108 XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3
In the minerals industry, arguably, processing plants
are falling behind with respect to automation compared
to mining (autonomous trucks, stacker/reclaimer systems,
autonomous trains, etc). While plants have operated with
automated process control systems for many decades, the
level of true autonomy remains low due to the continual
human interaction with the control systems. Process con-
trol, historically, has largely been used to stabilize the pro-
cess rather than achieve optimal operation.
Opportunities for autonomous operation in mineral
processing circuits have expanded significantly due to
advances in Model Predictive Control (MPC) techniques
that have the potential to be used for control of comminu-
tion, classification, and flotation units. The availability of
abundant sensor data within mineral processing plants can
serve as crucial input for MPC. For instance, in a flotation
circuit, real-time measurements of feed size distribution
from cyclone overflow, pulp chemistry, and froth vision
data can provide input to flotation performance predictive
models which enable real-time optimization of flotation
circuits. To achieve successful implementation of MPC
for real-time process prediction and autonomous control,
enhancing sensor data reliability and developing soft sen-
sors for critical process variables not easily measured are
essential steps (Yahyaei et al., 2023).
CONCLUDING REMARKS
As the mining industry transitions to a suite of new tech-
nologies, there will be many challenges to face and over-
come. In the past, it has taken the industry about 20 to 25
years for a new technology to be adopted wholeheartedly
by the conservative mining industry (Napier-Munn, 2016).
With the current challenges facing the mining industry,
this time frame needs to be shortened.
Technologies cannot be just “plugged in” to our exist-
ing flotation circuit paradigm. It is likely that a change in
comminution technology, flotation cell hydrodynamics or
flotation chemistry will have unexpected and interactive
effects on the requirements of the other processes. They are
also going to impact downstream processes, such as dewa-
tering. We need to move away from thinking of these pro-
cesses in isolation and adopt a more integrated approach to
circuit optimization.
The industry also needs to resist “jumping” to judge-
ment about a technology too quickly. Technologies like the
Jameson Cell and HydroFloat ® were trialed and abandoned
too quickly in the past due to problems experienced during
early implementation. It will also be important to derisk
and trial the technology at smaller scale, before implemen-
tation in high tonnage rate applications where the costs of
failure would have bigger financial repercussions. Industry
needs to expect problems, be patient during implemen-
tation and do thorough evaluations of the technology to
avoid the negative consequences and perceptions of early
setbacks. Poor performance does not necessarily mean the
technology doesn’t work and cannot be further optimized
to achieve the required performance target.
Research to understand the underlying principles
of operation will be crucial. There has been 100 years of
research that underpins the knowledge used to operate con-
ventional comminution and flotation circuits and a signifi-
cant quantum of research is likely to be required to obtain
optimal operation of the new emerging technologies out-
lined in this paper.
The development of off-line and on-line characteriza-
tion methods as well as process modelling methods which
identify the key drivers of a process will be important to
help to unravel the interdependencies of comminution, flo-
tation hydrodynamics and surface chemistry and achieve
optimal operation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors acknowledge the funding support from
the Australian Research Council for the ARC Centre of
Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of
Minerals, grant number CE200100009 which enabled
production of this paper.
REFERENCES
Abbass, H.A., Scholz, J., and Reid, D.J. 2018. Foundations
of trusted autonomy. Springer Nature. doi:
10.1007/978-3-319-64816-3.
Ackerman, P.K., Harris, G.H., Klimpel, R.R. and
Aplan, F.F. 1987. Evaluation of flotation collectors for
copper sulfides and pyrite, I. Common sulfhydryl col-
lectors. International Journal of Mineral Processing
21(1–2), 105–127.
Altun D., Aydogan, N.A., Altun O. and Benzer, A.H.
2017. Performance evaluation of Vertical Roller Mill
in cement grinding: Case study ESCH cement plant.
In 17th European Symposium of Comminution and
Classification, June 27–29, Toulouse, France.
Amini, N., Fan, B., Hsia, T., Moon, E.M., Hapgood, K.
and Thang, S.H. 2023. RAFT Polymer-Based
Surfactants for Minerals Recovery. ACS Omega, 8(43),
40532–40546.
In the minerals industry, arguably, processing plants
are falling behind with respect to automation compared
to mining (autonomous trucks, stacker/reclaimer systems,
autonomous trains, etc). While plants have operated with
automated process control systems for many decades, the
level of true autonomy remains low due to the continual
human interaction with the control systems. Process con-
trol, historically, has largely been used to stabilize the pro-
cess rather than achieve optimal operation.
Opportunities for autonomous operation in mineral
processing circuits have expanded significantly due to
advances in Model Predictive Control (MPC) techniques
that have the potential to be used for control of comminu-
tion, classification, and flotation units. The availability of
abundant sensor data within mineral processing plants can
serve as crucial input for MPC. For instance, in a flotation
circuit, real-time measurements of feed size distribution
from cyclone overflow, pulp chemistry, and froth vision
data can provide input to flotation performance predictive
models which enable real-time optimization of flotation
circuits. To achieve successful implementation of MPC
for real-time process prediction and autonomous control,
enhancing sensor data reliability and developing soft sen-
sors for critical process variables not easily measured are
essential steps (Yahyaei et al., 2023).
CONCLUDING REMARKS
As the mining industry transitions to a suite of new tech-
nologies, there will be many challenges to face and over-
come. In the past, it has taken the industry about 20 to 25
years for a new technology to be adopted wholeheartedly
by the conservative mining industry (Napier-Munn, 2016).
With the current challenges facing the mining industry,
this time frame needs to be shortened.
Technologies cannot be just “plugged in” to our exist-
ing flotation circuit paradigm. It is likely that a change in
comminution technology, flotation cell hydrodynamics or
flotation chemistry will have unexpected and interactive
effects on the requirements of the other processes. They are
also going to impact downstream processes, such as dewa-
tering. We need to move away from thinking of these pro-
cesses in isolation and adopt a more integrated approach to
circuit optimization.
The industry also needs to resist “jumping” to judge-
ment about a technology too quickly. Technologies like the
Jameson Cell and HydroFloat ® were trialed and abandoned
too quickly in the past due to problems experienced during
early implementation. It will also be important to derisk
and trial the technology at smaller scale, before implemen-
tation in high tonnage rate applications where the costs of
failure would have bigger financial repercussions. Industry
needs to expect problems, be patient during implemen-
tation and do thorough evaluations of the technology to
avoid the negative consequences and perceptions of early
setbacks. Poor performance does not necessarily mean the
technology doesn’t work and cannot be further optimized
to achieve the required performance target.
Research to understand the underlying principles
of operation will be crucial. There has been 100 years of
research that underpins the knowledge used to operate con-
ventional comminution and flotation circuits and a signifi-
cant quantum of research is likely to be required to obtain
optimal operation of the new emerging technologies out-
lined in this paper.
The development of off-line and on-line characteriza-
tion methods as well as process modelling methods which
identify the key drivers of a process will be important to
help to unravel the interdependencies of comminution, flo-
tation hydrodynamics and surface chemistry and achieve
optimal operation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors acknowledge the funding support from
the Australian Research Council for the ARC Centre of
Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of
Minerals, grant number CE200100009 which enabled
production of this paper.
REFERENCES
Abbass, H.A., Scholz, J., and Reid, D.J. 2018. Foundations
of trusted autonomy. Springer Nature. doi:
10.1007/978-3-319-64816-3.
Ackerman, P.K., Harris, G.H., Klimpel, R.R. and
Aplan, F.F. 1987. Evaluation of flotation collectors for
copper sulfides and pyrite, I. Common sulfhydryl col-
lectors. International Journal of Mineral Processing
21(1–2), 105–127.
Altun D., Aydogan, N.A., Altun O. and Benzer, A.H.
2017. Performance evaluation of Vertical Roller Mill
in cement grinding: Case study ESCH cement plant.
In 17th European Symposium of Comminution and
Classification, June 27–29, Toulouse, France.
Amini, N., Fan, B., Hsia, T., Moon, E.M., Hapgood, K.
and Thang, S.H. 2023. RAFT Polymer-Based
Surfactants for Minerals Recovery. ACS Omega, 8(43),
40532–40546.