The search to improve comminution efficiency will undoubtedly include some novel new technologies. But significant benefits are also likely from evolving existing technologies, new ways of operating, and combining the old with the new.
Could advances in drilling, blasting, crushing, HPGRs and stirred milling relegate the SAG mill to a curiosity during our careers? These questions will be asked by Joe Pease of Mineralurgy Pty Ltd, Australia, in his keynote lecture at Comminution '16.
Joe has spent 21 years in operations in a variety of research, project and production management roles. He was manager of the Mount Isa lead zinc and copper concentrator for 8 years, and lead smelter manager for 2 years. He also spent 18 months with Cominco as Operating Superintendent at the Sullivan Mine, and Technical Superintendent at the Red Dog lead zinc operation in Alaska. He was Chief Executive of Xstrata Technology for 12 years, where his group developed and marketed technologies to improve the efficiency of minerals processing, smelting, refining and leaching.
Joe is on the Board and Executive Committee of AMIRA, and is on the Advisory Board of the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, and the Ian Wark Institute Advisory Board. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Australian Minerals Education Partnership and assists with the student’s final year design project. He is Chairman of the Coalition for Eco-Efficient Comminution, the conference's Industry Advocate. He is an independent Minerals and Technology consultant, associated with the small technical group Mineralurgy Pty Ltd. His passion is to identify opportunities between the traditional “silos” in processing – to combine different technologies to improve processing efficiency from mine to metal. With his extensive operating experience, his keynote will be a perfect prelude to Innovations in Plant Operations, a new concept where operators will be invited to submit short presentations describing how innovative techniques have benefited their circuits.
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I am looking forward to Joe's keynote. I think that we have limited ourselves by looking at comminution efficiency by concentrating too much on the comminution equipment. I believe that circuit design, operation and control as well as classification, materials handling and dynamics have a much greater influence on overall comminution energy efficiency than simply the choice of SAG vs HPGR.
ReplyDeleteThanks Grant. I also look forward to Joe's keynote - and to papers from JK along the lines that you suggest
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