3799
High-Pressure Grinding Rolls’ Historical Timeline:
Past to Future
Chris Zerr, Vinay Prasad, Farzaneh Sadri
University of Alberta
ABSTRACT: The high financial risk associated with decisions made during comminution circuit design resulted
in the slow adoption of High-pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGR). Relative to Autogenous and Semi-autogenous
(AG/SAG) grinding, HPGR is considered a technology which provides energy, expenditure, and concentration
advantages. By assessing HPGR’s advantages, developmental hurdles, and novel HPGR circuit designs, this
literature review seeks to answer two questions. How has HPGR developed through its advantages and hurdles?
What roles can HPGR fill in comminutions circuits now and in the future? Answering these questions revealed
that HPGR has reached maturity and is indeed ‘going all the way’ as a key member of holistic hardrock mineral
processing circuits.
INTRODUCTION
Advancements in comminution technologies are driven to
meet metal demands (Lynch &Rowland, 2005). Part of
these advancements has been HPGR’ (Figure 1) movement
through stages of being considered a relatively young to
mature technology (Bearman 2006 Morrell 2022). With
the advent of electric motors, there became no upper limit
to the power that can be applied to comminution (Lynch &
Rowland, 2005). By the 2000s, the focus shifted from gen-
erating energy to ensuring it is used as efficiently as possible
(Lynch &Rowland, 2005). Grinding energy savings are
of particular interest because grinding consumes most of
a metal mining sites power (Napier-Munn 2015). HPGR
has shown great merit in being part of this energy efficient
usage.
The requirement to maximize energy efficiency comes
from the changing of ore bodies and their processing costs,
rising environmental and social pressures, and the costs
associated with high energy use (van de Vijfeijken et al.,
2023 Wills 2006). Globally industrial comminution pro-
cesses are estimated to consume between 2 to 5% of energy
(Napier-Munn 2015 Saramak et al., 2010). Global ore
grades are diminishing driving industry towards higher vol-
ume and harder ore bodies (Wills, 2006). Mining sites are
processing higher volumes of material while the costs of
consumables, such as steel, are increasing (van der Meer &
Maphosa, 2012). Environmental and social pressures, such
as the Kyoto Accord and carbon taxes, create an immediate
reason for the reduction of energy consumption (Bearman,
2006 Morrell 2022). Events like the 70s oil crisis highlight
the significant impact of the amount of energy consumed
by comminution and its costs (Burchardt et al., 2011
Lynch &Rowland, 2005). While the global circumstances
surrounding mineral processing are changing there has not
been a major shift in comminution techniques since the
development of tumbling mills (Lynch &Rowland, 2005
van de Vijfeijken et al., 2023).
Shifting comminution circuits towards energy efficient
HPGR’s is an opportunity to meet the changing mineral
processing circumstances (Burchardt et al., 2011). Scientists
and inventors continue to improve both the process of size
reduction and the challenges associated with size reduction
High-Pressure Grinding Rolls’ Historical Timeline:
Past to Future
Chris Zerr, Vinay Prasad, Farzaneh Sadri
University of Alberta
ABSTRACT: The high financial risk associated with decisions made during comminution circuit design resulted
in the slow adoption of High-pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGR). Relative to Autogenous and Semi-autogenous
(AG/SAG) grinding, HPGR is considered a technology which provides energy, expenditure, and concentration
advantages. By assessing HPGR’s advantages, developmental hurdles, and novel HPGR circuit designs, this
literature review seeks to answer two questions. How has HPGR developed through its advantages and hurdles?
What roles can HPGR fill in comminutions circuits now and in the future? Answering these questions revealed
that HPGR has reached maturity and is indeed ‘going all the way’ as a key member of holistic hardrock mineral
processing circuits.
INTRODUCTION
Advancements in comminution technologies are driven to
meet metal demands (Lynch &Rowland, 2005). Part of
these advancements has been HPGR’ (Figure 1) movement
through stages of being considered a relatively young to
mature technology (Bearman 2006 Morrell 2022). With
the advent of electric motors, there became no upper limit
to the power that can be applied to comminution (Lynch &
Rowland, 2005). By the 2000s, the focus shifted from gen-
erating energy to ensuring it is used as efficiently as possible
(Lynch &Rowland, 2005). Grinding energy savings are
of particular interest because grinding consumes most of
a metal mining sites power (Napier-Munn 2015). HPGR
has shown great merit in being part of this energy efficient
usage.
The requirement to maximize energy efficiency comes
from the changing of ore bodies and their processing costs,
rising environmental and social pressures, and the costs
associated with high energy use (van de Vijfeijken et al.,
2023 Wills 2006). Globally industrial comminution pro-
cesses are estimated to consume between 2 to 5% of energy
(Napier-Munn 2015 Saramak et al., 2010). Global ore
grades are diminishing driving industry towards higher vol-
ume and harder ore bodies (Wills, 2006). Mining sites are
processing higher volumes of material while the costs of
consumables, such as steel, are increasing (van der Meer &
Maphosa, 2012). Environmental and social pressures, such
as the Kyoto Accord and carbon taxes, create an immediate
reason for the reduction of energy consumption (Bearman,
2006 Morrell 2022). Events like the 70s oil crisis highlight
the significant impact of the amount of energy consumed
by comminution and its costs (Burchardt et al., 2011
Lynch &Rowland, 2005). While the global circumstances
surrounding mineral processing are changing there has not
been a major shift in comminution techniques since the
development of tumbling mills (Lynch &Rowland, 2005
van de Vijfeijken et al., 2023).
Shifting comminution circuits towards energy efficient
HPGR’s is an opportunity to meet the changing mineral
processing circumstances (Burchardt et al., 2011). Scientists
and inventors continue to improve both the process of size
reduction and the challenges associated with size reduction