Tag Archives: Comminution

Sandvik brings automation and connectivity elements to 800i series cone crushers

Sandvik is connecting its 800i series cone crushers with the latest Automation and Connective System, ACS-c 5 as it looks to continue a design philosophy based on evolution of parts, materials and technologies to improve the reliability, availability and productivity customers rely on.

“The upgraded 800i crushers with new ACS-c 5 are a natural next step in setting the bar for crushing,” Javier Valdeavellano, Lifecycle Manager 800i cone crushers, said. “Their ideal combination of high crushing forces, reliability and simplicity make them easier to operate, manage, maintain and service – leading to productivity and uptime gains that are game changers for operational performance.”

The crushers combine robust mechanical design with powerful automation to better support diverse operational roles, Sandvik says. Having access to operational insights, combined with simplicity and reliability, ensure the team’s ability to run a smooth operation while reaching their targets.

Sandvik 800i crushers are designed from the ground up to maximise tonnage of the desired end product. By selecting the right chamber configuration and setting the crusher program for the automation system, operators can simply start crushing.

Sandvik said: “Simplicity of mechanical design is key to maximum reliability and availability. Sandvik 800i crushers have evolved with new mechanical and automation advantages that simplify service and troubleshooting, improve safety, and optimise performance while minimising downtime.”

Upgraded 800i crushers target installed inefficiency in operating mines, as well as in greenfields. For example, in flowsheets including three-stage crushing and conventional grinding, assisting SAG/AG circuits with pebble crushing, and optimising particle size distribution for lump ores and heap leach applications. The 800i crushers are also suitable in high pressure grinding roll circuits. They crush more and deliver finer particle sizes to the downstream processes, according to Sandvik.

800i crushers are ready to be connected to the SAM by Sandvik cloud-based digital assistant, the company’s evolving data capture and analysis service supporting operational excellence in crushing and screening plants.

Ali Jumaa, Digital Solution Specialist at Sandvik, said: “SAM collects information from all your connected Sandvik equipment to provide a complete overview of your entire operation. Look at the status of your connected equipment, communicate across teams, view alerts and notifications, proactively order spare parts and much more. The new SAM mobile app for iOS and Android allows you to have access to crusher data and insights in your pocket.”

Weir Minerals completes Enduron HPGR first at mine site

Weir Minerals continues to make inroads in the comminution market, with the company having achieved a major high pressure grinding roll (HPGR) milestone during 2023, Weir Group’s 2023 financial year results confirmed.

In a Weir Group report that highlighted flat year-on-year orders and a 16% increase in adjusted profit, the Minerals division noted a significant increase in its aftermarket solutions.

“This reflects growth in our installed base, and our increased strategic focus on this area,” Weir Group said in the results. “A particular highlight was an order from a large copper mine in South America, where our customer ordered Enduron® rollers for their HPGR.”

The installation will be the first instance of Weir Minerals’ rollers being fitted to a competitor’s HPGR, enabling the company to showcase the performance and reliability benefits of its technology, it said.

It concluded on this area: “More generally, the pipeline for our HPGR remains strong with a number of projects advancing materially throughout the year.”

Weir Minerals says the Enduron HPGR is a market proven model with the mechanical design to support efficient and durable skewing thanks to its unique bearing arrangement and control philosophy. It has a unique roll diameter-width ratio, which maximises throughput at the desired product grind. Self-adjusting cheek plates provide equal sealing distance as flanges at minimum costs, according to the OEM.

Alongside this, Weir Minerals also gained further market share in 2023 in mill circuit pumps, converting over 85% of its competitive field trials.

FLSmidth to deliver ball mills, HPGRs to South America copper miner

Following a long-standing relationship with the customer, FLSmidth says it has received an order to supply comminution technologies to a leading copper miner in South America for its new greenfield concentrator.

The order is valued at approximately DKK380 million ($56 million) and was booked in the March quarter of 2024. The equipment is due to be delivered during 2025.

The order includes the delivery of two ball mills and three high pressure grinding rolls (HPGRs). The latter is among the most energy-efficient comminution technologies, as it lowers power consumption, while providing a more stable grinding operation and eliminating the need for grinding media, according to the OEM.

This new order builds on a long-standing relationship with the customer, where FLSmidth has supplied most of the equipment for its original concentrator as well as provided maintenance, spare parts and process support services over the years.

Mikko Keto, CEO at FLSmidth, said: “Receiving new orders from existing customers is always confirmation of a healthy and strong customer relationship. And it is particularly satisfying in this case as the customer is purchasing their first HPGRs and have selected our market leading technology. We look forward to supplying this best-in-class comminution package to positively contribute to both the output and operation of this new copper concentrator.

“This order not only supports our MissionZero ambition, it also clearly underpins FLSmidth’s market leading position within large grinding mills and HPGR.”

Metso to deliver a high-capacity grinding mill for Bomboré gold mine expansion

Orezone Gold Corp has awarded Metso an order for an 18 MW SAG mill for the Phase II Expansion at its Bomboré gold mine in Burkina Faso.

Christoph Hoetzel, SVP, Grinding business line at Metso, said: “The Premier™ SAG mill to be delivered to Bomboré is part of our Planet Positive offering thanks to its energy efficiency.

“This high-capacity SAG mill, which will be one of the largest gear driven mills installed in Africa, is based on proven technology. It features an efficient LSS drive, and a Polymer Hydrostatic Shoe Bearing system, which significantly improves radial and axial bearing reliability and longevity. It is also equipped with the Metso MillSense™ mill charge sensor system, which helps to stabilise and optimise the grinding process to ensure reliable operation and increased throughput.”

In October 2023, Orezone released the results of an expansion study which will incorporate a 4.4 Mt/y hard-rock plant to the 5.9 Mt/y oxide plant for a total processing rate of 10.3 Mt/y – a significant increase in gold production at a low incremental capital cost, it says. First gold from the hard-rock plant is scheduled for the September quarter of 2025.

Metso says it offers the industry’s widest range of horizontal grinding mills, including Premier and Select™ mills. These mills, Metso says, can be easily integrated with its mill relining equipment and are supported by the company’s extensive services network to ensure optimisation during the mills’ lifetime.

Metso also offers a comprehensive mill linings range and relining services, with materials and designs optimised for each specific application.

Weir Group highlights energy, emission reduction opportunities in comminution study

The Weir Group has completed a comprehensive study that highlights a significant opportunity to reduce energy use and emissions in comminution by leveraging three alternative technology combinations.

The study, presented by Paula Cousins, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer at Weir, during a COP28 panel discussion hosted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan and moderated by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), showed that replacing conventional technology with innovative new solutions can cut energy use by 40% while also avoiding 50% of CO2e emissions.

Weir’s study focuses on comminution – the crushing process that turns big rocks into tiny particles to expose the entrapped mineral so that it can be extracted later in the mining process. Comminution is the most energy intensive stage of a typical mine site process. It is already electrified and is responsible for at least one-third of an average mine’s energy use and CO2e emissions1 and globally consumes around 3% of the world’s electrical power, according to studies.

The study is the first to use WBCSD’s Avoided Emissions Guidance to study mining processes and the avoided emissions results have been independently assured by SLR Consulting Limited, Weir says. Three of Weir’s technology combinations were evaluated against a conventional comminution circuit design for an archetypal mine processing 15 Mt/y of copper ore in Chile. All three of the technology combinations are shown to yield sizeable benefits versus the traditional circuit.

In the optimal combination, the comminution process consumes around 40% less energy and can avoid up to 50% of CO2e emissions. Importantly, there is no trade off elsewhere, as the redefined process uses less water too, according to the study.

Each circuit is based on a ‘rock to recovery’ system boundary – reducing rock direct from the mine to a size that enables the mineral to be recovered. The four configurations are:

  • Conventional comminution circuit based on a Semi-Autogenous Grinding (SAG) mill and ball mill (SABC circuit);
  • Weir High Pressure Grinding Roller (HPGR) replacing the SAG mill at the initial grinding stage (2C HPGR BM);
  • HPGR, plus vertical stirred mill (VSM) replacing the ball mill (2C HPGR VSM); and
  • Addition of a coarse particle flotation (CPF) unit (2C HPGR VSM and CPF).

These assessments focus on the use-phase of the life-cycle only; other life-cycle phases have been excluded because previously studies have shown these to be immaterially small across all comparisons (<1% of energy and emissions impact). Assessments have been made using a “year-on-year” timeframe approach. Comparative impacts have been assessed only in terms of energy use, grinding media consumption, and associated emissions, since other environmental trade-offs were deemed immaterial for comparison.

Given its energy intensity, the decarbonisation opportunities in comminution are huge, with the basic comminution process not having changed significantly for many decades, Weir says.

The company is collaborating with customers and other partners to redefine the process, developing innovative combinations of proven technologies to make significant improvements to efficiency and environmental performance.

Cousins said: “The need for technology solutions in mining is compelling – the world needs more transition metals to achieve net zero, but the mining industry needs to extract these using significantly less energy and water.

“By adopting a systems-based approach to technology collaborations, we can help the mining industry scale up and clean up at the same time.”

 

CEEC-GlobalWaterInitiative

Weir and Agnico Eagle sign up to CEEC Global Water Initiative

CEEC International, an independent global not-for-profit committed to accelerating the adoption of eco-efficient minerals and metals production practices, has welcomed both Weir and Agnico Eagle Mines as premium sponsors and early adopters of its Global Water Initiative.

Weir, a respected provider of engineered solutions to the resources sector, shares CEEC’s mission to drive the adoption of eco-efficient practices within the industry. Its renewed support as a premium sponsor underscores the company’s dedication to advancing sustainable minerals and metals production, according to CEEC.

The support from Agnico, a major gold producer, signifies a strategic alliance and collaboration aimed at promoting sustainable mineral processing and improved understanding of water management within the resources sector, CEEC said, with the association between the two companies grounded in a shared vision to accelerate the adoption of eco-efficient practices in the resources sector.

The Global Water Initiative, officially launching at the MetPlant 2023 Conference, being held on November 5-8 in Adelaide, Australia, is a critical step towards addressing water management and risk mitigation in the resources sector. The initiative seeks to build a shared understanding, identify gaps and outline necessary actions to ensure responsible water usage within the industry.

CEEC’s mission is to facilitate knowledge sharing, cross-sector collaboration and advocacy of eco-efficient practices within the global resources sector. By disseminating research findings, analytical tools and innovative solutions, CEEC aims to reduce energy and water consumption, as well as other associated impacts in mining, processing and refining of minerals, it says.

CEEC International says it encourages industry stakeholders to join the initiative, contribute to the discussions and collectively shape a more sustainable future for water management within the resources sector.

BJD Crushers wins Hammermill order from DRC copper producer

BJD Crushers Limited, the UK-based manufacturer of crushing and size reduction equipment, has recently supplied a major order of its crushing machinery to a new copper mine and smelting plant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The order includes the manufacture of two BJD 24 x 30 Hammermills with 90 kW drives, both running at 40 t/h. The machines will be used for processing copper concentrate from rotary dryers at the Kamoa-Kakula mine in the DRC, IM understands.

Used worldwide in the reduction of friable and fibrous materials, BJD’s Hammermill crushers can be supplied with adjustable breaker plates, produce high reduction ratios and feature capacities of up to 500 t/h, depending on duty, the company says. The whole project at the plant is due for completion in 2024/2025.

The contract, which was awarded following BJD’s successful completion of a similar project for Poland’s largest copper mine, took eight months from the initial order to shipment. It was delivered on schedule and within budget.

Peter Mills, Senior Project Consultant at BJD Crushers, explains: “We were honoured to supply BJD Hammermills to one of the world’s largest copper mining projects following previous success in this sector. The customer envisages a 19 Mt/y production scenario and required industry proven machinery to service this high-grade copper mining operation. The BJD Hammermills will be used to reduce the copper concentrate oversize material to a predicted 2mm particle size.”

BJD Crusher’s experience in the design and manufacture of crushing and size reduction equipment spans more than 80 years and covers a wide variety of applications, it says. Its equipment can be found working successfully in primary, secondary and tertiary applications around the world.

Metso to supply SAG mills and mill liners to Origin Mining’s Mineral Park project

Metso says it has been awarded orders for the delivery of grinding plant equipment to Origin Mining Company’s brownfield Mineral Park Mill Restart project in the US.

Origin Mining is managed under the Waterton Global Resource Management umbrella of investments, with Mineral Park in a historic, copper-rich mining district next to Kingman, Arizona. The total value of the order is €16 million ($17.4 million).

Metso’s scope of delivery includes two Planet Positive Premier® SAG mills and Skega Poly-Met™ mill liners, and the possibility to supply other comminution and beneficiation process equipment technologies later.

Jack McMahon, President of Origin Mining, said: “We have been impressed with Metso’s commitment to support our vision to grow the USA copper supply. Metso’s leading comminution and beneficiation process equipment technologies will help us do our part to contribute to the transition to an electrified future.

“Metso has actively supported the project in a time responsive, technical and open manner, allowing for ’fit for purpose’ process solutions. We also value Metso’s ability to provide the necessary value added after-sales services in Arizona to support our operation.”

Tim Robinson, Vice President, Minerals Sales in North and Central America at Metso, said: “We are very excited to support Origin Mining in their drive to develop and supply locally key battery minerals, like copper, in the USA. Our industry-leading products and large service team in Arizona is committed to supporting them in this quest.”

FLSmidth to deliver MissionZero comminution equipment to KCGM gold operations

Northern Star Resources Ltd has placed an order for a wide range of FLSmidth mineral processing technologies for its Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) Operations’ mill expansion project, according to the Denmark-headquartered OEM.

KCGM Operations are east-northeast of Perth in Western Australia, part of one of the richest goldfields in the world, the so-called Golden Mile close to the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

The order is valued at approximately DKK 515 million ($75.1 million) and was booked in the June quarter of 2023. The equipment is due to be delivered during 2024.

Under the agreement, FLSmidth will supply a range of MissionZero products covering most of the flowsheet, including SAG mill, ball mill, primary crusher, pebble crushers, flotation cells and a pre-leach thickener. In addition to these technologies, the order also includes spare and wear parts. Upon installation, these technologies will substantially reduce the mine’s energy consumption.

The 20 MW grinding mills will be the highest power, gear-driven mills in the world and the ball mill will be the first gear driven 28 ft (8.5 m) diameter ball mill, according to FLSmidth.

“This order is yet another important milestone in our ambition to enable zero emission mining by 2030, and we are very pleased with Northern Star Resources’ contribution to fulfilling this ambition,” Mikko Keto, CEO at FLSmidth, said.

This week, Northern Star announced the final investment decision on the KCGM Mill Expansion project, agreeing to invest A$1.5 billion ($1 billion) to boost the mill’s capacity to 27 Mt/y, from 13 Mt/y.

Northern Star Resources’ Managing Director, Stuart Tonkin, said of the FLSmidth order: “Northern Star’s purpose is to generate superior returns for our shareholders, while providing positive benefits for our stakeholders through operational effectiveness, exploration and active portfolio management. Being a responsible producer for the benefit of our shareholders, employees, other stakeholders and the communities in which we operate is key to our sustainable operations. We are pleased to partner with globally leading technology suppliers like FLSmidth in advancing our five-year profitable growth strategy.”