COMMINUTION & CRUSHING
SP Mining to become Sandvik Rock Processing Australia
The next step in the integration of SP Mining – the mining-related business of Schenck Process – into global , high-tech engineering group , Sandvik , will see SP mining entities change their names to reflect their new ownership .
On October 1 , Schenck Process Australia Pty Limited , which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sandvik in November last year , will become Sandvik Rock Processing Australia Pty Limited . The Australian entity is the largest part of SP Mining ’ s global business , employing around 450 industry professionals .
Since the acquisition , Sandvik has been focused on bringing together its expertise in crushing with the screening , feeding , weighing and loading know-how of Schenck Process Mining .
According to the company ’ s President Asia Pacific , Terese Withington , this move is part of an integration process that will eventually see SP Mining become a seamless part of the Sandvik organisation .
“ In Australia , we are bringing together our sales and back-office teams with those of Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions to allow our customers to access our combined expertise in crushing , screening , feeding , weighing and loading ,” she said . “ Together we aim to deliver even better digitalisation , sustainability and productivity solutions to our industry .
“ The end goal of our integration is to allow our customers to place combined crushing , screening , feeding , weighing and loading orders with our new legal entity .”
Withington says the scale of Sandvik ’ s operations and commercial reach will help to accelerate the combined innovation portfolio of Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions and SP Mining .
She concluded : “ We look forward to continuing to service the business needs of our customers and remain fully focused on the delivery of high-quality equipment , consumables , OEM spare parts and services to help them achieve their business objectives .”
The name change to Sandvik Rock Processing Australia Pty Limited is part of an integration process that will eventually see SP Mining become a seamless part of the Sandvik organisation , according to Terese Withington
“ It ’ s the world ’ s first large-scale magnetite flowsheet without tumbling mills ; instead , Enduron HPGRs and STM vertical stirred mills ( VSMs ) have been installed in their place ,” he said of this installation .
“ We think this project is indicative of the direction the industry is heading in .”
This flowsheet delivers energy savings by ensuring energy is not applied to gangue , achieved using coarse dry magnetic separation as inter-stage beneficiation between the Enduron HPGRs . This allows for the rejection of more than 20 % of the barren material , according to Dierx .
By combining micron-sized grinding with dryair classification , water addition is minimised
prior to feeding it into the VSMs . These , in turn , prevent overgrinding by making use of internal classification to minimise mill retention time , according to Dierx .
“ This same philosophy is driving other developments ,” he said . “ For instance , there are also upstream opportunities to remove barren material before it reaches the comminution stage , providing customers with significant cost saving opportunities .”
Further cost reductions could be obtained by using ore characterisation technology : a field the wider Weir Group has recently becoming involved in thanks to test work being carried out at a mine in Kazakhstan using hyperspectral imaging and Weir Motion Metrics ’ data platform .
“ This technology , which is underpinned by sophisticated sensing systems , captures critical data on the properties and composition of rock , including hardness and mineral and moisture content ,” Dierx said . “ When coupled with Weir Motion Metrics fragmentation analysis technology , it gives miners a fuller picture of the size and characteristics of rocks .”
Weir Minerals has been looking beyond its own portfolio to create energy-efficient flowsheets of the future .
Around a year ago , Weir Minerals and Eriez Flotation announced a cooperative agreement to design and develop CPF systems ; an agreement allowing both companies to better connect Eriez equipment with the slurry classification and conveying expertise of Weir Minerals .
Related to this – and also occurring last year – the Weir Group announced an alliance with Swiss Tower Mills Minerals ( STM ) in which Weir will market STM ’ s vertical stirred grinding mills for coarse grinding applications worldwide .
Dierx said these partnerships highlight Weir Minerals ’ commitment to collaborate with other companies that share its vision of making mining more sustainable , while providing customers with solutions based on their needs , rather than simply selling them equipment from its portfolio .
In its most recent half-year results , Weir Group said Weir Minerals had secured orders from large copper mines in South America for CPF pilot circuits , in partnership with Eriez . Eriez , meanwhile , recently won a contract to supply its HydroFloat CPF technology to OZ Minerals ’ Carrapateena copper-gold project in South Australia .
The Eriez CPF technology has benefits in further reducing the grinding energy required , increasing value recovery and providing easier tailings dewatering , while STM stirred mills are widely acknowledged as a highly efficient technology that will increasingly replace ball mills , according to Dierx .
“ These technologies , along with Weir Minerals ’ Enduron HPGR , have the potential to help our customers significantly reduce their carbon footprint ,” he said .
“ Traditional mill circuit flowsheets are
42 International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2023