IPCC
IPCC – but not as we knew it
In-pit crushing and conveying systems are not standing still – today especially in hard rock it is about working with trucks not going truckless , plus standardising where possible . Paul Moore reports
Nearly all the big miners are looking at IPCC in one way or another as part of a suite of potential technology deployments to achieve decarbonisation goals , but in conjunction with other things like trolley assist ,
battery and hybrid trucks or combinations thereof . But to be more appealing to miners , IPCC itself has had to change to become more attractive – fully mobile IPCC is not really a focus any more for hard rock , and all-truckless mines are also not really in the mix either .
Standardisation and modularisation is being done where possible , plus working together with trucks not as a wholesale replacement to achieve the best efficiency and low carbon result . IM spoke to FLSmidth and Metso in some detail about these trends , plus caught up with some other players on new projects and innovations . Starting with FLSmidth and economies of scale , Ulrich Mentges , Senior Mining Engineer commented : “ OPEX and decarbonisation are the big factors in IPCC decisions today , whether its very large tonnage operations or smaller operations . The idea of reducing truck haulage and introducing in-pit crushing still makes a lot of sense . Of course the overall benefits for smaller mines will be smaller in cost terms than for a larger project but there will nearly always be some OPEX upside compared to a truck only system ."
Paul Ormsbee , FLSmidth Global Product Line Manager – High Performance Conveyors says efficiency is king and that ’ s what still gets IPCC a seat at the table : “ At a high level , with IPCC you will also need at least some additional planning to get those benefits . We sell on OPEX and more efficient movement of material . But there is no getting away from the fact that inherently IPCC is
Truck fed semi-mobile primary gyratory crushing stations like this one from FLS dominate large hard rock mines today when it comes to IPCC
including those involving IPCC with optimised cut off grades and pit boundaries as a lower OPEX means ultimately a lower cut off grade for many deposits . So this modelling is much , much faster than 20 or even 10 years ago .”
Drescher adds that big advances have also been made in the comminution part of IPCC . “ Looking at the crushing stations , FLS with the acquisition of TK Mining has managed to produce a more standardised crushing station offering , combining the best of a large portfolio of primary crushers from both companies with the very latest crushing station technology . The focus in large mines today for IPCC is on things like modularisation – standard parts and modules of a crushing station with a speedy delivery resulting in an overall reduced project lead time , as we are currently demonstrating on three different continents .”
He continues : “ A major driver for this is also less flexible that the ideal conventional truck and that when you look at many major mining shovel operation . But with that planning , you can regions , the lack of availability and high cost of really take advantage of those benefits in terms skilled labour to erect these systems plus risk of more efficient and more automated material mitigation and a focus on safety means doing movement with far less or zero carbon emissions work in the active mine area is getting more due to the fact IPCC is already electrified . When difficult and complex – the mining companies you talk large scale versus small scale , as Ulrich want as much of the assembly work done away stated , with large mines the IPCC payback tends from the minesite as possible so pre-assembly is to be very large and quite rapid – for smaller a big part of the market today . Finally , if you want mines it is still a more efficient way of moving to look at the success of the semi-mobile direct material , but the payback amount and times may feed large gyratory , our journey with First just shift a little bit . At FLS we are very good at Quantum is a great example – they have installed evaluating those scenarios and options to show eight of these stations now at operations like what the benefits are in terms of OPEX and the Cobre Panama , Kansanshi and Sentinel – the shortest payback time possible .” ninth is currently under build in Zambia . We
Frank Drescher , FLSmidth Head of Product Line really have a close collaboration with them which Crushing Stations : “ Economics of scale is an has allowed us to drive forward the technology important point – IPCC is well suited to large together as a win win .” scale , large capacity mines and to regions where What is it about the FLSmidth approach to labour is expensive and where there is access to IPCC that stands out ? Ormsbee : “ The mines low cost renewable power . It also tends to suit today are getting bigger with pits getting deeper longer mine lives well . Then at some point there and / or further away from the concentrator . These will also be factors relating to the specific trends mean more , not less complexity . At FLS we operational requirements .” have been focussing a lot on having the right
Mentges reiterates that mine planning plays a expertise in house so that these systems don ’ t very important role in IPCC and the ability to seem complex to operate despite having a lot of carry out advanced mine scheduling . “ These rely design and development complexity behind on block models of the FLS Rail-Running Conveyor deposit with cut off grades systems build on the but the capabilities of the advantages of belt conveyors while overcoming many of the software has improved very constraints inherent to
significantly as well . Today traditional designs we have a new generation of mining engineers that are well versed with these software packages and are able to quickly run through different mining scenarios
30 International Mining | MAY 2024