CEMTEC and Eirich combine grinding technologies to optimise the comminution circuit

The continuing drive to improve the energy efficiency of mineral processing is encouraging equipment manufacturers to think increasingly in terms of the whole comminution circuit, rather than individual pieces of equipment. A new partnership between CEMTEC and Eirich is a good example of this trend.

The collaboration brings together CEMTEC’s expertise in primary grinding with Eirich’s experience in fine and ultrafine grinding. CEMTEC has a long history in the design and supply of tumbling mills, while Eirich’s TowerMill technology is designed for fine and ultrafine grinding. The companies believe that combining these complementary technologies will enable them to offer more comprehensive grinding solutions for mining operations.

The significance goes beyond the partnership itself. As ore grades decline and increasingly complex ores have to be processed, achieving adequate liberation often requires finer grinding. At the same time, grinding remains one of the largest consumers of energy in a mineral processing plant. The challenge is therefore to achieve the required liberation at the lowest possible energy and operating cost.

This makes the choice and integration of different grinding technologies increasingly important. Rather than regarding primary, secondary and fine grinding as separate duties, there is considerable potential in considering how the stages interact and where different technologies can deliver the greatest benefit.

The CEMTEC–Eirich partnership reflects this approach, with the companies proposing to assess complete grinding circuits and develop configurations according to the characteristics of the ore and the required product. It is an approach that also highlights the increasingly important role of stirred mills in circuits where very fine grinding is required.

For those of us involved in comminution, the development raises some interesting questions. Where is the optimum point in a circuit to introduce stirred milling? How should the transition from tumbling to stirred milling be designed? What role can ore characterisation, modelling and advanced process control play in optimising the overall circuit? And, perhaps most importantly, how much energy can be saved by designing the circuit as an integrated system rather than optimising individual mills in isolation?

These are very much the issues that will be explored at Comminution ’27, which will bring together researchers, plant operators and equipment manufacturers to examine the latest developments in the science and practice of size reduction.

The CEMTEC–Eirich collaboration is therefore a timely reminder that the future of comminution is unlikely to depend on a single “best” grinding technology. Instead, it will increasingly be about selecting and integrating the right technologies for each stage of the circuit—and optimising the system as a whole.

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