ABC of Mine-to-Mill and Metal Price Cycles

Transcription

1 ABC of Mine-to-Mill and Metal Price Cycles AusIMM Mill Operator s Conference, Perth 2016 Peter Cameron, Diana Drinkwater, Joe Pease

2 Metal Price Cycles Reflect balance of supply and demand BOOM Reap high profits Take eye off productivity Expand production at all costs BUST Cut costs: slash and burn, then scorch the earth Reduce staff, cancel capital expenditure Even sell or close operation RECOVERY Apply innovative technologies to restore productivity and profits

3 Copper Price Cycles 100 Year and 25 Year histories Boom Bust Recovery

4 Mine-to-Mill Work across mine site silos to increase mine site profit Multi disciplinary exercise Best if orchestrated by site GM

5 Mine-to-Mill Concept Increasing generation of fines has significant impact on SAG mill throughput and power consumption Miners talk to Millers to integrate mine production chain Blast design, selective mining, blending, geometallurgy, mill liners, etc Throughput (tph) Throughput Specific Power Consumption Specific Power (kwh/t) SAG Feed Size F80 (mm) 4

6 Fragmentation Modelling Crushing zone responsible for fines Explosive hole Coarse fragmentation zone dominated by ore characterisation

7 Optimum Fragmentation?? Coarse Fine

8 Mine-to-Mill Economics To produce fines, explosives are lower cost than electricity Target to increase mine site profits

9 Mine-to-Mill Strategy Work across silos to: Ore movement Drill Data Ore Characterisation Dilution control Blast Parameters Design blast for optimum fragmentation Maximise fines less than SAG mill grate aperture Predicted Fragmentation Dispatch System Blast Models Size DCS Measure PSD on-line to manage blast design Water OSS Ball Addition Size OSS Increase SAG mill throughput and mine site profits Power Speed Load Feed Rate Feed Rate Feeder Ratios Ball Addition Feed Rate Water Speed Mill Models Feeder Mill Data Ore Characterisatio n

10 1990 s Mine-to-Mill 4 elementary technology tools at 18 sites globally: JKSimBlast - Fragmentation Model - Split-Online JKSimMet Delivered 7 to 15% increase in SAG mill throughput

11 Price Cycle 2002 to 2016 Prices BOOMED from 2005 to 2015, Profits soared and productivity decreased Meanwhile innovators developed new technologies for M2M Some mines took advantage, some regressed Then BUST Prices decreased but most are ~2x pre-boom levels Profits dropped; many operations are in silos with silo KPIs Now to RECOVER 19 innovative technologies are available, TODAY Implement ACROSS SILOS

12 Advances in Blasting to Concentrate (ABC) 19 innovative technology tools available NOW: JKSimBlast V3, Advanced fragmentation models, Split FX, GPS drilling, Rock hardness MWD, Blast movement monitors, High energy explosives, Electronic detonators Split-ShovelCam, Argus shovel monitor, Split-Online V5 Metso SmartTag, PGNAAs, C-Gap PSMs, SmartNoise, Automated quantitative mineralogy, Geometallurgy, Integrated Extraction Simulator incorporating JKSimMet and JKSimFloat

13 Recovery requires innovation M2M requires little capital and provides free money M2M with new innovations delivering up to 60% increase in SAG mill throughput BUT M2M was not widely adopted during the BOOM Some sites reverted to silo policies Some stopped using the free money of M2M

14 Wise words Mine to Mill is code for making the effort to understand the orebody and operating parameters in the mine and mill which can be manipulated to improve productivity and operating cost. M2M is what people in mining and processing should be doing as a normal part of their day to day business. Karen McCaffery 2012

15 Wiser words Most of the technology tools needed to return the industry to profitability already exist, we are just not making use of them. Captains of our industry to Austmine 2016

16 Challenge: 19 technology tools increasing mine site profits Mine-to-Mill works Mine sites are complex, one size does not fit all Minimise costs in silos or maximise mine site profits Reduce KPIs to critical few for optimum performance within silos and across whole mine site It is as simple as ABC

17 Thank You