METHODS TO SURVEY AND SAMPLE GRINDING CIRCUITS FOR DETERMINING ENERGY EFFICIENCY

ABOUT THE PROJECT

This guideline (originally published in 2016) covers surveying and sampling Autogenous Grinding (AG), Semi-Autogenous Grinding (SAG), rod, and ball mill circuits within the normal range of application. The intended application of this analysis is to treat a complete grinding circuit as a singular process block, irrespective of the number of grinding stages or internal classification steps.

This project is a minor revision of the 2016 guideline to make required updates to the clarity and accuracy of the content. Key themes discussed for the minor revisions include: 

  • Troubleshooting and applying optional data 
  • Required data vs. optional data 
  • Points on biases for belt cut samples to forecast future performance 
  • Commentary about mechanical sampling as an option (not detail) 

RELATED CONTENT

This guideline supplements two other guidelines produced by the Industrial Comminution Efficiency Sub-Committee under the Mineral Processing Working Group. Comminution is incredibly energy-intensive, and improving efficiency saves mining operations money and reduces their ecological footprint. This sub-committee aims to assist the industry by defining methods and best practices for the industry.

Three guidelines developed by this group aim to define the recommended methods for quantifying grinding circuit efficiency using grinding power analysis, following the approaches developed by Bond (1961) and Morrell (2009):

GET INVOLVED

A revision committee is in the process of applying minor revisions, and the guideline is expected to be republished later this year. To learn more, contact us here and we’ll be in touch with more details. 

PRESS RELEASE

Read it here. 

X