COMMINUTION
mills or stirred mills . The company , as the exclusive distributor of Swiss Tower Mills ’ HIGmill™ , also has a fine grinding option .
“ The interesting point is , today , we can combine much more of these technologies in different combinations and create solutions that epitomise the saying , ‘ the sum of the parts is greater than the whole ,’” Hoetzel said .
One such example was seen recently in a contract award from Barrick Gold for its majorityowned Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan .
Here Metso is expected to deliver a two-stage regrind circuit consisting of a Vertimill™ and HIGmill operating in series to optimise the overall energy-efficiency and operating cost . In this solution , the feed particle size capability of the Vertimill would be combined with the fine grinding and particle conditioning of the HIGmill to create a complementary solution like Hoetzel highlighted .
“ As a combination , these complementary technologies are able to shift the overall energy consumption for that mine significantly downwards ,” he said .
Such decisions do not happen overnight , with Hoetzel referencing the hundreds of hours of testing carried out in test centres like the one the company has in York , USA , to settle on an appropriate flowsheet design .
Such physical facilities are complemented by a metallurgical digital twin , like Metso ’ s Geminex™ , which provides new insights to enable better management of the production chain despite variability in ore feed , processes and equipment .
It is these capabilities , plus a huge bank of knowledge and experience within the Metso organisation , that are likely to lead to further uptake of future-facing flowsheets that combine existing and ‘ new ’ technology , according to Hoetzel . He pointed to another two examples here . First up is the combination of AG mills and Vertimills in a rare flowsheet pairing at South32 ’ s greenfield Hermosa project in Arizona where the former , in a primary grinding setup , eliminates steel media usage and the latter , in a secondary grinding and regrinding application , improves energy efficiency and reduces steel media consumption .
Second is a comminution and classification equipment order from Nordic Mining ASA for its Engebø rutile and garnet greenfield project in Norway , where Metso will be providing both a Premier™ Rod mill and Vertimill in a grinding setup , plus UltraFine Series™ screens for classification , offering energy efficiency and the sharpness of product particle size distribution to maximise liberation and minimise losses in fines .
One could also refer to another contract award in South American iron ore where conventional horizontal mills have been replaced with the combination of HRC™e high pressure grinding rolls and Vertimills to achieve an expected 25 % saving on installed power compared with a conventional HPGR / ball mill circuit and an over 40 % saving when compared with a conventional SABC circuit .
Similarly , the delivery of a large dual-pinion Premier™ grinding mill with 22 MW of power and an HRC 2400e HPGR at Montage Gold ’ s Kone project in Côte d ’ Ivoire is expected to produce that sought after combination of high energy efficiency and high throughput , all while offering reduced operational costs .
More multi-stage grinding approaches are being selected as mining companies look for solutions able to offer energy-efficiency , carbon emission and cost benefits , according to Hoetzel .
This is further reinforced by Hoetzel ’ s colleagues up- and down-stream of his favoured grinding segment .
Antti Rinne , VP , Flotation at Metso , said as much : “ Improvements in fine particle recovery that we can now achieve in the flotation process with Concorde Cell require accurate fine grinding technology – and that is exactly what HIGmills are about ; this is a great synergy . But there is also a great synergy with coarse particle flotation and Vertimills , so , as a company , we are getting towards a very strong portfolio .”
Hoetzel concluded : “ Even in more ‘ traditional ’ markets that have historically been super sensitive in terms of cost , there is a push for change . Everybody now realises we must mine more material to meet energy transition goals and , if we want to mine all this material , we need to carry out business in a better way than we did in the past .
“ This is exactly where Metso , as a company , wants to play – at the intersection of solutions that are cost-conscious , energy-efficient and allow mining companies to extract and process minerals and metals in the most sustainable way possible .”
MVR technology , Gebr . Pfeiffer says , offers substantial benefits in terms of energy savings , granting better liberation with higher recoveries , delivering a uniform size reduction with a narrow particle size distribution and having a high reduction size ratio of up to 1,000
MVR business case develops
Last year , IM reported on Gebr . Pfeiffer ’ s entry into the mining comminution sector in this same feature , making clear that the Germany-based company has high expectations for itself and the mining industry . This , it says , is especially in view of the technical advantages of its MVR vertical roller mills in terms of sustainability , a proven technology and the large number of MVRs in operation around the world .
VRM technology , the company says , offers substantial benefits in terms of energy savings , improving liberation with higher recoveries at coarser grinding , delivering a uniform size reduction with a narrow particle size distribution ( PSD ) and having a high reduction size ratio of up to 1,000 .
Gebr . Pfeiffer ’ s CEO , Mathias Dülfer , says the last year has been an exciting one , with the company developing a new product line specifically adopted for mining , providing an ‘ implementation-ready ’ design for a miningfocused MVR plant , working on more than 50 ‘ enquiries ’ related to its technology , and carrying out numerous tests and demonstrations with material from potential customers .
“ As we continue to communicate our proposition to the market , we are also seeing a clear market pull for our technology ,” he told IM . This increasing interest and demand are further evidenced by the appointment of Dr Caroline Woywadt as Managing Director of Gebr . Pfeiffer Mining , the company ' s mining subsidiary .
Woywadt , who came out of the renowned RWTH Aachen University in Germany with a Degree in Mineral Processing ahead of a PhD in Comminution at the same institution , has worked for some of the large Germany-based OEMs in
14 International Mining | MARCH 2025