John Starkey

Abstract:

Comminution circuits are historically one of the most difficult parts of a mineral processing plant to design with confidence. There is controversy in the industry as to how best to approach this subject, with many solutions requiring a level of training and expertise beyond the ability of a non-specialist engineer. This has led to a culture of experts who opine on the subject with little or no direct benefit to the design process and the plant operator. In order to change this, mineral industry owners and senior managers need to understand the fundamental challenges that a comminution circuit poses to the design process, to the operators who use the equipment, and to the owners who invest in a project. This presentation is intended to summarize these challenges in a manner which is clear and unbiased, in a format which is applicable and which offers creative and practical solutions to the mining and mineral engineering community. A proper understanding of SAG mill hardness measurement and workable operating options, reveals the rich benefits of SAG/AG milling technology which are available for every new or retrofit project.