The development of Western Australian magnetite deposits has lead to the design of some of the largest grinding mills and plants in the world. One of the projects demonstrates the efficiency gains possible by developing a simple yet thorough test program for circuit design. By drawing on the experie...
22-Aug-2011
The mining industry is facing some key challenges that provide a compelling case for geometallurgy initiatives. Over the last 30 years, the average grade of Australian ore bodies being mined has halved while the waste removed to access the minerals has more than doubled. In the last eight years, the...
05-Aug-2011
The following media release was issued on Monday May 9, 2011. For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
CEEC Launch Statement
Owen Hegarty Patron and Elizabeth Lewis-Gray, Chair, CEEC
09-May-2011
This presentation explores the economic impact of the six key influences on Mining today:
Access to Potable Water,
Energy shortage,
Decreasing Grade,
Forced accounting of Carbon,
Decreasing Grind Size,
Increasing Rock Hardness.
Dr Simon Michaux, Ausenco Ltd. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it....
05-Feb-2011
The objective of this paper is to examine the operation of high frequency screens in closed circuit grinding, where the outcomes achieved indicate favourable economic gains at the comminution stage and downstream processes, including flotation, dewatering, and filtration operations. The classificati...
30-Jan-2011
A Conjugate Anvil-Hammer Mill (CAHM) has the potential to replace conventional crushers and SAG mills, with their respective conveyors and stockpiles, in a SABC circuit. It may improve comminution circuit efficiency by 100%. CAHM compresses rock in a more efficient way, similar to 19th century stamp...
30-Jan-2011
Efficiency of the comminution operations is traditionally assessed based on operating cost and energy consumption. Traditionally, the lowest operating cost was achieved by multi-stage fully autogenous grinding due to elimination of steel grinding media costs which may represent up to 50% of the grin...
22-Oct-2010
CEEC Technical Review committee comments:
The future of analytical papers, where energy (in all its forms) is quantified and used to calculate total energy consumption. No longer will we be considering only the direct energy usage and cost, rather analysis is likely to include embedded energy, i.e...
22-Oct-2010
ABSTRACT
Minerals processing needs a step change in energy efficiency. While the search for new technology breakthroughs is important, huge gains are still available by better using existing research outcomes. This potential remains untapped due to a combination of organisational ‘silos’, inappro...
01-Oct-2010
The consumption of energy in the grinding process is significant in both the amount used and the cost involved. Both imply that it is important to maximise the throughput for a given grinding task; which in turn implies it is important to maximise mill power draw, which is related to the efficiency...
30-Sep-2010
Throughout the conceptualisation, development, operation and eventual decommissioning of mineral resources projects, there is a wide range of opportunities to contribute to sustainable development (SD). Although some individual organisations have their own SD tools, a practical systematic, rigorous...
28-Sep-2010
A summary of the papers written at the Centre.
23-Sep-2010
Comminution is the most energy intensive component of mining and mineral processing and is extremely costly. Relatively simple process flowsheet strategies such as gangue rejection/ preconcentration, selection of coarser grind sizes and the application of newer crushing and grinding technologies wil...
23-Aug-2010
While the potential for the discovery of new high grade resources exists, it is almost inevitable that the ore resources used to provide society’s ongoing demand for primary metals will deteriorate over time as the higher grade reserves are exploited first and are progressively depleted. This deteri...
30-Jul-2010
Metso Process Technology & Innovation (PTI) has been conducting a Mine-to-Mill or Process Integration and Optimisation (PIO) project at the Newmont Ahafo operation with the objective of increasing plant throughput. Benchmarking surveys were undertaken in January 2009 to determine process perform...
30-Jun-2010
This report contrasts the performance of the gold industry as a subset of mining, based on a sample of 19 gold mining companies within 201 interviews. The report identifies areas of excellence and those needing improvement. Detailed analysis of critical actions highlights the need for attention to e...
01-May-2010
Energetics collects and analyses energy data to benchmark energy performance against a site’s previous performance, a site portfolio, national average and best practice.
01-May-2010
During the last few years high-tonnage plants have been designed with comminution circuits using semiautogenous grinding (SAG) mills, high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR), or both, followed by ball mills in different configurations. A strong interest in improved energy efficiency and reduction of car...
23-Feb-2010
An economically appealing method for improving operations is available without the capital expense — get more out of a mill by applying the advanced control capabilities in the existing plant control system.
04-Feb-2010
Stirred mills are primarily used for fine and ultra-fine grinding. They dominate these grinding applications because greater stress intensity can be delivered in stirred mills and they can achieve better energy efficiency than ball mills in fine and ultra-fine grinding. Investigations were conducted...
23-Oct-2009
In a previous paper [Morrell, S. 2008a. A method for predicting the specific energy requirement of comminution circuits and assessing their energy utilisation efficiency. Minerals Engineering 21(3), 5–9] an approach was described which enabled the specific energy of tumbling mills such as Autogenous...
23-Oct-2009
Although the majority of current steel production is supported by iron ore sourced from high grade haemetite deposits, the long-term growing demand for steel has led to higher raw material prices and opened the way for many new magnetite deposits to also be developed. There is a rich and long histor...
23-Oct-2009
High Pressure Girding rolls have been used in grinding cement clinker and associated materials since 1985 and had found a niche market in diamond ores and in pellet feed preparation. However their entry into hard rock mining was not secured until recently, with the successful commissioning and opera...
09-Oct-2009
Energy efficiency is currently a significant area of interest due to the Eskom power situation, which led to severe power impacts to the PGM, and indeed whole SA primary industries, in early 2008. Anglo Platinum has focused on energy efficiency for a number of years, especially in the concentrator o...
30-Sep-2009
The Bond operating work index is in common use for assessment of comminution efficiency. This method was developed for rod and grinding ball mill circuits and is not well suited to AG/SAG mills or the wide range of comminution devices now in common use.
Traditional measures of efficiency only con...
23-Sep-2009
This paper reviews the tools and methodologies used for incorporating sustainability considerations into the design of mineral processing operations. It was found that while there is a range of tools and methodologies that contribute to Design for Sustainability, there is no consistent, integrated a...
23-Sep-2009
Tenth Mill Operators’ Conference, Adelaide, SA, 12 - 14 October 2009
Abstract
The design of semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill based comminution circuits for the treatment of competent ores, similar to those at Geita and Boddington, involves the same process of sample selection, test work, da...
23-Sep-2009
With their commitment to sustainable development in an increasingly carbon-constrained world, many resources companies are focused on reducing the energy required to create their final products. In particular, the comminution and smelting of metal-bearing ores are both highly energy-intensive proces...
07-Jul-2009
New comminution circuits design strategies are presented. The aim of the new strategies is to improve the overall efficiency of the comminution process and reduce the total energy consumption of a comminution circuit. The strategies described can be applied during the design of a greenfield comminut...
23-Jun-2009
The Institute of Advanced Studies and the Energy and Minerals Initiative present a free public lecture: Energy, Minerals and Climate Change – a healthy mix for Australia?
Australia has long benefited from being a supplier to the world of energy (coal and natural gas) and minerals. In the future h...
02-Jun-2009
Recent advances in fine screening technology allow for the efficient classification of mill products by means of particle size separation only. The advantages are numerous, including improved throughput, reduced power consumption, coarser grind and reduced reagent consumption. The paper will review...
28-May-2009
Abstract
The high capacity Stack Sizer screening machine consists of up to five decks positioned one above the other and all operating in parallel. its use together with urethane screen surfaces as fine as 75 microns (200 mesh) has made fine wet screening a practical reality in mineral processing...
02-May-2009
CEEC Technical Review Committee comments:
This presentation provides great advice for stakeholders who are trying to get a project off the ground and are keen to implement innovation and new ideas in processing. The “take home” message is to understand your orebody, be committed and embark on the...
23-Feb-2009
The world is rapidly becoming more "green" i.e. energy conscious. Since mining and mineral processing are massive energy users, the mining industry is seeking ways to reduce its energy footprint. In mining and mineral processing operations, energy is often the most expensive cost item. Comminution,...
05-Feb-2009
The copper industry is cyclical with the price determined by market forces (i.e. the balance between supply and demand for the metal.) The period of each cycle typically varies between 6 to 9 years. These cycles drive decision making for exploration, new project and mine development,mine closures, p...
23-Jan-2009
HPGR in series can be used to grind a large proportion of the feed to product size but efficiency reduces after the second pass.
.. Smaller-diameter HPGR rolls can increase the breakage of coarse particles in multi-pass circuits.
.. Smaller top-size, steeper size distribution
.. Coarsest particle...
22-Nov-2008
The energy efficiency of comminution processes is very low based on the energy required to generate new fracture surface area relative to the mechanical (strain) energy input. However, the maximum ideal limiting efficiency ELimit against which actual efficiencies may be compared is unknown. Therefor...
23-Oct-2008
This paper presents a new approach for determining the specific energy requirement of tumbling mill (grinding) circuits. It is used to demonstrate that there is no significant difference between the energy utilisation efficiency of any of the grinding circuits of the plants studied. Laboratory test...
23-Oct-2008
A cone crusher and a vertical shaft impact (VSI) crusher were operated in closed circuit to compare the performance of the two different crushing machines. The crushers were operated in closed circuit with a 9 mm final screen aperture size. A comparison of capacity, size reduction and power draw sho...
23-Sep-2008
•HPGR is seriously challenging SAG
•Driven by higher media and energy costs.
•Driven by ENERGY ACCOUNTING.
•Adopting Emergy might attract a strange mix of economists and energy scientists/engineers.
•The science of “emergy”is obscure and arcane, “It’s well-known, but only to a few!”
22-Sep-2008
The application of high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR) has been growing in the mining industry for the last 10 to 15 years. The major benefits supporting this trend are better energy efficiency, improved grinding capacity, and higher metal recovery in downstream processes such as heap leaching and f...
30-Aug-2008
The successful commissioning of the Cerro Verde project in Peru at the end of 2006 marked the culmination of the efforts of many in the industry over many years to have high pressure grinding roll technology recognized and accepted as a legitimate alternative to the conventional approach to large-sc...
30-May-2008
Metso Minerals Process Technology Asia-Pacific (MMPT-AP) has been working with many mining companies worldwide performing ‘Mine to Mill’ or Process Integration and Optimisation (PIO) studies. MMPT-AP has developed a proven methodology to improve the efficiency of the mine-mill interface and gain max...
28-Oct-2007
The resources sector has come to accept that the global quest for sustainable development is one of the key shapers of its future development and business success. While much uncertainty remains regarding the full ramifications of sustainable development, it is uncontested that preventive environmen...
23-Aug-2007
The current status of the modelling of comminution processes is assessed in light of its capabilities and weaknesses. The principles required for a major upgrade in modelling capability are proposed. The use of advanced computational techniques to provide detailed information on the mechanical envir...
23-Aug-2007
CEEC Technical Review Committee comments:
Another great paper reminding us that we already have the tools, data and knowledge to start implementing some energy saving strategies not only in grinding, but the all the way through to smelting. A holistic approach is taken and the question asked: Where...
23-Jul-2007
Since October 2003, the BHP Billiton Cannington mill has operated a grinding circuit consisting of an AG mill, pebble crusher and a Vertimill®which in this paper will be referred to as an AVC circuit. What is unique about this circuit is that it utilizes a Vertimill® for secondary grinding rather th...
01-Dec-2006
Oscillatory unstable behaviour in a SAG mill is characterised by the mill constantly cycling between an overload condition and recovery from that condition by a substantial reduction in feed rate tonnes. Such behaviour is commonplace with SAG mills and gives rise to a significant overall reduction i...
30-Nov-2006
Energy consumption and mineral recovery are among the most important factors affecting the mineral processing economy. There are a number of emerging new technologies which have proven to be more energy efficient for comminution, such as High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGR) and stirred milling techno...
23-Sep-2006
Johnson
Abstract
In achieving the necessary liberation for separation of valuable minerals from ores, metallurgists have traditionally selected from the competing options for size reduction devices by making decisions based on various types of costs. While these costs remain important in s...
23-Aug-2006