COMMINUTION & CRUSHING
Molycop has had a partnership in place with the University of New South Wales , Sydney , Australia for approximately 15 years
IM : Aside from the digital elements , where on the physical side of the mining and metals business are you looking to help clients achieve their productivity and climate ambitions ? JA : Molycop is working in a number of areas right now – two key examples are alloy development and Polymer Injection Technology .
Regarding new alloy development , this is for use in grinding media – we ’ re creating new products to increase impact resistance and eliminate fragmentation without reducing wear performance . To do this we ’ re working closely with two highly respected universities .
Working with the University of Queensland , Molycop will implement a global network of wear testing laboratories over the next three years . The Ball Mill Abrasion Test ( BMAT ) is a laboratory-scale test developed at UQ Materials Performance to compare relative wear performance of selection materials in ball mill applications . The BMAT is a credible alternative to the marked ball wear test .
Additionally , as part of our partnership with Queen Mary University of London , we are set to commence research on the chemical composition and heat treatment optimisation of martensitic steels , led by Sir Harry Bhadeshia , Professor of Metallurgy and Dr Chinnapat Panwisawas , Lecturer in Materials at the Queen Mary University of London .
In regard to our innovation in Polymer Injection Technology , Molycop , in collaboration with UNSW , is spearheading a ground-breaking initiative called Polymer Injection Technology ( PIT ) to reshape EAF steel manufacturing by partially substituting traditional coke with rubber from tyres and other sources . Molycop has been working with UNSW and Professor Veena Sahajwalla for almost 15 years .
The benefits are many , however , the clear environmental stewardship is a focus area for us . Beyond financial advantages , PIT significantly reduces carbon emissions by minimising electrical energy consumption .
IM : What else are clients asking you for when it comes to innovation in the crushing and comminution space ? How much of this is feasible over a 3 – 5-year timeline ? JA : Our clients are facing challenges to deliver high levels of productivity as the world moves to a low carbon future . As such , the demand for copper used for solar and wind is forecast to double by 2035 . The demand for energy storage will also continue to accelerate .
Molycop has a critical role to play in helping the industry deliver the copper it needs for a low-carbon future . In doing this we are focusing on delivering consumable products that have increased wear life optimised for varying mill operating conditions – increasing the throughput and recovery in the comminution process .
Critical also is advanced instrumentation , data capture and visualisation , data integration with AI and advanced analytics overlay – this is supported by Molycop ’ s global teams of Process Control Engineers , Software Engineers , Instrumentation Engineers and Application Engineers as well as our Innovation team of PhD qualified experts in their field .
This will see Molycop improve sustainability outcomes for our customers , the broader industry and help foster a better future .
* Molycop ’ s Dr Yousef Mohammadi will present a paper , ‘ eMolycop Digital Engine : Machine Learning-accelerated SAG Mill Optimisation ’ at SAG 2023 in Vancouver . Mukesh Singh Bisht , undertaking his PhD co-supervised by Molycop at Sydney University , will present a poster display titled ‘ Heterarchical Comminution Model for Rotary Mills ’
of next generation Synertrex optimisation solutions for its entire comminution portfolio ( including Enduron HPGRs and Trio ® crushers ), with the most recent launch being the IntelliHPGR .
“ It will enable and deliver a range of new artificial intelligence-driven digital solutions to increase productivity and reduce the environmental footprint while also decreasing equipment downtime ,” Vraetz said of this soonto-be-launched solution .
Weir Minerals ’ efforts to create the most energy- and resource-efficient mines in the industry have also seen it recently complete its first sale of a pebble crushing plant . This fully autonomous plant went to a large Tier 1 copper mine in South America .
Igor Elias , Regional Comminution Manager for Weir Minerals , said the plant included all the comminution equipment , as well as supporting infrastructure , like the power station , control room , conveyors and support structures .
The circuit consists of a feed hopper where the haul trucks load the ore . From there , it is transferred to a conveyor belt with a Trio feeder , which is fitted with a magnet and metal detector to catch any tramp material .
“ The Trio TC84 cone crusher is obviously the central piece of equipment ; once the material has been crushed , it ’ s fed onto a secondary conveyor , which has a weighing system to measure the tonnage being processed ,” Elias explained . “ The processed ore is then dumped onto a 14-m-high stockpile .”
This plant is looking to solve a challenge that most – if not all – large copper mines face globally : an increase in pebble production relative to an operation ’ s ability to process said pebbles .
“ What we ’ re seeing is that many of the existing pebble crushing circuits aren ’ t able to handle the extra capacity and , thus , are no longer fit-for-purpose ,” Elias said . “ As a result , a lot of miners are stockpiling vast quantities of pebbles .
“ A decade ago , these were seen as less valuable , but , with declining ore grades , the value proposition has changed , and these unprocessed pebbles may hold the key to ensuring mining companies meet their production targets .”
ABB ’ s drive for efficiency
ABB , through its drive systems portfolio , straddles both camps in the aforementioned comminution space – operations using SAG / AG & ball mills , and those using HPGRs and vertical milling technology .
On the former , ABB has successfully supplied gearless mill drives ( GMDs ) to operations since 1969 – with its first copper installation coming in
SEPTEMBER 2023 | International Mining