Indonesia is not only the fourth-most populous country on the planet, it has also overcome numerous difficulties and challenging geography to become the world’s largest exporter of thermal coal. Between 2008 and 2013, production increased from 246 million tons to a remarkable 489 million tons. The majority of this – some 90 per cent – is used for municipal energy production and exported to China, India and other Asian states.

Indonesia is also home to PT Suprabari Mapanindo Mineral, a successful producer of thermal coal. In Central Kalimantan, almost 1,800 kilometres away from Jakarta, 500 tons of coal/spoil mixture are processed every hour to produce high-quality thermal coal using a sophisticated system solution from allmineral.

Coal production in the world’s largest archipelago

It sounds like something from the world of fantasy, where Jules Verne meets J. R. R. Tolkien. A country comprising over 17,000 volcanic islands in the ocean. An archipelago that is home to 262 million people. A remarkably diverse nation drawing together hundreds of ethnic groups who speak more than a dozen languages. A tropical climate featuring monsoon winds. Fiery red volcanoes that are the domain of the Komodo dragon. Beautiful white beaches with water of purest turquoise. And at the heart of the Coral Triangle, a jungle inhabited by elephants, orangutans and tigers.  

But far from being fantasy, this land is quite real: it is none other than Indonesia, the fourth-most populous country in the world. And PT Suprabari Mapanindo Mineral, a company based there, commissioned allmineral to craft a system solution for processing high-quality thermal coal. This project was a great success – by processing the coal/ash spoil generated by selective mining, the new coal-washing plant also delivers economic and ecological benefits. 

The challenge: delivering cutting-edge allmineral processing technology to Kalimantan

In order to meet growing demand on the global market, one of the most cutting-edge coal processing plants in the world was planned for the newly tapped mining region of Kalimantan on the island of Borneo as part of a pioneering project. This represented the perfect challenge for the Hazemag subsidiary allmineral, which was commissioned in November 2019 to plan, equip and deliver a modern coal processing plant to its final destination 11,000 kilometres away. The customer required a tailored system solution that could produce and process 500 tons per hour at this 350,000-hectare coal mining facility. 

The Astra Group signed up allmineral to handle the implementation of this major investment, having been impressed by the company’s wide-ranging specialist knowledge, years of experience, and targeted expertise relating to tailored and creative solutions. Creativity was central to this project, as the saleable coal product needed to be extracted from the spoil rather than being drawn directly from the coal seam. Spoil is generated during selective mining, with its very high ash content meaning that it is usually discarded.

In order to meet these requirements, it was necessary to deploy cutting-edge processing technology capable of using a washing process to sort sub-bituminous and bituminous coal featuring different sulphur content levels. The research department at the Global Testing & Research Center duly drafted an individual system solution to help the coal-washing plant guarantee maximum quality and durability in line with customer requirements. This involved a delicate balancing act between the high tonnages to be processed and the resource-conscious handling that was required.

The answer for full-scale wet processing – a system solution based on the alljig®

Within a period of 12 months, allmineral drafted, produced, delivered and installed a coal-washing plant centred on an alljig® jig. Equipped with a high-performance roller breaker and a chain conveyor from Hazemag, the processing plant is designed to separate the coal from unwanted components and sort it into the various qualities in an efficient, sustainable and resource-conscious manner. The three-chamber alljig® jig meticulously sorts up to 500 tons of coal per hour, handles grain sizes ranging from 80 mm to less than 1 mm, and ensures efficient, fully automated sorting, concentration and cleaning of coal.

As reliable as it is cost-effective, the alljig® F(UB) 5000 x 3400 first loosens the material prior to processing and uses water power to raise it up. After the jigging procedure sorts the grains by density, the alljig® separates the light feed (coal product) from the layered material bed. The ash is classed as the heavy feed and is subsequently dewatered on a dewatering sieve using cutting-edge sensors whose signals are detected and processed electronically. This enables precision discharging of the heavy feed.

The results speak for themselves, with the coal-washing plant featuring a capacity of 500 tons per hour and able to generate high-quality thermal coal ready for shipping worldwide.

allmineral successfully delivers next-level processing

From ore, coal and gravel to sand, slag and recycling, and from Kalimantan to Düsseldorf and the world, we do it all. An innovative outfit with the heart of a start-up, allmineral is renowned for its high-quality processing plants. Offering customised system solutions ranging from individual machines to the comprehensive production and design of processing plants, we have earned a reputation for our extensive customer service that provides everything from a single source.

Suprabari Mapanindo Mineral has acquired a flawlessly functioning plant featuring low investment and operating costs – and the potential to turn spoil into profit. This efficient, sustainable and resource-conscious system solution from allmineral runs automatically, separating the coal from unwanted elements such as surrounding rock before correctly sorting it into the various qualities.

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Reference projects

Manganese ore processing plant – an economic and ecological triumph

Boosting metal recovery while limiting the environmental impact: allmineral plants and machines are used for the purpose of metal recovery from slag. At 30 installations across the globe, non-magnetic or weakly magnetic metal content is extracted from ore smelting residues via density sorting procedures. Our manganese ore processing plant in Georgia has helped deliver sustained success for our customer, both economically and ecologically. With a recovery rate of up to 90% and a processing volume of 200 tons per hour, plant sustainability is a key priority.

Coal production in Indonesia

As our long-term planning ensures the semi-mobile plant has an expected service life of at least 20 years, this concept is fully in keeping with our approach to sustainably designed system solutions that are adapted to suit the specific conditions on site. We build things to last, thereby avoiding the need for labour-intensive rebuilding and replacement.

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