Tag Archives: Orway IQ

Gekko installs OLGA, Carbon Scout solutions at Gruyere as part of collaborative project

Automation, IoT, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining services, Mining software, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Gekko Systems, as part of a collaborative project to collect and analyse real-time gold reconciliations and automate gold processing plants, has installed its OLGA and Carbon Scout solutions at the Gruyere gold mine in Western Australia.

In October 2020, METS Ignited Industry Growth Centre announced the consortium of Gold Fields, Orway IQ, CSIRO, Curtin University and Gekko Systems as recipients of the Tranche 4 Collaborative Project Funds. The METS Ignited funding will assist the development of this project.

In a world-first, the project draws together a range of technologies, including the Gekko OLGA and Carbon Scout, and skill sets that are the first step to truly understanding what is happening in a gold production plant in real time and will eventually lead to a fully autonomous gold plant, Gekko said.

Gekko recently installed the OLGA and Carbon Scout at Gruyere (a joint venture between Gold Fields and Gold Road Resources), the site where the project will become reality.

“The Gekko OLGA and Carbon Scout will revolutionise the industry’s ability to measure gold circuit inventory and recovery in real time, move it into the digital world and provide opportunity for full automation,” Gekko said.

OLGA is a world first on-stream analyser designed to continuously read low grade gold grades in slurries and solutions, giving operations the ability to see and control their plants in real time, the company says. The alternative traditional sampling methods involve significant delays – of up to one or two days for feedback.

The Carbon Scout is a self-contained, ground-level sampling system to improve carbon concentration measurements in carbon-in-leach and carbon-in-pulp circuits to an accuracy of ±0.5 grams of carbon per litre of pulp. Uniquely, multiple other data points include slurry density, pH, DO and gold loading on carbon, Gekko explained. Data profiles are provided in every tank, every hour.

“The combination of OLGA and Carbon Scout, supported by the Gekko Sample Delivery System, means all CIL/CIP sampling can be done conveniently and safely at ground level,” it said. “Each tank is sampled by a patented pumpless delivery system. All samples in the plant including leach feed and tails will be delivered through this system to potentially alleviate the need for expensive cross-cut samples.”

The team of Orway IQ will deliver the data through the Trinity program. With the MillROC data system and the Gekko technical team using the data for system analytics.

The ultimate aim of the project is to have gold process and recovery data being analysed within minutes rather than days from anywhere in the world and for production to be adapted to reflect this data, Gekko said.

Collaborative project featuring Gold Fields looks to revolutionise gold plant data analysis

Automation, IoT, Metallurgy, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , , ,

Gold Fields, Orway IQ, CSIRO, Curtin University and Gekko Systems have come together to commercialise a complete solution package for collecting and analysing gold plant data in real time.

This is a process that will revolutionise the industry’s ability to measure circuit inventory and recovery in real time, move it into the digital world and provide opportunity for full automation, according to Gekko.

Earlier this month, METS Ignited Industry Growth Centre announced the consortium as recipients of the Tranche 4 Collaborative Project Funds. The METS Ignited funding will assist the development of a system to collect and analyse real-time gold reconciliations and automate gold processing plants by providing the technology, software, skills and expertise to the miners as an integrated package.

“In a world-first, the project draws together a range of technologies and skill sets that are the first step to truly understanding what is happening in a gold production plant in real time and will eventually lead to a fully autonomous gold plant,” Gekko said.

METS Ignited CEO, Adrian Beer, said the project funding is supporting the commercialisation of innovation developed in partnership with industry, research and Australia’s mining equipment technology and services (METS) companies.

“The METS Ignited Collaborative Project Funds are a catalyst for industry collaboration to enable commercial pathways for Australian technology to deliver global results,” he said.

Gold Field’s Processing Projects Coordinator, Matt Dixon, said the value of this collaboration was having information available in real time to make decisions.

“The METS Ignited project is looking to integrate multiple technologies to achieve a step change in the automation and optimisation of gold processing,” he said. “Recent innovations by CSIRO and Curtin University, in partnership with Gekko Systems, are now making the potential to monitor gold in real time a reality.”

Gold Fields has chosen the Gruyere gold mine (owned 50:50 with Gold Road Resources) as the site to install and test these technologies, according to Dixon.

“Combining the OLGA (OnLine Gold Analyser, pictured) and Carbon Scout, with newly developed data capture and analytics technologies, aims to provide a step change to how we measure, monitor and optimise gold recovery,” he said.

This is a “world-first project”, creating a technological capability that does not yet exist anywhere else in the gold sector, according to Dixon.

The project will address current difficulties in accounting for gold during production, lag times in assessing data and adapting procedures to maximise production from the data provided and the safety around a number of those procedures.

The ultimate aim is to have gold process and recovery data being analysed within minutes rather than days from anywhere in the world and for production to be adapted to reflect this data, Gekko said.

New leadership at remote optimisation consulting company

Comminution of minerals, IoT, Mineral processing, Mining people, Mining services, Mining software, Sustainable mining, , , ,

Orway IQ has named former Sibanye-Stillwater employee Marnu Lombaard as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Lombaard, who was named company chief with effect from May, takes over from Fred Kock who filled the role temporarily during the establishment phase of the business development, the company said. Kock remains a Director and Technical Consultant within the business.

Lombaard joins the company from Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold segment where he held the position of Vice President Metallurgy and Surface operations.

“Marnu brings to the position a wealth of knowledge and an array of experiences in the mining industry on a national and global level,” Orway said. “His expertise in technology, global strategy and leadership combined with his strong operational experience in the mining industry, make him ideally suited to accelerate our remote optimisation consulting solution (MillROC) to the mineral processing industry.”

MillROC, a joint venture project between Orway Mineral Consultants and Process IQ, is focused on delivering a remote optimisation consulting service for the mineral processing industry. The cloud-based system is initially focusing on comminution circuits.

“The Orway IQ Board feels Marnu’s vision for our company leverages our strong digital foundations, embraces an innovation mindset, builds on our customer-centric culture and invests in the capability of our people,” the company said.

Orway and Process IQ form JV focused on remote mineral processing consulting

Automation, Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , , , , ,

Orway Mineral Consultants (OMC) and Process IQ say they have formed an incorporated joint venture, Orway IQ Pty Ltd, to deliver a remote optimisation consulting service for the mineral processing industry.

MillROC (Milling Remote Optimisation Consulting) will initially focus on comminution circuits, the partners said.

Headquartered in Western Australia, Orway IQ is led by Pieter Strobos (Chairman of the Board), Fred Kock (CEO), Brian Putland and Daniel Van Der Spuy (Executive Directors).

Process IQ, meanwhile, was among eight companies nationally to share in A$15.6 million ($10.6 million) of funding to support collaboration and innovation, and address mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector priorities, as announced earlier this year.

Its project, which included Orway as one of three partners, was aimed at enabling grinding experts to interact directly and in real time with grinding circuits on remote mine sites to ensure they are operating at their most productive levels. “The project will develop automated artificial intelligence software to emulate the experts as there is very limited supply of this specialist expertise, leading to increased processing efficiency globally,” METS Ignited said.

The joint venture draws on Orway’s expertise in comminution design, modelling and optimisation and Process IQ’s expertise in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cloud-based computing, process control, automation and instrumentation, the companies said. Together the companies claim to have served the mining industry for more than 50 years.

Orway IQ’s MillROC uses real-time data in online process models and communicates the findings to the client, according to the companies. The product is a cloud-based reporting of all plant data related to circuit performance and optimisation, available anytime, anywhere – via the internet. Orway IQ expert consultants review circuits from around the world daily from its operations centre in Perth.

Orway’s Strobos said: “The joint venture company is aligned with the METS Ignited initiative to assist with the growth and innovation of the business. Process IQ, OMC and now Orway IQ are at the forefront of the digital transformation in the mining industry, having been recognised for their ground-breaking work in this space.”

Strobos continued: “We are receiving tremendous support from both Federal and State government and our consulting service, MillROC, has been recognised as having huge implications as a new product category for the mining industry.”

Orway IQ has also been chosen to participate in the RISE Accelerator program supported by the Western Australia Government Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, The Queensland Government, NERA and METS Ignited – which is run by KPMG. The program has been developed to spearhead innovation into industry and equip METS companies with the skills, capabilities and support to develop their innovation and grow their businesses.