XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 3713
made on the installed power. Instead, the installed mill
power shall be high enough to ensure that the selected mill
sizes can, if needed, draw their maximum power, thus min-
imizing potential recovery losses when pushing tonnage.
Additionally, optimization of process operational param-
eters by varying the ball mill speed provide further optimi-
zation of grinding energy utilization. However, much of the
efficiency benefits are realized through the selection of gear-
less mill drive technology as this higher power transmission
efficiency of 1.6% is realized continuously throughout the
life of the mine.
For the circuit analyzed, a 1.6% increased efficiency
related to gearless mill drive technology results in 144.4
Gigawatt-hour of energy savings over 20 years of operation.
These power savings over the life of the mine equates to
118,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, the equivalent of 26,300
average passenger vehicles driven for one year in the United
States (EPA, 2023), based on a marginal approach with
coal being the marginal electricity source. As sustainability
becomes a more prominent driver in the design, selection,
and funding for capital projects moving forward, gearless
grinding mill technology provides a substantial benefit to
our growing need to reduce CO2 emissions globally.
REFERENCES
Bos L., van de Vijfeijken M. and Koponen J. (2011),
Insurability of large gearless mill drives, SAG 2011
conference, Vancouver, Canada.
BuenoM., Foggiatto B. and Lane G., Geometallurgy
applied in comminution to minimize design risks,
SAG 2015 conference, Vancouver, Canada.
Davies S., Giblett A. and Dwi Payana N. (2019), Design
and start-up of the Merian SABC circuit, SAG 2019
conference, Vancouver, Canada.
Davis E.W. (1919), Fine crushing in ball mills, Trans.
SME-AIME, Vol. 61, pp. 250–296.
Davis E.W. (1925) Ball milling crushing in closed cir-
cuit with screens, Angewandte Chemie International
Edition, 6(11), 951–952: 5–12.
Electricity Maps. (2019). Marginal emissions: what they
are, and when to use them. https://www.electricitymaps
.com/blog/marginal-emissions-what-they-are-and
-when-to-use-them.
EPA. (2023). Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas
-equivalencies-calculator#results.
Fangrong D., Yang D., Muñoz A., Valery W., Valle R.,
Bonfils B. and Plasencia C. (2023), Integrated mine-
to-mill optimization of the Toromocho operation
at Minera Chinalco, Perú, SAG 2023 conference,
Vancouver, Canada.
Hamilton R.S., Dr. K.A. Wainwright and R.P. Diering
(2006) Lessons learned from recent failures of gear
drives on mills in South Africa, SAG 2006 conference,
Vancouver, Canada.
Herbst J.A., Robertson K. and Rajamani K. (1983), Mill
speed as a manipulated variable for ball mill grinding
control, IFAC Automation in Mining, Mineral and
Metal Processing, Helsinki, Finland.
IPCC. (2014). Annex III: Technology-specific cost and
performance parameters. Climate Change 2014:
Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of
Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report
of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02
/ipcc_wg3_ar5_annex-iii.pdf.
Jankovic A., Valery W. and Sonmez B. (2013), The Benefits
of High Classification Efficiency in Closed.
Ball Mill Circuits. XV Balkan Mineral Processing Congress,
Sozopol, Bulgaria.
Jones C.G. and Johnson L.M. (1976), The Duval Sierrita
concentrator, Flotation—Gaudin memorial volume,
Fuerstenau, M.L., AIME, New York, USA.
Klohn S., Stephenson D. and Granados H. (2016),
Constancia project process plant design and start up,
CMP 2016 conference, Ottawa, Canada.
Lane G., Dakin P., Stephenson D.,m Johnston A. and
Granados H. (2015), The comminution circuit design
for the Constancia project. SAG 2015 conference,
Vancouver, Canada.
Lane G., Foggiatto B., Braun R., Bueno M.P., Staples P. and
Rivard S. (2017), Comminution circuit design consid-
erations, CMP 2017 conference, Ottawa, Canada.
Medina M., Sotomayor G., Manchego V., Bonilla J., Valery
W., Duffy K., Wang E. and Plasencia C. (2023) Review
and optimization of the Hudbay Constancia com-
minution circuit. SAG 2023 conference, Vancouver,
Canada.
Mejia O. and Klein B. (2019) Maintaining grinding effi-
ciency and mill throughput when liners wear. CMP
2019 conference, Ottawa, Canada.
Mezquita H., Wright A., Wang F. and Rosario P. (2022)
Implementation of fine grinding and dual circuit con-
cept at Santa Elena Mine. CMP 2022 conference,
Vancouver, Canada.
made on the installed power. Instead, the installed mill
power shall be high enough to ensure that the selected mill
sizes can, if needed, draw their maximum power, thus min-
imizing potential recovery losses when pushing tonnage.
Additionally, optimization of process operational param-
eters by varying the ball mill speed provide further optimi-
zation of grinding energy utilization. However, much of the
efficiency benefits are realized through the selection of gear-
less mill drive technology as this higher power transmission
efficiency of 1.6% is realized continuously throughout the
life of the mine.
For the circuit analyzed, a 1.6% increased efficiency
related to gearless mill drive technology results in 144.4
Gigawatt-hour of energy savings over 20 years of operation.
These power savings over the life of the mine equates to
118,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, the equivalent of 26,300
average passenger vehicles driven for one year in the United
States (EPA, 2023), based on a marginal approach with
coal being the marginal electricity source. As sustainability
becomes a more prominent driver in the design, selection,
and funding for capital projects moving forward, gearless
grinding mill technology provides a substantial benefit to
our growing need to reduce CO2 emissions globally.
REFERENCES
Bos L., van de Vijfeijken M. and Koponen J. (2011),
Insurability of large gearless mill drives, SAG 2011
conference, Vancouver, Canada.
BuenoM., Foggiatto B. and Lane G., Geometallurgy
applied in comminution to minimize design risks,
SAG 2015 conference, Vancouver, Canada.
Davies S., Giblett A. and Dwi Payana N. (2019), Design
and start-up of the Merian SABC circuit, SAG 2019
conference, Vancouver, Canada.
Davis E.W. (1919), Fine crushing in ball mills, Trans.
SME-AIME, Vol. 61, pp. 250–296.
Davis E.W. (1925) Ball milling crushing in closed cir-
cuit with screens, Angewandte Chemie International
Edition, 6(11), 951–952: 5–12.
Electricity Maps. (2019). Marginal emissions: what they
are, and when to use them. https://www.electricitymaps
.com/blog/marginal-emissions-what-they-are-and
-when-to-use-them.
EPA. (2023). Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas
-equivalencies-calculator#results.
Fangrong D., Yang D., Muñoz A., Valery W., Valle R.,
Bonfils B. and Plasencia C. (2023), Integrated mine-
to-mill optimization of the Toromocho operation
at Minera Chinalco, Perú, SAG 2023 conference,
Vancouver, Canada.
Hamilton R.S., Dr. K.A. Wainwright and R.P. Diering
(2006) Lessons learned from recent failures of gear
drives on mills in South Africa, SAG 2006 conference,
Vancouver, Canada.
Herbst J.A., Robertson K. and Rajamani K. (1983), Mill
speed as a manipulated variable for ball mill grinding
control, IFAC Automation in Mining, Mineral and
Metal Processing, Helsinki, Finland.
IPCC. (2014). Annex III: Technology-specific cost and
performance parameters. Climate Change 2014:
Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of
Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report
of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02
/ipcc_wg3_ar5_annex-iii.pdf.
Jankovic A., Valery W. and Sonmez B. (2013), The Benefits
of High Classification Efficiency in Closed.
Ball Mill Circuits. XV Balkan Mineral Processing Congress,
Sozopol, Bulgaria.
Jones C.G. and Johnson L.M. (1976), The Duval Sierrita
concentrator, Flotation—Gaudin memorial volume,
Fuerstenau, M.L., AIME, New York, USA.
Klohn S., Stephenson D. and Granados H. (2016),
Constancia project process plant design and start up,
CMP 2016 conference, Ottawa, Canada.
Lane G., Dakin P., Stephenson D.,m Johnston A. and
Granados H. (2015), The comminution circuit design
for the Constancia project. SAG 2015 conference,
Vancouver, Canada.
Lane G., Foggiatto B., Braun R., Bueno M.P., Staples P. and
Rivard S. (2017), Comminution circuit design consid-
erations, CMP 2017 conference, Ottawa, Canada.
Medina M., Sotomayor G., Manchego V., Bonilla J., Valery
W., Duffy K., Wang E. and Plasencia C. (2023) Review
and optimization of the Hudbay Constancia com-
minution circuit. SAG 2023 conference, Vancouver,
Canada.
Mejia O. and Klein B. (2019) Maintaining grinding effi-
ciency and mill throughput when liners wear. CMP
2019 conference, Ottawa, Canada.
Mezquita H., Wright A., Wang F. and Rosario P. (2022)
Implementation of fine grinding and dual circuit con-
cept at Santa Elena Mine. CMP 2022 conference,
Vancouver, Canada.