The Evolution of SAG Shell Lining and Introduction of the Skip Row Design

P Toor, M Swart and H Ståhlbröst

MetPlant 2017 – Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies – World’s Best Practice, 11-12 Sep 2017, Perth, Australia

Abstract

Development of SAG liners has always been a strong focus and interest in mineral processing as SAG liners significantly impact on plant performance (throughput and grind size), material costs and plant downtime. SAG shell relines typically determine the frequency and duration of plant shutdowns. Early SAG shell liner designs relied heavily on practical experiences and were limited in their size due to weight restrictions. Significant developments in Discrete Element Method (DEM) modelling, material and manufacturing technologies and larger reline machines have resulted in new and improved liner designs. This paper discusses the evolution of SAG shell liner design and its progression to the Skip Row design. Case studies have been provided for the Skip Row design in a variety of applications such as Single Stage SAG (SSS), SAG and Ball (SAB), SAG and Ball with Crushing (SABC) and Pre-Crush at a variety of mill diameters ranging from 24 foot to 34 foot. A detailed assessment has also been carried out comparing liner service life, ease of reline and performance (throughput, power and grind size) for a large 34 foot SAG mill when compared to the previous design.

AUTHOR DETAILS

P Toor (1), M Swart (2), H Ståhlbröst (3)

(1) – Development Manager – Grinding Wear Solutions, Metso, Brisbane Qld 4000. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(2) – MAusIMM(CP), Group Metallurgist, Harmony Gold Ltd SE Asia, Brisbane Qld 4000. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(3) – Global Applications Support Manager, Metso, Ersmark Sweden. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please contact the authors for further details of this paper.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CEEC acknowledges and thanks the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and MetPlant convenors and organising committee for organising the MetPlant 2017 Conference.

Abstracts can be found at the AusIMM MetPlant conference website (http://www.metplant.ausimm.com.au/abstract_list)

Full papers published in the Conference Proceedings can be purchased from the AusIMM website http://www.ausimm.com.au/productcatalog/search.aspx .