The designed approach to mill liner optimisation – experience at Pustynnoye mine, Kazakhstan

M Powell, M Yahyae, J Geronimo, Z Yussupova and P Kumar 

14^thAusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference, 29-31 August 2018, Brisbane, Australia

Kazakhstan

ABSTRACT

The appropriate design of liners continues to be an issue on many mills worldwide. Loss of milling capacity

especially at liner change, uneven wear lives along the mill, substantial scrap on worn liners, excess mill

down-time, undesirably short and unreliable wear lives are all common issues. This paper presents a

designed approach to liner optimisation that follows a logical path of initial design and step-wise

improvements based on liner wear monitoring. The target is to have a good liner design from start-up, then

tune the profiles, heights and thicknesses based on wear monitoring. This is conducted as a team of liner

specialist, site personnel and liner supplier. The application to the Pustynnoye SAG mill of JSC Altynalmas in

Kazakhstan is presented. The increase in liner life by around 50% along with increased mill throughput of

over 20% illustrate the huge benefit of the cooperative triumvirate approach through the gains that can be

made in productivity and reduced liner costs.

AUTHOR DETAILS

M Powell (1), M Yahyae (2), J Geronimo (3), Z Yussupova (4) and P Kumar (5)

1. FAusIMM, Director, Prof, Liner Design Services, Brisbane, Queensland, 4068, Australia. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

2. MAusIMM, Consultant, Dr, Liner Design Services, Brisbane, Queensland, 4068, Australia. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

3. Chief Metallurgist, JSC Altynalmas, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
4. Process Metallurgist, JSC Altynalmas, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
5. Director Mining, Polycorp Ltd. 33 York Street West, Ontario, N0B 1S0, Canada. Email: pkumar@polycorp.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CEEC acknowledges and thanks The Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy for organising the 14^th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference (MillOps 2018). 

Abstracts can be found at the MillOps 2018 website.