Tag Archives: Eriez Flotation

Eriez promotes Jaisen Kohmuench to COO position

The Eriez® Board of Directors has appointed Jaisen Kohmuench to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer (COO), a role that will see Kohmuench manage all of the company’s major operations, including Eriez-USA, Eriez Global Flotation and Eriez international businesses.

Kohmuench, already within the Eriez corporate leadership team, will continue to work closely with corporate executives and functional leaders to ensure Eriez’s sustained strategic growth, the company said.

Over the past two decades, Kohmuench has made significant contributions to Eriez, steadily ascending in the organisation across multiple business areas and geographies. He served most recently as Vice President-International, a position he held for three years before accepting this latest promotion to COO.

Kohmuench earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in mining and minerals engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He has spent the entirety of his career with Eriez, joining the company in 2000 as a Process Engineer.

Eriez President and CEO, Lukas Guenthardt, said: “From his earliest days in research and development, through his role managing the US Flotation group and later in an overseas assignment as Managing Director for Eriez-Australia, Jaisen has distinguished himself as a talented leader with tremendous financial and operational acumen. He has developed and directed immediate and long-term business plans and profitable growth initiatives across Eriez’ global magnetic, flotation and service operations sectors.”

Among his many notable career achievements, Kohmuench is credited as an inventor on more than a dozen patents and has authored numerous technical papers for prominent scientific and technical journals.

“With Jaisen’s guidance and the support of his highly skilled worldwide team, Eriez is well-poised to successfully propel our business into the future,” Guenthardt said.

Eriez HydroFloat technology to help improve recoveries at Newcrest’s Cadia operation

Eriez Flotation is to supply four HydroFloat® Separators to Newcrest Mining for use in Stage 2 of the miner’s Cadia Valley Operations (Cadia) expansion project in New South Wales, Australia.

This announcement follows the successful delivery, commissioning and ramp up of four Eriez CrossFlow Separators and two HydroFloats as part of the Cadia Coarse Particle Flotation demonstration plant in 2018.

Eriez Flotation Global Managing Director, Eric Wasmund, says: “When Stage 2 of the Cadia Expansion Project is complete, 100% of the Concentrator 1 tailings will be re-treated, significantly improving overall plant recovery for a coarser primary grind.”

The Stage 2 Cadia Expansion project primarily comprises the addition of a second coarse ore flotation circuit in Concentrator 1, using Eriez’s HydroFloat technology, and equipment upgrades in Concentrator 2, Newcrest said back in October. These changes are expected to see plant capacity go from 33 Mt/y to 35 Mt/y, while life of mine gold and copper recoveries could increase by 3.5% and 2.7%, respectively. Alongside this, the company was expecting a A$22/oz ($16/oz) drop in its all-in sustaining costs.

Newcrest is the first mining company to commercialise HydroFloat coarse particle flotation in sulphides and the first
in a tail scavenging application.

Wasmund added: “Eriez has been very fortunate to partner with Newcrest on coarse particle flotation. As partners we have learned many lessons together.”

Eriez-Australia Managing Director, James Cooke, noted: “During the commissioning of the demonstration plant, Eriez and Newcrest Mining worked closely together to perfect the technology. The decision was subsequently made to expand the application.”