As early winter begins and the chill deepens, the workshop of SLon Magnetic Separator Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “SLon”), a subsidiary of Jiangxi Tungsten Holding Group Company Limited, is bustling with activity. Large trucks are transporting parts into the “smart cloud warehouse” , mechanical equipment is running at high speed, and finished magnetic separators are neatly arranged on the production line… This batch of carefully crafted products will soon be sold at home and abroad.
From a small equipment research lab to a state-owned listed company, SLon’s leapfrog development is inseparable from its star product—the Vertical Ring Pulsating High Gradient Magnetic Separator(VPHGMS). It is precisely this machine that has enabled the company to stand at the forefront of fierce market competition.
The story of SLon originated from a spark of inspiration from a young man 45 years ago. In 1977, Xiong Dahe was admitted to the Mineral Processing Engineering major at Jiangxi Metallurgical Institute. In 1980, during his third year of undergraduate studies, he began to study high gradient magnetic separation technology. He learned that for a long time, China’s weak magnetic mineral beneficiation efficiency was low, and strong magnetic separation equipment mainly relied on imports, with low magnetic field strength, low recovery rate, and high maintenance difficulty. The ideal of “making the world’s best strong magnetic separator” took root in the heart of young Xiong Dahe. In 1982, Xiong Dahe, after graduating with a bachelor’s degree, was assigned to the Ganzhou Nonferrous Metallurgical Research Institute on the recommendation of his teacher, where he continued to engage in the research and development of new magnetic separators.
Xiong Dahe was well aware of the four difficulties of applied research: limited funding, short timeframes, arduous work, and high risks. Yet, he was determined to do something practical for society. Developing a high-efficiency magnetic separator was no easy task. There were no precedents, either domestically or internationally. With the support of Central South University of Technology and the Jiangxi Research Institute, Xiong Dahe led a small team of researchers, using limited research funds, working day and night in a simple workshop, employing their brains, hands, pens, rulers, screwdrivers, and hammers, embarking on the arduous exploration of developing a high gradient magnetic separator. Though difficult, they persevered. After more than 700 days and nights of hard work, in the autumn of 1987, a year before graduating with his doctorate, Xiong Dahe’s design for the world’s first SLon-1000 VPHGMS was born—this behemoth weighed 5.34 tons, was 2 meters long, and 2.5 meters high.
At the Gushan Iron Mine of Maanshan Iron and Steel Group, Xiong Dahe, covered in work clothes, sweat, and ore mud, stood by the machine, debugging the equipment. After 3,052 hours of practical application, the equipment overcame the defects of ordinary high gradient magnetic separators, such as easy clogging of magnetic matrix and mechanical inclusions, increasing the iron concentrate grade by 6 percentage points and the recovery rate by 13 percentage points. The beneficiation indicators reached the highest level in the history of Gushan Iron Mine.
After graduation, Xiong Dahe returned to the Ganzhou Nonferrous Metallurgical Research Institute to continue his research on the theory and industrial application of VPHGMS. In 2002, to promote the transformation and application of scientific research results, with the support of the Ganzhou Nonferrous Metallurgical Research Institute, the SLon Magnetic Separator Limited was born, and Xiong Dahe became the leader of the new company. Since then, he has led his team to continuously innovate and successively develop a series of VPHGMS.
At SLon, the world’s first SLon-6500 VPHGMS, standing 12 meters tall and weighing 800 tons, immediately catches the eye. This VPHGMS officially rolled off the production line in November 2024, with a processing capacity of up to 1,500 tons of ore per hour, setting multiple industry records.
From Dr. Xiong’s invention of the world’s first SLon-1000 VPHGMS in 1987 to today’s SLon-6500, SLon has maintained an annual R&D investment of about 4% of the operating revenue. It has successively developed more than 200 specifications of ‘SLon Manufacturing’ products, including centrifugal gravity separation and intelligent separation, and its product matrix is flourishing.
In today’s increasingly competitive magnetic separation industry, innovation is the “moat” that keeps companies at the forefront. For many years, starting with Xiong Da and the first generation of entrepreneurs, SLon has focused on technological innovation and development, building a 5,000-square-meter experimental center and possessing six major scientific research platforms, including a national enterprise technology sub-center and a key laboratory for magnetic separation equipment in Jiangxi Province.
In the key area of industry-university-research cooperation, SLon has collaborated with universities such as Central South University and Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, focusing on cutting-edge technology exploration and high-end equipment R&D. The SLon-6500 VPHGMS, a core achievement, has successfully set world records in terms of ‘largest single-unit processing capacity, lowest energy consumption per ton, and highest energy efficiency ratio in mineral processing. A series of R&D achievements have yielded breakthroughs: the independently developed SLon magnetic separator has been installed in a copper mine in Yunnan, realizing the first application of high gradient magnetic separators in chalcopyrite beneficiation processes. The independently developed magnetic separator has been successfully applied in a cesium beneficiation plant in Zimbabwe, achieving the first breakthrough in magnetic separation technology in the field of rare metal cesium separation. The pre-selection and waste disposal process for high-pressure roller milling of weakly magnetic ores—large-particle VPHGMS—has been invented, pioneering the copper-molybdenum strong magnetic separation technology… From “SLon Manufacturing” to “Industry Benchmark,” SLon has not only become the company’s core calling card but also a landmark brand in world’s mineral processing equipment field.
Twice awarded the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, holding 37 invention patents, 3 industry standards, and European CE certification… the honor wall of SLon’s exhibition hall is filled with “fruitful achievements,” each a solid footprint of the company’s deep cultivation in the field of high-end mining equipment and its focus on complete mineral processing solutions and technical services. Established for over 20 years, SLon has maintained a steady growth trend. In August 2025, it successfully entered the listed platform Jiangxi Jiangwu Rare and Precious Equipment Co., Ltd., thus beginning a development stage driven by both “technology + capital. Behind this impressive track record lies not only the unwavering dedication of Dr. Xiong Dahe and his core team in scaling technological heights, but also the relay of progress from generation to generation of rising stars. It’s well known that SLon originates from technological innovation, but innovation is not just about ‘single-handedly fighting technology’ , but rather a full-chain innovation covering technology research and development, complete solution design, marketing services, and operation management.
On the path of providing complete solution services, SLon adheres to the marketing philosophy of “customer needs at the core, complete service for life”, and upgrading “selling equipment” to “delivering full-process solutions”. SLon’s dedicated team provides full-process follow-up services from ore beneficiation testing, solution design, technical exchange, business coordination, contract signing to subsequent equipment installation. This not only significantly reduces customer communication costs but also effectively enhances customer loyalty through deep integration, while accurately identifying more extended project needs. In providing a complete ore beneficiation solution for a large mining company, the team thoroughly understood the client’s overall production layout and future development plans. They not only completed the installation and commissioning of core equipment but also offered targeted suggestions for optimizing the ore beneficiation process, helping the client improve resource utilization and reduce energy consumption. It is with this professionalism and dedication that SLon successfully facilitated cooperation on several subsequent upgrade and transformation projects. Professionalism earns trust, and sincerity leads to win-win outcomes. Leveraging the sustained growth in infrastructure investment under the Belt and Road Initiative, SLon’s business has expanded to over 40 countries and regions worldwide. It has successfully provided high quality services and product solutions to more than 3,000 clients globally, with over 5,000 sets of equipment widely used in domestic and international enterprises, becoming a shining example of Chinese magnetic separation equipment going global. In the future, SLon will fully utilize the listed platform, to further empower SLon to deepen and expand product innovation, marketing innovation, and service innovation, promoting Chinese magnetic separation technology and equipment to the world.
