The winners are Newmont Global and Improvements and Electric Pulse Breakage Technology as CEEC announces 2017 dual CEEC Medal winners. This year CEEC celebrates two outstanding publications, acknowledging exceptional research advances and outstanding leadership in operational improvement.

In 2017, the winner of the CEEC Medal in the Technical Research category is Fengnian (Frank) Shi, Weiran Zuo and Emmy Manlapig for their paper titled Pre-concentration of copper ores by high voltage pulses. Part 2: Opportunities and challenges”, published by Minerals Engineering in 2015.

In 2017, the winner of the CEEC Medal in the Operations category is Grinding Circuit Practices at Newmont by Aidan Giblett and Steven Hart, presented at the AusIMM’s Mill Operators Conference in 2016.

The CEEC Medal is a prestigious annual award for the most outstanding published papers, articles or case studies profiling beneficial strategies for eco-efficient comminution and mineral processing.

In 2017, nominations for the 2017 CEEC medal were submitted from a wide number of conferences and technical publications from around the globe. Nominations were impressive not only in terms of the record number of papers nominated but also in the quality of the papers. The CEEC Medal Evaluation Committee reviewed nominated papers assessing aspects such as applicability, supporting research and documentation, prospective impact, potential energy savings, and presentation style.

This year the competition was extraordinarily high and the assessments very close, with nine of the 18 papers within close ranking to be potential winners. Although all papers ranked highly, Frank Shi and his team’s winning paper in the Technical Research category outlined an approach to preconcentrating copper ores by high voltage pulses which is a potential game-changer technology, with potential to transform the energy efficiency and productivity of mining and mineral processing operations. SMI-JKMRC are initiating a collaboratively sponsored research program with the objective of realising this potential.

Equally, Giblett and Hart’s winning paper in the Operational category shared Newmont’s challenges and approach to improvement in grinding practices across 12 operations worldwide. This was an exceptional contribution to the global mining industry by sharing learnings, practical solutions applied to different situations and clear guidance on how to reduce risks and improve performance. This provides important insights for the global mining sector on effective operations, optimisation approaches and design and test work improvement that may significantly improve productivity and energy efficiency at other operations worldwide.

CEEC also acknowledged the following exceptional shortlisted nominations. High Commendations were conferred to the authors of the following exceptional publication demonstrating excellence in the Technical Research category:

• C G Kelsey and J R Kelly for their paper titled Super-fine crushing – Pivotal comminution technology from IMP Technologies Pty Ltd, presented and published at International Mineral Processing Congress 2016 in Quebec City, Canada.

High Commendations were conferred to the authors of the following exceptional publications demonstrating excellence in the Operations category:

• G R Ballantyne, N Clarke, P Elms, A Anyimadu and M S Powell for their paper Application of Research Principles to Identify Process Improvement at Sunrise Dam Gold Mine, presented and published at MetPlant 2015 in Perth, Australia
• A Giblett and M Daniel for their paper titled Global Mining Standards and Guidelines for Determining Comminution Circuit Efficiency, presented and published at The AusIMM’s 2016 Mill Operators Conference in Perth, Australia
• C Carrasco, L Keeney, T J Napier-Munn and P Bode for their paper titled Unlocking additional value by optimising comminution strategies to process Grade Engineering® streams”, published in Minerals Engineering journal 103-104 (2017), 2-10
• J –F Dupont, J McMullen and D Rose for their paper titled The Effect of Choke Feeding a Gyratory Crusher on Throughput and Product Size, presented and published at the 49th Annual Canadian Mineral Processors Operators Conference in Ottawa 2017.

The for the 2018 CEEC Medal will open on October 15. Details on the process and requirements can now be found on CEEC’s web site.

CEEC Director and Medal Evaluation Committee Chair, Dr Zeljka Pokrajcic stated: “Giblett and Hart’s paper is an outstanding example of approaches to successfully improve grinding performance in different mines, plants and locations, for a range of ore characteristics and circuit configurations. It serves as an inspiration to operators tackling operational challenges, and wanting to improve productivity and performance.

“Shi et al’s work is a genuinely disruptive development that attacks many fronts: sizing, liberation, reduction, and downstream energy and productivity. It has potential to significantly change the way mining companies liberate valuable minerals. It has the potential to disrupt and significantly advance processing approaches and energy consumption.”

“CEEC sincerely thanks all who nominated for the 2017 CEEC Medal. This year saw a record number of submissions with exceptional quality. We strongly encourage continued excellence demonstrated by all authors and groups working in the pivotal area of comminution and mineral processing. Finding and sharing solutions may transform future productivity and offer transformational energy efficient and sustainable minerals production for the world.”

CEEC’s CEO Alison Keogh: “Although SelFrag and Shi’s team’s high voltage pulse particle breakage technology approach is early-stage, the impact if successful could be broad and far-reaching. Shi, Zuo and Manlapig’s outstanding publication outlines an exciting, potential industry-changing advance in energy-efficient comminution and mining.”

“By supporting Giblett and Hart to share their learnings, Newmont is demonstrating leadership to the global mining industry, and a commitment to improvement, innovation and collaboration. Newmont via Giblett and Hart passes on experiences learnt by Newmont over the past 15 years, fostering collaboration and information sharing. Newmont’s willingness to share this information and collaborate deserves strong recognition and special mention.”

“CEEC congratulates the medal winners and highly commended shortlisted nominees for publishing outstanding contributions to the industry. CEEC is proud to share leading advances and successful operational approaches to help global mining companies find the best solutions for their operations. Smart crushing, grinding and complementary technologies can improve costs, reduce footprint, reduce energy intensity and enhance productivity.”

CEEC, a global not-for-profit company, is funded wholly by valued sponsorship from the mineral industry – Anglo American, Antofagasta Minerals, Ausenco, Barrick Gold, Bechtel, CITIC-HIC, CRC Ore, Donhad, FL Smidth, Freeport McMoran, Gekko Systems, Glencore Technology, Goldcorp, Hatch, Metso, New Gold Inc, Orica, Oz Minerals, PETRA Data Science, Sandvik, Steinert, TOMS Institute and Weir Minerals.