Denmark’s leading sand specialist invests in CDE ultra fines recovery system

• Dansand A/S, Denmark's leading sand specialist, plans to implement a new ultra fines recovery system at its main site in Addit, north of Brædstrup. The system is designed and engineered by wet processing experts CDE.

• The company, founded in 1971, quickly became the leading supplier of silica sand to the Danish foundry industry. It has since expanded its production to meet the specific requirements of the concrete, mortar, construction, and DIY industries.

• Dansand A/S produces over 500,000 tonnes of refined silica sand in more than 20 different blends annually. The company is owned by PKB Holdings and Sibelco, the world's largest supplier of minerals.

• The company has reached ground water level at its pit in Addit and needs to transition from extraction using wheel loaders to dredging. This new approach requires a high accuracy solution to recover valuable fractions of very fine dredged sand from large volumes of water.

• CDE's business development manager, Allan Esmann, states that the dredge-fed wash plant will be the first of its kind commissioned by CDE in Europe. The plant will separate dredged sand from ground water before it can be cleaned of lignite and silt or clay fraction then correctly sized.

• The EvoWash ultra-fines recovery system with optimised hydrocyclone technology will be central to the new plant. The system is designed to recover every valuable grain and eliminate the loss of quality fines.

• The new plant is expected to be operational in early 2024.

The specialist sand manufacturer will use the CDE technology to recover valuable sand fractions

Dansand A/S, Denmark’s leading sand specialist, has announced plans for a new state-of-the-art ultra fines recovery system, designed and engineered by wet processing experts CDE, for its main site in Addit, north of Brædstrup.

Founded in 1971, the company, then owner of several gravel pits, quickly became the leading supplier of silica sand to the Danish foundry industry thanks to its quartz-rich deposit in Addit. From this base, the company expanded its expertise in the production of silica sand-based products to meet the specific requirements of the wider concrete and mortar industries.

Today, Dansand A/S extracts and produces over 500,000 tonnes of refined silica sand in more than 20 different blends every year, supplying the construction sector, various types of industries, sports facilities, playgrounds and the DIY markets.

After more than five decades of operation, Dansand A/S, owned by PKB Holdings and Sibelco, the world’s largest supplier of minerals, has now reached ground water level at its pit in Addit.

The company has historically extracted material using wheel loaders but a new approach is now required, says Claus Arve, technical manager at Dansand A/S.

“This has been our primary means for extracting sand, however now that we have reached ground water level we need to transition to dredging to ensure we can continue extraction activities. This presents a new set of challenges for our operation and it’s for this reason we’ve partnered with the team at CDE to engineer an efficient, high accuracy solution that can recover valuable fractions of very fine dredged sand from large volumes of water.”

CDE business development manager Allan Esmann says while similar technologies are successfully operating in other regions, the dredge-fed wash plant will be the first of its kind commissioned by CDE in Europe.

“As Dansand A/S commences dredging, it becomes necessary to separate dredged sand from ground water before it can be cleaned of lignite and silt or clay fraction then correctly sized. Central to achieving this will be our EvoWash ultra-fines recovery system with optimised hydrocyclone technology which is proven to recover every valuable grain and eliminate the loss of quality fines. What makes this particular system unique is the custom cyclone composition needed to ensure Dansand A/S continues to manufacture its very large product suite without compromising on quality of various end products.”

The plant will be operational in early 2024.