COMMINUTION & CRUSHING
FLS offers two technologies for modern regrind circuits : FTM , a vertical agitated steel media mill ( pictured ), and the VXPmill , a vertical stirred ceramic media mill
Yet , when it comes to comminution and crushing , there were several products the company looked to highlight .
“ The acquisition of TK Mining established FLS ’ position as a market leader in HPGR mill technology ,” FLS said . “ It is well proven that HPGRs help reduce energy consumption in mineral processing operations .”
The company has recently launched the HPGR Pro that , it says , comes with even more benefits .
This machine offers up to 20 % increased throughput capacity , up to 15 % energy savings and as much as 30 % extended roll life , according to the company .
More broadly , FLS says it has successfully delivered over 80 ‘ dry finish ’ grinding projects to mining customers and is currently investigating
various new solutions in dry processing . This is outside of the conventional SAG and ball mill dynamic .
Like some of its peers , FLS is looking to upscale designs for its coarse particle flotation ( CPF ) technology , coarseAIR™ , developed by Professor Kevin Galvin of the University of Newcastle in Australia , to further reduce grinding circuit energy as well as minimise water requirements .
CPF technology achieves this by recovering the valuable minerals at a coarse size and rejecting the waste material to tailings before further grinding .
“ It is estimated that the use of CPF can reduce the energy consumption from between 10-30 % depending on the grinding technology being used , with the added benefit of having coarser tailings that take significantly less energy to dewater ,” the company added .
Therefore CPF is at the heart of FLS ’ MissionZero Mine ‘ flowsheet of the future ’, with the technology expected to be applicable to many metal ores required in the green transition .
“ In this flowsheet , the resulting coarse concentrate requires regrinding before further flotation to achieve required grades in the final concentrate ,” the company said . “ FLS offers two technologies for modern regrind circuits : FTM , a vertical agitated steel media mill , and the VXPmill , a vertical stirred ceramic media mill .”
Both vertical mills achieve liberationcritical grind sizes while reducing energy and media consumption when compared with horizontal ball mills , according to FLS . Both FTM and VXP are also flexible in their operating parameters to allow operations-specific adjustments to minimise the carbon footprint .
FLS is running a project which aims to scale-up its coarseAIR™ CPF cell technology . This project includes engineering an economically viable demonstration plant . It says it has already developed several CPF-based flowsheets that can potentially deliver energy reductions . One of these is focused on recovering valuable minerals from old mine tailings .
FLS also says it offers two technologies for modern regrind circuits that can reduce energy and grinding media consumption , while also reducing mill footprint and concrete foundation mass .
This reduction of energy stands it in good stead in a future dominated by renewable energy-backed grids , it says , with the more energy-efficient a mineral processing operation is , the higher the viability of switching to renewable power generation that may not be able to generate as much power as fossil fuel back grids .
Yet , like other full flowsheet providers , FLS continues to come up against the issue of the continuous nature of traditional mineral processing flowsheets .
“ Typically , the bulk of the plant runs 24 hours , 7 days a week for 52 weeks a year , ideally with minimum stoppage for maintenance work ,” it explained . “ Each time the process must stop there is typically shutdown and ramp-up time while performance is coming to the operating state . Typically , during this period process efficiency is low .
“ Utilising a renewable power source , which can abruptly stop , unplanned , is a major challenge .”
Yet , it says adapting flowsheets , based around intermittent power supply , and utilising load scheduling , is starting to be investigated by the mining industry .
“ HPGR and VRM technology is well suited to be used in conjunction with renewable energy sources that may experience fluctuations in power output ,” the company said . “ HPGRs and VRMs can be turned on and off in minutes allowing an operation to actively balance power demand with generation .
“ VRMs and HPGRs can also be designed to operate with a variable speed drive that can adjust to the changing power supply , allowing for even more efficient and flexible operation .”
FLS also offers other solutions that can substantially reduce the installed power requirement , as well as the average power demand , it says , highlighting out-of-pit and overland conveyors in its in-pit crushing and conveying offering .
Lastly , FLS has developed several solutions for water and tailings management that are relevant for optimising flowsheets that incorporate CPF .
For example , the company ' s EcoPaste™ and EcoTails™ solutions focus on increasing process water recycling by filtering coarse tailings using vacuum filtration and then mixing them with finer , thickened paste or filter cake tailings and waste rock / overburden to form geotechnically stable , and safer , tailings storage facilities .
FLS concluded : “ FLS ’ technology solutions are well suited for optimising flowsheets that include coarse particle flotation , which help reduce energy consumption , minimise water requirements , and produce coarser tailings , all while maintaining high recovery rates .”
CITIC providing comminution consistency
One of the more recent high profile accolades CITIC Heavy Industries Co Ltd ( CITIC HIC ) received in the mining sector has come from the
CITIC HIC supplied four sets of Φ6.1 x 9.75 m ball mills to bring processing capacity at the Kamoa-Kakula mine up to 7.6 Mt / y as part of the development of Phases 1 & 2 ( photo : Ivanhoe Mines )
46 International Mining | APRIL 2024