A. McElroy, M. Powell, J. Tilberg, M. Hilden, M. Yahyaei, M Linna, A. Johnansson
SAG Conference Vancouver, Canada September 22 – 26, 2019
ABSTRACT
The new Aitik autogenous grinding (AG) milling circuit was based on the successful original milling plant at Aitik, with a focus on low life-of-mine operating costs. At the heart of this is eliminating steel grinding media, maximizing the use of gravity flow, and using spiral classifiers instead of hydrocyclones. The two 22.5 MW AG mills, 11.6 metres (m) (38 feet [ft]) diameter by 13.7 m (45 ft) long, are the largest mills by volume operating in the world. Each AG mill feeds a 10 MW pebble mill via a unique coupling of flow and pebble feed with the pebble mill product recycling to the spiral classifier that is closed with the AG mill.
The massive size of the AF circuit and unique layout make this an interesting case study in alternative plant layout and operation compared to the strong trend towards finer feed, high ball load and multiple ball mills per semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill. Operating capability, data on specific energy, throughput, and plant stability are presented as a comparative case study.
Keywords
Autogenous milling, pebble mill, spiral classifier, grindcurves, energy efficiency
AUTHORS
*A. McElroy (1), M. Powell (2), J. Tilberg (1), M. Hilden (2), M. Yahyaei (2), M Linna (3), A. Johnansson (3)
1 - Boliden Mineral Finnforsvägen 4SE-936 81 Boliden, Sweden
2 - University of Queensland, Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC) 40 Isles Road, Indooroopilly Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 4068
3 - Boliden Aitik, Sakajärvi 1SE-982 92 Gällivare, Sweden
(*Corresponding author: