STEBBINS Engineering Mining Industry

Autoclave relining detail

This autoclave is used for processing low-grade gold ore. Heat (from steam), pressure and acid are used to extract the gold. When in operation, it is a nasty environment.

The interior of an autoclave

This is the interior of an autoclave, a steel vessel with a couple of courses of brick lining that are installed when the autoclave is on site.

Autoclave being trucked to the plant.

Two of these autoclaves were built about 1988, one in Texas and one in Vancouver, then shipped by rail to Nevada and finally to the site by the truck rig shown above. The autoclaves are about 100 feet long, and about 15 feet in diameter. This trucking rig made the Guinness Book of World Records.

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