used to crush lump product to size and grade specifications.

Finished product is then stored in 800 tonne product bins prior to be loaded into road trains for transportation to the port of Milner Bay, 16 km north of the minesite. Here it is stored in one of two stockpile facilities with 400,000 and 60,000 tonne capacities.

Large front-end loaders reclaim product from the stockpiles and load the ore into rail mounted hop cars. These direct the ore onto conveyor belts to the ship loader.

Ore is then loaded into vessels, destined for domestic or international customers.