The Global Mining Guidelines Group (GMG) has brought together a project group of global subject matter experts to publish an updated version of the ‘Determining the Bond Efficiency of Industrial Grinding Circuits’ guideline.
The guideline describes the Bond method for quantifying and comparing the relative energy efficiency of most industrial comminution circuits. It’s also an effective teaching tool that can be used by junior engineers looking to understand how to apply this method, according to GMG.
This minor revision of the guideline originally published in 2016 contains additional context and clarification, GMG said.
“The Bond Work Index, published by Fred Bond in 1952, was a revolutionary theory that helped mining engineers measure rock hardness and its resistance to being crushed,” GMG said. “The harder the rock, the more energy it takes to crush it, the higher the mine’s energy bills.”
Rob McIvor, Chief Metallurgist at Metcom Technologies, said: “By relating power consumption in crushing and grinding to the feed and product size distribution, the Bond Work Index and Bond Work Index Efficiency are widely accepted throughout industry as the standard benchmarking tool essential for the design, improvement and management of comminution circuits. Metcom Technologies has continuously promoted and trained others in Bond’s methods as a required element for process improvement of mineral comminution circuits.”
Leonard Hill, Director of Metallurgy and Strategic Planning Technical Services, Freeport-McMoRan, agreed with this assessment, saying: “As we move towards defining and reducing the cost of carbon in our industry, understanding and optimising energy usage at mining operations has become a high priority. ‘Determining the Bond Efficiency of Industrial Grinding Circuits’ is a practical GMG guideline that can be used by operators and designers to evaluate the energy usage efficiency of comminution circuits. It provides a step-by-step method for collecting samples, analysing data and calculating the Bond Work Index efficiency ratio of a circuit for benchmarking and identifying process improvement opportunities.”
McIvor added: “The numerous contributions of comminution experts from around the globe has led to this rigorously vetted guide for the determination of Bond efficiency in industrial grinding circuits.”
Andrew Scott, GMG Vice-Chair Working Groups, and National Cluster Development Manager, METS Ignited, said: “GMG’s goal when facilitating these collaborative opportunities is to end up with a product that helps drive the industry forward. Our member mining companies and subject matter experts from within the mining community asked us to provide a neutral, collaborative space where they could update the previous guideline and ultimately publish a timely and educational product.”
Photo credit: Grindingsolutions.com