The Global Mining Standards and Guideline group (GMSG) recently announced the formation of a new working group called the Working Group on “A Standard for Industrial Comminution Efficiency”. The group is to be headed by CEEC advocate Robert E. McIvor, who has devoted his career to the design and improvement of the processing performance of industrial grinding circuits.
Comminution (size reduction, primarily through crushing and grinding) consumes multiple times the energy of any other activity in the mining and minerals business. It contributes roughly 10% to the direct cost of producing finished metals, and has been said to be responsible for approximately 3% of total world energy usage.
Bond Work Index can be used to quantify the efficiency of all types of grinding circuits. The objective of this project is to refine and formally standardize (industry best-practices for) the Bond method of quantifying industrial comminution efficiency, as applied to various equipment and circuit configurations. The goal is the creation of an approved standard (including an energy efficiency benchmarking database) for mining industry use within three years.
The new Working Group is actively seeking participation from all interested parties. Please contact Heather Ednie, GMSG’s Managing Director for more information or to volunteer your participation. More information will be provided on this web page as it becomes available.
Reference: “The Bond Standard for Comminution Efficiency”, by C.A. Rowland, Jr., and R.E. McIvor, from Recent Advances in Mineral Processing Plant Design, Mahotra, Taylor, Spiller and LeVier editors, SME, 2009.