XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 629
consumption has become a priority, particularly in water
stressed areas. Reductions in energy usage are motivated by
reducing the carbon footprint as well as reducing opera-
tional costs. During the last decade, several technologies
that can improve sustainable practices have been commer-
cialized and advanced, including bulk ore sorting, particle
sorting, energy efficient comminution technologies (HPGR
and stirred mills), and coarse particle flotation. Research on
these technologies at UBC has generated data and informa-
tion that was then used to present a novel “future” mineral
processing flowsheet design. A base case open pit copper
mine with a conventional SABC and flotation circuit was
used as reference for a technical comparison. The results
show significant water savings, energy savings, and a syn-
ergistic increase in resource utilization (metal production).
Variations to the proposed flowsheet need to be evaluated
technically and economically on a case specific basis.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The information used in this paper was obtained from
a range of studies supported by the Copper Mountain
Mine, Teck Resources, Newmont (Newcrest), MineSense
Technologies Ltd, Koeppern Machinery Australia Pty
Ltd, and Swiss Tower Mills AG. We would also like to
acknowledge for support from Mitacs, Corem, and Natural
Resources Canada.
REFERENCES
Anzoom, S.J., Bournival, G., Ata, S., 2024. Coarse particle
flotation: a review, Minerals Engineering, 206, 108499.
Araya, R., 2024. Review of Cutting Edge Flotation Devices.
Canadian Mineral Processor Conference Ottawa
Canada, 2024.
Arburo, K., Zuniga, J., McDonald, A., Valdes, F.,
Concha, J. and Wasmund, E., 2022. Commissioning
a HydroFloat® in a copper concentrator applica-
tion. In Proceedings of the Copper 2022 Conference
(pp. 46–58).Calvo, G., Mudd, G., Valero, A. and
Valero, A., 2016. Decreasing ore grades in global
metallic mining: a theoretical issue or a global reality?.
Resources, 5(4), p.36.
Erb, H., van de Vijfeijken, M., Hanuman, Y., Rule, C.M.,
Swart, W.C.E., Lehto, H. and Keikkala, V., 2015. An
Initial review of the metallurgical performance of the
HIGmill in a primary milling application in the hard
rock mining industry. In Sixth international conference
on semi-autogenous high press. Grinding technology.
Gagnon, C., Rosa, A., Makni, S. and McIvor, R., 2023.
Replacement of Wet Ball Milling with High-Pressure
Grinding Ahead of Mineral Separation. Mining,
Metallurgy &Exploration, pp.1–8.
Gunson, A.J., Klein, B., Veiga, M. and Dunbar, S., 2012.
Reducing mine water requirements. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 21(1), pp.71–82.
Gunson, A.J., 2013. Quantifying, reducing and improving
mine water use (Doctoral dissertation, University of
British Columbia).
Hille, S., 2018. Towards Zero Water: H2Zero, In CIM
Annual General Meeting, Vancouver, Canada.
Klein, B., and Bamber, A., 2019. SME Mineral Processing
and Extractive Metallurgy Handbook, Ch. 6.1 Mineral
Sorting: Society for Mining, Metallurgy &Exploration.
Li, G., Klein, B., Sun, C., Kou, J. and Yu, L., 2019.
Development of a bulk ore sorting model for sortabil-
ity assessment. Minerals Engineering, 141: 105856.
Li, G., Klein, B., He, C., Yan, Z., Sun, C. and Kou, J.,
2021. Development of a bulk ore sorting model for ore
sortability assessment—Part II: Model validation and
optimisation. Minerals Engineering, 172:107143.
MacIver, R., Gagnon, C., Klein, B., Kumar, A., 2023.
Development of fine high-pressure grinding for min-
eral processing plants, SAG 2023, Vancouver, Canada.
Northey, S.A., Mudd, G.M., Werner, T.T., Jowitt, S.M.,
Haque, N., Yellishetty, M. and Weng, Z., 2017. The
exposure of global base metal resources to water critical-
ity, scarcity and climate change. Global Environmental
Change, 44, pp.109–124.
Pamparana, G. and Lang, H., 2023, August. Improving
Sustainability in Mining Operations Through
the Integration of ShovelSense ® and BeltSense ®
Technologies for Mine-to-Mill Optimization. In
Conference of Metallurgists (pp. 1067–1069). Cham:
Springer Nature Switzerland.
Pamparana, G., Klein, B., Bergerman, M.G.,
Westendorf, M., and Atutxa, I., 2023. Optimizing
Energy and Throughput for HPGR: A Case Study for
Copper Mountain Mine In International Conference
on Semi-Autogenous Grinding &High Pressure
Grinding Technology Vancouver, Canada.
Pamparana, G., 2024. A Study on Compression Breakage:
From Theory to Practice (unpublished Doctoral dis-
sertation, University of British Columbia).Paz, A.,
Zhmarin, E. and Polske, H., 2023. Recent develop-
ments in coarse grinding using vertical stirred mills.
In The 13th International Comminution Symposium
(Comminution’23).
consumption has become a priority, particularly in water
stressed areas. Reductions in energy usage are motivated by
reducing the carbon footprint as well as reducing opera-
tional costs. During the last decade, several technologies
that can improve sustainable practices have been commer-
cialized and advanced, including bulk ore sorting, particle
sorting, energy efficient comminution technologies (HPGR
and stirred mills), and coarse particle flotation. Research on
these technologies at UBC has generated data and informa-
tion that was then used to present a novel “future” mineral
processing flowsheet design. A base case open pit copper
mine with a conventional SABC and flotation circuit was
used as reference for a technical comparison. The results
show significant water savings, energy savings, and a syn-
ergistic increase in resource utilization (metal production).
Variations to the proposed flowsheet need to be evaluated
technically and economically on a case specific basis.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The information used in this paper was obtained from
a range of studies supported by the Copper Mountain
Mine, Teck Resources, Newmont (Newcrest), MineSense
Technologies Ltd, Koeppern Machinery Australia Pty
Ltd, and Swiss Tower Mills AG. We would also like to
acknowledge for support from Mitacs, Corem, and Natural
Resources Canada.
REFERENCES
Anzoom, S.J., Bournival, G., Ata, S., 2024. Coarse particle
flotation: a review, Minerals Engineering, 206, 108499.
Araya, R., 2024. Review of Cutting Edge Flotation Devices.
Canadian Mineral Processor Conference Ottawa
Canada, 2024.
Arburo, K., Zuniga, J., McDonald, A., Valdes, F.,
Concha, J. and Wasmund, E., 2022. Commissioning
a HydroFloat® in a copper concentrator applica-
tion. In Proceedings of the Copper 2022 Conference
(pp. 46–58).Calvo, G., Mudd, G., Valero, A. and
Valero, A., 2016. Decreasing ore grades in global
metallic mining: a theoretical issue or a global reality?.
Resources, 5(4), p.36.
Erb, H., van de Vijfeijken, M., Hanuman, Y., Rule, C.M.,
Swart, W.C.E., Lehto, H. and Keikkala, V., 2015. An
Initial review of the metallurgical performance of the
HIGmill in a primary milling application in the hard
rock mining industry. In Sixth international conference
on semi-autogenous high press. Grinding technology.
Gagnon, C., Rosa, A., Makni, S. and McIvor, R., 2023.
Replacement of Wet Ball Milling with High-Pressure
Grinding Ahead of Mineral Separation. Mining,
Metallurgy &Exploration, pp.1–8.
Gunson, A.J., Klein, B., Veiga, M. and Dunbar, S., 2012.
Reducing mine water requirements. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 21(1), pp.71–82.
Gunson, A.J., 2013. Quantifying, reducing and improving
mine water use (Doctoral dissertation, University of
British Columbia).
Hille, S., 2018. Towards Zero Water: H2Zero, In CIM
Annual General Meeting, Vancouver, Canada.
Klein, B., and Bamber, A., 2019. SME Mineral Processing
and Extractive Metallurgy Handbook, Ch. 6.1 Mineral
Sorting: Society for Mining, Metallurgy &Exploration.
Li, G., Klein, B., Sun, C., Kou, J. and Yu, L., 2019.
Development of a bulk ore sorting model for sortabil-
ity assessment. Minerals Engineering, 141: 105856.
Li, G., Klein, B., He, C., Yan, Z., Sun, C. and Kou, J.,
2021. Development of a bulk ore sorting model for ore
sortability assessment—Part II: Model validation and
optimisation. Minerals Engineering, 172:107143.
MacIver, R., Gagnon, C., Klein, B., Kumar, A., 2023.
Development of fine high-pressure grinding for min-
eral processing plants, SAG 2023, Vancouver, Canada.
Northey, S.A., Mudd, G.M., Werner, T.T., Jowitt, S.M.,
Haque, N., Yellishetty, M. and Weng, Z., 2017. The
exposure of global base metal resources to water critical-
ity, scarcity and climate change. Global Environmental
Change, 44, pp.109–124.
Pamparana, G. and Lang, H., 2023, August. Improving
Sustainability in Mining Operations Through
the Integration of ShovelSense ® and BeltSense ®
Technologies for Mine-to-Mill Optimization. In
Conference of Metallurgists (pp. 1067–1069). Cham:
Springer Nature Switzerland.
Pamparana, G., Klein, B., Bergerman, M.G.,
Westendorf, M., and Atutxa, I., 2023. Optimizing
Energy and Throughput for HPGR: A Case Study for
Copper Mountain Mine In International Conference
on Semi-Autogenous Grinding &High Pressure
Grinding Technology Vancouver, Canada.
Pamparana, G., 2024. A Study on Compression Breakage:
From Theory to Practice (unpublished Doctoral dis-
sertation, University of British Columbia).Paz, A.,
Zhmarin, E. and Polske, H., 2023. Recent develop-
ments in coarse grinding using vertical stirred mills.
In The 13th International Comminution Symposium
(Comminution’23).