St Barbara Limited says it has safely and successfully installed an MMD Sizer at its Simberi mine, in Papua New Guinea, a key component of the project’s pre-expansion growth capital.
The new MMD Sizer arrived at Simberi on February 4 and was transported to the Sorowar run-of-mine (ROM) pad on February 7, 2024. Over the last week, the sizer was safely and successfully installed, assembled and commissioned on time and well under budget.
The sizer exceeded all commissioning targets with product size testing achieving P100 passing 150 mm, compared with the objective of P80 passing 150 mm, providing a finer product size than anticipated to the SAG mill. The sizer was then handed over to operations and has achieved practical completion, along with more than 6,000 t of ore sized in the first two shifts.
SAG mill performance has also improved following the January shutdown, which included a reset of operating parameters and changes to the liner and lifter set up. Throughput per hour has increased to above target since restart after completion of the shutdown. The successful commissioning of the sizer, together with improved SAG mill performance, is a key milestone for operational improvement expectations for H2 of FY25.
Two excavators have also arrived at Simberi, with one already in operations and the second in the process of handover after assembly was completed yesterday.
Back in August, St Barbara announced that it had ordered a semi-mobile MMD 625 Series Sizer to replace the current feeder-breaker that feeds the aerial rope conveyor (RopeCon) at the operation. The sizer was intended to be used over the next few years, in a skid-mounted configuration, to provide greater crushing capacity and improved product size on the more competent ore that is being exposed in the deeper parts of the Sorowar orebody. This will improve the RopeCon availability and present a finer feed size to the milling circuit.
St Barbara Managing Director and CEO, Andrew Strelein, said: “The installation of the new MMD Sizer is key component of the crushing circuit and will enable the delivery of a consistent ore feed to the SAG mill circuit and improve overall availability and throughput rate.”