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Tracer-Based Mine-Mill Ore Tracking Via Process Hold-ups at

Northparkes Mine
W Jansen1, R Morrison2, M Wortley3 and T Rivett4
ABSTRACT
The tracking of ore through process hold-ups such as stockpiles has been
traditionally been difficult to achieve. The inability to pinpoint the exact
source in the mine of material that is feeding a processing plant has led to
inefficient mine-mill reconciliation processes. In addition, a lack of
understanding of the behaviour of ore in process hold-ups such as bins
and stockpiles often leads to poor predictions of plant performance and to
poor reconciliation of this to the orebody.
This paper reports on two short case studies. One case study addresses
tracking ore from various parts of two mines to the concentrator. The
other follows synthetic particles through the coarse ore stockpile. Both
studies use radio-frequency identification (RFID) tracer technology. The
paper concludes by discussing general strategies for implementation of
such concepts into mine-mill metal accounting and reconciliation
systems. As shown in this paper, reliable ore tracking systems will allow
much more effective mine-mill reconciliations as well as the ability to
model process hold-ups with regard to size by residence time
distributions. This should, in turn, allow metallurgists to have a better
understanding of the size and grade of material that will report to the
plant at different process hold-up (eg stockpile) conditions.

INTRODUCTION
Two persistent issues that cause trouble for even the most valiant
attempts at quality mine-mill metal accounting, reconciliation
and optimisation are:
1.

the need to reliably track ore from source to product, and

2.

the need to accurately account for variable process

hold-ups (such as stockpiles) in the accounting/
reconciliation process.

These issues are effectively intertwined since the second issue

is really a subset of the first. Ore tracking is important in a metal
accounting and reconciliation system because delays between
when material is removed from its source to the time it is
processed are inherent in the mining process. One must be able
to quantify these time delays, which can be extremely variable,
in order to achieve the goals of estimating in-process inventory
and improving the confidence in metal accounting. Besides the
challenge of estimating the location of material in the time
domain, additional uncertainty can be introduced into the
accounting and reconciliation process by process hold-ups,
which are present in most mining and processing systems.

Why examine process hold-ups?

There is a two-sided justification for examining the effects of
process hold-ups on metal accounting and reconciliation:
1.

SAusIMM, Strategic Consultant (IMS), Mincom Inc, 6455 South

Yosemite Street, Suite 800, Greenwood Village CO 80111, USA.
Email: will.jansen@mincom.com

2.

MAusIMM, Chief Technologist, Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral

Research Centre, Isles Road, Indooroopilly Qld 4068.
Email: r.morrison@uq.edu.au

3.

Senior Process Control and Instrumentation Engineer, Metso

Minerals Process Technology Asia Pacific, Unit 1, 8 - 10 Chapman
Place, Eagle Farm Qld 4009. Email: michael.wortley@metso.com

4.

Process Control Engineer, Northparkes Mines, PO Box 995, Parkes

NSW 2870. Email: thomas.rivett@riotinto.com

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operational benefits and compliance with stricter accounting

standards. The operational benefits that come with improved
knowledge of the source of ore being processed have been
discussed extensively in the literature. Essentially, better accounting and improved reconciliations can lead to an enhanced ability
to forecast, which can in turn lead to fewer surprises in production,
higher mining/processing efficiencies and throughput, better
equipment utilisation and overall increased productivity and
profitability.
However additional clarification regarding the relationship
between the study of ore tracking through process hold-ups and
compliance with accounting standards is in order. Motivated in
part by requirements section 409 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
(Sarbanes-Oxley, 2002), which is concerned with real-time
disclosure of material changes in financial conditions or
operations of companies, stakeholders in the mining business are
demanding a more accurate reflection of the valuation of mining
companies. This, in turn, requires a diligent approach to the
valuation of in-process inventories. Thus, more accurate knowledge of the location of parcels of mined ore in a system
(including process hold-ups) is essential to the stricter accounting and reporting needs of modern mining companies.
Due to the importance of the topic to broader studies of metal
accounting and reconciliation, comminution control and
geometallurgy, as well as the lack of published literature in the
area, this paper is dedicated to a detailed discussion of ore
tracking through process hold-ups, which is supported by
practical application of some approaches to their examination.
The paper begins with a general discussion about process
hold-ups throughout the value chain from source to product and
is followed by two experimental campaigns that demonstrate
real-world proof-of-concept studies for the proposed approaches
to ore tracking and process hold-up examination.

PROCESS HOLD-UPS IN METAL ACCOUNTING

Process hold-ups contribute to uncertainty in the metal
accounting process in two general ways:
1.

additional source-to-product residence times, which are

often variable; and

2.

potential for mixing and/or classification within the hold-up

area.

Process hold-ups impose additional, and often variable,

residence times onto the minimum transit time from source-toproduct, and this time is typically a function of hold-up percent
capacity, material characteristics, etc. Thus they introduce a time
element into the metal balancing and reconciliation process that
is not constant and therefore additional variance is introduced
into estimates of inventory location. This in turn leads to
uncertainty in determining the source of materials-in-process and
therefore difficulty in reconciliation and the inability to
accurately estimate in-process inventories.
Many process hold-ups act as mixers and/or classifiers, which
can change the process model from a batch flow problem to a
partially mixed problem. This blending can smooth out
differences in production qualities between ore sources, further
enhancing the difficulty of accurate mine/mill reconciliation.
Classification can also occur in process hold-ups such as
stockpiles and bins, which can sort material based on size and

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W JANSEN et al

density, etc. This can alter the characteristics of material streams

exiting the hold-up over time, which has documented impact on
downstream processes (Dance, 2004, for example).
Thus the additional focus on ore tracking through process
hold-ups presented in this study is well justified due to their
significant, yet poorly researched, effects on metal accounting,
reconciliation and process control. Though this paper contains
only a broad discussion of this issue that would ideally be
expounded upon in future research, development of an approach
to examining the subject is important. First, process hold-ups can
be divided into a number of categories based on some very
general characteristics. For the purposes of this study, process
hold-ups are divided into coarse particle, fine particle and
hydrometallurgical hold-ups. These categories are distinguished
based on their general contribution to uncertainty in the metal
accounting and reconciliation process.

Coarse particle hold-ups

In this study, coarse particle hold-ups are defined as any process
hold-ups that occur before grinding of mined ore has taken
place. These hold-ups are classified separately from fine and
hydrometallurgical hold-ups mainly because they can experience
significant particle segregation effects based on size and density
(Simkus and Dance, 1998). Some of the most common coarse
particle process hold-ups include mine orepasses, ore bins, ore
silos, run-of-mine (ROM) stockpiles and primary feed stockpiles.
The extent of mixing of other ore parcels from similar or
different ore sources is also typically unknown, which restricts
the ability to forecast processing performance even if extensive
geometallurgical testing of the in situ ore has been performed.
Depending on the operation, blocks/parcels of mined material
can experience a number of coarse process hold-ups as they
travel from their in situ source through to processing. These
require a unique approach to their examination, due mainly to the
environment in which these exist. The general requirements for
ore tracking through coarse particle hold-ups (ie essentially up to
the point of plant feed) include:

robust tracer(s) for surviving harsh material handling

environment from mine to mill, and

methods for relatively accurate estimation of volumes/masses

of material in hold-ups.
Considering that this study examines effects on mine-mill
metal accounting and reconciliation, coarse particle hold-ups are
central to the discussion. However, other types of process
hold-ups do occur between source and product that must be
examined in a broader metal accounting and process control
strategy.

Fine particle hold-ups

Process hold-ups occurring post-grinding are generally described
as fine particle hold-ups in this paper, and common examples of
these would be: thickeners, concentrate tanks, and concentrate
stockpiles. Many of the same motivations for providing quality
and quantity estimates of in-process material for these hold-ups
are similar to those for examining coarse particle process
hold-ups as well. For these hold-ups, one should be able to
estimate the mass of material with reasonable accuracy as well as
the properties of the material within each hold-up (compared at
least to coarse particle scenarios). A judicious measurement
program incorporating level sensors in tanks and thickeners, for
example, or volume survey of concentrate stockpiles as well as
grade and moisture content samples should provide a reasonable
amount of information usable for accounting and reconciliation.
The AMIRA P754 Code recommends taking plant stocks and
measuring the total in-process inventory in processing plants
(AMIRA, 2007). It goes on to suggest that in cases where the

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in-process inventory has a value that is large compared to the

value of the net input for the accounting period, the accounting
strategy must involve an operating policy that permits the
exhaustion of the in-process inventory immediately prior to the
stock-take. Splitting storage areas wherever possible also assists
in dealing with hold-ups in metal accounting. These concepts
also apply to the next section, which discusses a third type of
process hold-up: hydrometallurgical process hold-ups.

Hydrometallurgical hold-ups
For hydrometallurgical processing (common in gold processing,
for example), process hold-ups can involve significant periods of
time (days or weeks) and significant values of material. These
often involve phase changes (from solids in slurry to metal in
solution or on carbon), which add an additional element of
difficulty and uncertainty into the balance. Managing such
hold-ups requires a reasonably accurate method of measuring the
inputs and outputs to the hold-up over an accounting period,
supplemented with an occasional stock-take where all in-process
inventory is run-out, where possible, to establish a zero point for
in-process material (AMIRA, 2007). Progressing this condition
through the complete plant is called a bubble survey (more
common in downstream metals processing), which is effective
but can be costly in terms of lost production.
Inventory changes in gold CIP/CIL plants are hard to measure,
for example, and a mass balancing strategy that can cope with
phase changes must be used (such as the one used in the Mincom
Production Accounting solution using the engine of the former
JKMetAccount V2) (Guerney, Dunglison and Cameron, 2005).
Additionally, solution density segregation makes for difficult
representative stock sampling in hydrometallurgical scenarios.
While establishing an appropriate means of metal accounting
around hydrometallurgical operations is extremely important
(especially considering the high value of material usually
involved), this issue warrants scant discussion here because it is
outside the scope of this work.

Hold-ups affecting mine-mill reconciliation

The scope of this study has been limited to the examination of
the mine-mill metal accounting and reconciliation process (and
comminution process control to a smaller extent), and
accordingly the remainder of this paper concentrates on those
process hold-ups that, in general, most affect this process and to
provide and demonstrate approaches to their examination. The
process hold-ups most affecting the mine-mill reconciliation
process are those between the in situ ore in the mine and the feed
stream into the plant. Thus, ore tracking through coarse particle
process hold-ups is the focus of this work, and the next two
sections present approaches to, and a practical demonstration of
the examination of the coarse particle process hold-up problems.
Two different ore tracking resolutions are examined: overall
source-to-product ore tracking and ore tracking through
individual process hold-ups.

MINE-MILL ORE TRACKING INVESTIGATION

With the emphasis placed on reliable ore tracking as a
fundamental basis of a robust mine-mill metal accounting and
reconciliation strategy, a proof-of-concept investigation of the
capability of current radio frequency identification (RFID)
systems for this application was undertaken.
Metso Minerals markets an RFID ore tracking system called
SmartTag as part of their process integration consulting
offering (La Rosa, et al (2007). This system was identified as a
suitable candidate for the study, and a simple experiment was
designed and carried out at Northparkes Mines (NPM) in central
New South Wales, Australia. The purpose of this experiment was
to demonstrate the ability of this state-of-the-art technology to

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achieve the ore tracking aims stipulated by a larger research

project examining best practice approaches to mine/mill
accounting and reconciliation.
For this portion of the ore tracking study, the goal is to track
distinct ore sources from their origin in the mine to the plant feed
stream. Using SmartTag tracers placed in various locations in
the mine, the aim is to examine the viability of such a system in a
mining environment for the purpose of ore tracking as part of a
mine/mill reconciliation strategy.

all underground ore is directed there (NPM has two parallel

grinding/flotation modules fed by separate stockpile). Hence, the
RFID antenna and reader were placed above the module 2
stockpile reclaim conveyor belt, as shown in Figure 3.

Ore tracking tracers and equipment set-up

The Metso Minerals SmartTag is an RFID tag encased in a
protective plastic shell as shown in Figure 1. The hard plastic
shell is designed to protect the enclosed tag from damage during
the harsh mining and handling processes from mine to mill. One
hundred SmartTags were procured from Metso Minerals for
insertion into the mine for this portion of the study.

FIG 3 - Stockpile reclaim tunnel RFID tag antenna.

~ 53mm

FIG 1 - Metso SmartTag encased in plastic shell (Metso

Minerals, 2007).

Ore tracking experimental procedure

In order to determine the time of processing of ore from various
mine sources, RFID tracers were added to four different ore
sources in the two underground mines (E26 and E48) as well as
the underground ore bins (that hold ore before loading the skips)
near the E26 ore shaft. The tracers were numbered (with their
corresponding unique identification numbers recorded) and
divided into six groups and placed in their respective areas, as
shown in Figure 4. The tracer numbers, their locations and the
approximate time placed for each group are shown in Table 1.

Equipment set-up
To conduct an RFID ore tracking experiment, one must obtain
and install the appropriate infrastructure for reading the passive
tags. This equipment records the time when each tag passes the
reading point. An antenna, reader and data logger are required to
read the tags as they pass through the system. These were
obtained and installed, with guidance from Metso Minerals, at
NPM according to Figure 2.
All of the tracer addition points in the NPM underground
mines were selected to go onto the module 2 feed stockpile, as

Ore tracking results

Table 2 shows the detection times and transit times from
placement of the sensors underground to the time reported to the
antenna for the ore tracking tags.
From these results, it appears that the ore tracking was
successful in tracking three of the five groups of tracers (ie three
of five parcels of ore) from their source in the mine to the
processing plant. From ore bin 1, tracers one to ten appear to be
fed to the plant within a period of a few hours, which can be

FIG 2 - Layout of equipment and tracer addition points for experiments.

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W JANSEN et al

TABLE 1
Underground mine tracers location and time placed.
Batch

Tracer
numbers

Location placed

Approximate
time placed

1A

1 - 10

Ore Bin 1 (ore hoisting level)

11/21/07 16:00

1B

11 - 20

Ore Bin 2 (ore hoisting level)

11/21/07 16:00

21 - 40

ED7 in E48 Mine

(development)

11/21/07 23:00

41 - 60

Wash bay E48 Mine

(development)

11/21/07 23:00

61 - 80

Drawpoint 8S3 in Lift 2 North

(E26 Mine)

11/22/07 23:00

81 - 100

Drawpoint 7N4 in Lift 2 North 11/23/07 23:00

(E26 Mine)

FIG 4 - Diagram of tracer addition points for ore tracking

experiment.

TABLE 2
Ore tracking tracer times from placement to stockpile reclaim.
Tracer
group

1a

1b

Tracer #

Time detected
(day, hh:mm)

Time from
placement
(hh:mm)

Time from
placement
(mins)

11/22/2007 12:58

20:58

1258

11/22/2007 13:27

21:27

1287

10

11/22/2007 13:54

21:54

1314

11/22/2007 16:53

24:53

1493

14

11/21/2007 23:51

07:51

471

13

11/22/2007 19:16

27:16

1636

15

11/23/2007 08:52

40:52

2452

23

11/22/2007 13:52

14:52

892

34

11/22/2007 15:13

16:13

973

37

11/22/2007 18:27

19:27

1167

22

11/22/2007 21:42

22:42

1362

40

11/23/2007 05:39

30:39

1839

21

11/23/2007 06:30

31:30

1890

38

11/23/2007 07:21

32:21

1941

36

11/23/2007 07:37

32:27

1957

27

11/23/2007 11:06

36:06

2166

28

11/24/2007 01:16

50:16

3016

24

11/24/2007 14:55

63:55

3835

35

11/24/2007 22:11

71:11

4271

68

11/24/2007 12:37

61:37

3697

75

11/24/2007 13:23

62:23

3743

76

11/24/2007 15:16

64:16

3856

78

11/26/2007 06:01

103:01

6181

79

11/26/2007 06:44

103:44

6224

77

11/26/2007 07:38

104:38

6278

explained at least partially by stockpile segregation (as discussed

in the following experiment). However, there is a significant
delay between the tracers detected from ore bin 2 (tracers 11 to
20). This is presumably due to segregation inside the ore bin and
feed stockpile combined with intermittent drawing from the ore
bin. Because all of the tracers were added at the same time to the
top of the bin, this demonstrates how one batch of ore can be
mixed and processed with significant differences in residence
times (as opposed to batch flows).
Group 2 had the highest tracer recovery with twelve of twenty
being detected en route to processing. This material was from a

348

muck pile fed by a development heading which was being

excavated in the new E48 underground mine. The tracers were
detected over a period of 56 hours (two days and eight hours),
and the information provides a reasonably good estimate of when
this mucked material was being processed in the plant. The
remaining tags may not have been detected due to loss in the
muck pile, damage, incomplete muck pile excavation during the
antenna battery life, or excessive hold-up on the stockpiles due to
rilling, etc.
Group 4 was placed in a drawpoint in lift 2 north of the older
E26 underground mine, and six of these tracers were detected in
two distinct groups. One group of three was detected around 62
hours after placement, and the other three were detected entering
the mill around 103 hours after placement. This is likely due to
two separate drawpoint mucking times, and further information
from the mine dispatch system should reveal if this is the case.
The reader and antenna were disabled apparently while this
material was still being fed to the plant (as the trial was only
slated for five days).
No tracers from groups 3 or 5 were detected during the battery
life of the antenna. Considering the reasonable detection rates of
tracers from groups 1, 2 and 4, it is presumed that these areas
were not excavated (or not yet arrived at the feed stream) during
the duration of the experiment (ie battery life of the antenna).
The ability to track ore reliably between source and product
has a number of important implications for the ability of an
operation to reconcile production and performance between
concentrator and mine. For example, mine block/flow model and
drawpoint sampling grade predictions for underground drawpoints can be directly compared to concentrator feed grade
estimates if a system like this is able to link the plant feed to the
drawpoint source in the mine with a high degree of resolution.
For group 2, for example, it can be said that the material
mucked from the ED7 development muck pile was processed
over a period of about 21/3 days between 13:52 on 22 November
2007 and 22:11 on 24 November 2007. With the more accurate
tonnage and grade measurement systems present in the
concentrator, the metallurgical performance and grade of this
material over this period from the plants on-stream analyser and
metal accounting samples can be more accurately reconciled
with reserve- and grade control predictions from the mine.
These results demonstrate that an RFID-based system such as
the Metso Minerals SmartTag system used in this experiment
is a reasonable way of determining the source of material being
processed in the concentrator. The results of this preliminary
study indicate that RFID systems can be implemented into
information systems for improved mine-mill metal accounting
and reconciliation.

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COARSE ORE INDIVIDUAL HOLD-UP

INVESTIGATION
The previous section focused on source-to-product ore tracking,
which from one perspective means reducing the uncertainty in
estimates of the sources of material being processed in the plant.
However, a source-to-product ore tracking system can examine
the entire system, but not the individual process hold-ups. As
some process hold-ups can mix and even classify material, which
can have impacts on production, alternate ore tracking studies
can be used to examine the impact of this mixing and
classification.

Coarse ore stockpiles

One common source of process hold-up that is documented in
the literature to exhibit mixing and classification of material are
ROM and primary stockpiles. It is documented that the size
distribution of feed has a significant effect on the performance
of grinding mills, (Dance, 2004; Morrell and Valery, 2001;
Simkus and Dance, 1998; Thornton et al, 2005). There are also
references that discuss the relationship between particle size and
grade, with higher grades found in the fines in metal sulfide ores
and in the coarse material in many iron ore mines (Miller, 2002,
for example). Typically, processing plant operators prefer steady
size distributions and constant grades of material, but as the
stockpile is known to classify ore particles, one must quantify the
segregation of feed stockpiles in order to control plant feed.
A modified version of the ore tracking experiment outlined
above was undertaken to examine the classification behaviour of
primary stockpiles. Northparkes Mines was used as the target
site, and this experiment was undertaken concurrently with the
ore tracking study in order to utilise the single antenna installed
over the module 2 stockpile reclaim belt.

Preparation of stockpile tracers

To examine the average batch retention time and size by
retention time in the NPM primary feed stockpiles, realistic
tracers designed to mimic actual NPM ore particle behaviour
were used as in the study. This means that the physical characteristics of the NPM ore classified by the stockpile must be copied.
To ensure a realistic flow of tracers through the stockpile, RFID
tags were embedded directly into material that has similar shape
properties to NPM ore. In order to determine the effect of
material size on the retention time, a range of particle sizes must
also be used. The widest range of sizes should be tested in order
to obtain the most information.

Rock moulds
Ideally, simulated ore feed containing fines through to the top
size particles of semi-autogenous (SAG) feed should be tested,
but the particle size distribution for this experiment is limited on
the fine side by the size of the RFID tag to be embedded (~28
mm) and on the coarse side by the largest particle size of rock
typically reporting to the stockpile (~150 - 200 mm). Five

particles of varying sizes were chosen from a sample of NPM

ore, the average diameters of which were: 36.5 mm, 50 mm,
67.5 mm, 80 mm and 120 mm.
Latex rubber moulds were made of each of these five rock
sizes, which, in turn, were the moulds used to shape the material
used to make simulated rocks with embedded RFID tags.

Manufacture of stockpile tracers

Latex moulds were constructed for the five rock particle sizes
chosen once the issue of mimicking the shape of NPM ore was
settled. At this stage, finding a material that would suit the
remaining physical requirements was the next challenge. A
recipe was required for the material from which to make the
simulated rocks into which the RFID tags would be embedded.
The main criteria required for this material was that it had to be:

similar in density to NPM ore (experimentally determined to

be ~2.65 t/m3), as density has been cited in the literature as

also being a factor in particle segregation in heaps/stockpiles
in addition to particle size; and

strong enough to ensure that the average diameter will not

change significantly when falling from stockpile feed
conveyor to the top of the pile (ie will not smash upon impact
after a fall of a few metres).

A number of different mixtures such as concrete, tile grout, and

cement were tested, but it was clear that most of these trial
mixtures did not satisfy both criteria. Further research and
experimentation resulted in the recipe containing sand, cement, a
copper concentrate (for increasing the density to appropriate
levels) and an epoxy for increasing the strength. Density and
breakage testing demonstrated that this mixture provides a suitable
material for encasing the RFID tag during experimentation.
Using this mixture, 125 simulated rocks (25 in each particle
size fraction) were created according to the procedure below:
1.

combine appropriate portions of dry ingredients (sand,

copper concentrate and cement) and stir until relatively
well-mixed;

2.

slowly add water to mixture and stir until it obtains a thick,

toothpaste-like consistency;

3.

add measured amount of epoxy and hardener to mixture;

4.

stir vigorously until mixture is relatively homogeneous;

5.

spray inside of moulds with silicon spray;

6.

pour rock mixture into first mould until it is half filled;

7.

place an RFID tag on the surface of the rock mixture;

8.

finish filling the mould with rock mixture until mould is

full;

9.

complete steps 6 - 8 for moulds for remaining size fractions

(see Figure 5);

10. either place filled moulds in oven at 70C for four hours or
air-dry overnight;

FIG 5 - Steps of filling rock moulds with mixture and RFID tag.

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W JANSEN et al

11. remove semi-dried rocks from moulds and place back in

70C oven for 24 - 48 hours; and
12. remove simulated rocks from the oven.
Figure 5 shows the stages of adding the mixture and the RFID
tag to a rock before oven- or air-drying.
Figure 6 shows the five moulds with the resulting dried
simulated rocks embedded with RFID tags (shown below) with a
pen for scale.

Equipment set-up and experimental procedure

The equipment set-up is identical to that of the ore tracking
experiment shown in Figure 2 and the stockpile tracer addition
point is noted on this figure as well. The transfer conveyor
between the module 1 and module 2 stockpiles was used to
ensure that all of the stockpile tracers were directed to stockpile
2 for the experiment. When the stockpile reclaim RFID antenna
and reader were installed and properly tuned, the experiment was
carried out according the following procedure:

25 groups of five particles (one of each size) were laid in

numerical order on the ground next to the point of placement
on the stockpile feed conveyor (as shown in Figure 7);

the first group of five particles was thrown onto the conveyor
belt while running and the time recorded;

each group of five was placed separately on the belt ~15 20 seconds after the previous one, recording the time for each
until all were used;

the time it took from the introduction of the simulated rocks

at the placement point to the time these rocks fell onto the
stockpile was measured by recording the time between
placing painted rocks on the belt and the time they fell onto
the stockpile;

the voltage of the batteries powering the RFID reader and

antenna were occasionally monitored over the next few days;
and

after five days, the antenna and reader were disconnected and
the data was read from the readers attached data logger.

FIG 6 - Moulds and rocks (pen for scale).

FIG 7 - Batches of rocks prior to loading onto stockpile feed conveyor belt.

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The shape of the stockpile during the time of introduction of

the simulated rocks is shown in the photos in Figure 8.

Particle Size By Stockpile Retention Time

3000

Stockpile R etention Time (min)

Detected Particle

FIG 8 - Module 2 stockpile shape during addition of stockpile rock

tracers.

y = 397.13Ln(x) - 708
R2 = 0.6336

2000

Particle Size
Retention Time
Geometric Mean
Log. (Particle Size
Retention Time
Geometric Mean)

DEAD ANTENNA

1000

0
30

45

60

75

90

105

120

Particle Size (mm)

Results
The experiments went reasonably well with the exception that
there was a problem with some of the batteries used to power the
readers and antennae used at the detection point. This problem
resulted in a period of approximately eight hours during the
experiment when the stockpile reclaim reader/antenna had no
power, during which time they were not able to detect any tags
passing in the stream. However, outside of this eight hour dead
time, the stockpile reclaim reader/antenna managed to detect 70
of 125 of the stockpile retention time tracers.

Overall stockpile retention

The module 2 stockpile was nearly full with a conically-shaped
top (as shown in Figure 8), so the retention time results obtained
represent some expected results only for this level of filling and
shape of the stockpile. In the case of more drawn-down and/or an
inverted cone-shaped top, the results obtained for such an
exercise would most likely differ. According to Table 3, the
minimum time for any of the tracer particles to report to the
reclaim was hours and 49 minutes after introduction to the
stockpile.
TABLE 3
Retention time of first particle detected from each size fraction.
Size fraction (mm) First detected particle retention time (hh:mm)
36.5

05:49

50

06:57

67.5

06:01

80

07:21

120

14:19

Figure 9 shows the retention time results for all particles, and
it appears that the majority of tracers experienced a retention
time of between roughly six and 17 hours. It must be noted,
however that at roughly t = 17 hours, the battery for the antenna
died and there is no information regarding the frequency of
particle detection over the following eight hours. Considering the
frequency at which they were being detected until the battery
died, it is reasonable to assume that the large majority of
remaining tracers would have been detected during this eight
hour period. This statement refers to tracers that would have been
read, which means that even with full battery power, it is possible
that there would not be 100 per cent detection of reclaimed
particles.
For the 36.5 mm size fraction, for example, 18 of the 25 tracers
were detected between six and 17 hours at an average rate of one

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FIG 9 - Results for stockpile size by retention time study.

tracer detected roughly every 38 minutes. Assuming this average

rate of detection continued, all tracers at this size would have
come through the stockpile with a retention time between six and
21.5 hours. Though this is only an assumption, this is consistent
with the fact that none from this size fraction were detected after
restoration of battery power at t = 25 hours.
The remaining size fractions show more variability in their
retention times, but generally display a trend where the majority
of tags were reclaimed with between six and 17 hours retention
time followed by a few late arrivals being later detected with
retention times of up to 1.8 days (43.5 hours).

Stockpile retention time by particle size

Despite the fact that there was battery failure for a large period of
time during which many of the stockpile tracers were presumably
reclaimed from the stockpile, there are enough results to perform
some reasonable size by retention time analysis and draw some
general and useful conclusions. Figure 9 shows the detection
time for each particle, as grouped by the size fraction to which
the particle belongs. The geometric mean retention time is shown
on Figure 9 by circle markers for each fraction and a logarithmic
trendline is fit to this data. Error bars based on the geometric
variance of each size fraction are also shown.
Inspection of Figure 9 shows a general trend of the smaller
size fraction particles being reclaimed before the larger ones.
This is expected due to stockpile size sorting behaviour that is
well-known both anecdotally and in the literature. There appears
to be approximate plug flow for the middle fractions with most
particles appearing over a relatively short period of time before
the read frequency decreases drastically.
The smallest size fraction particles that were detected were all
detected within the first 17 hours with none detected after the
power was restored to the reader/antenna. It is reasonable to
assume that the remainder of the smallest size fraction particles
(that would be detected) were read during the dead battery time
between 17 and 24 hours, as none were detected after restoration
of the batteries at t = 25 h. If this assumption is correct, then the
finer particle size would be the overall fastest size fraction to be
reclaimed from the stockpile.
The middle three size fractions showed roughly plug flow
behaviour during the period t = 350 to t = 1000 min (~6 17 hours) with a few from each size being read many hours later.
The coarsest size fraction (~120 mm) appears to have been the
last to start being reclaimed. The first coarse particle is not
detected until over 14 hours after the beginning of the
experiment.

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W JANSEN et al

Thus, visual observation of the results appears to show a

distinct relationship between the size of the material and the
retention time, where the smaller particles pass through the
stockpile quicker than larger particles. The following section
examines a way to quantify/model the information collected by
examining distributions of retention times and their relationships
to particle size.

Modelling retention time

Figure 9 shows many of the particles being reclaimed during a
distinct period characterised by a high number of reclaimed
particles followed by several tags coming much later.
Considering this behaviour in terms of a distribution of times for
each size fraction, it is reasonable to use a skewed distribution to
represent this behaviour with the bulk of retention times bunched
close to the beginning (ie lower retention times) with an
extended distribution tail covering the remainder that perhaps
rilled down the pile, for example.
One common type of skewed distribution is the log-normal
distribution, and for this experiment, a hypothesis was adopted
that the retention times in this experiment could be effectively
modelled using a log-normal distribution. This hypothesis can be
tested by taking the log of the raw retention times, putting this
information into a histogram, and examining the normality of the
resulting distributions.
Figure 10 shows histograms of the retention times for the five
particle sizes tested during this experiment as well as histograms
of the natural log of their raw retention times. Inspection of these
histograms reveals that the assumption of log-normality may be
inappropriate for the smallest size fraction, none of which
appears to have rilled down the stockpile. Indeed a normal
distribution appears to roughly model the behaviour of this fine
size. For the middle three size fractions, taking the natural log of
the data appears to have roughly normalised the distributions
(signalling possible log-normality). For the coarsest fraction,
only five of the 25 tracers were detected, which leaves
insufficient information from which to obtain a reliable estimate
of the underlying distribution, though one cannot rule out
log-normality.
If this information is indicative of the stockpile behaviour, it is
reasonable to state that the stockpile acts as a type of classifier.
For particles that are below some characteristic size, the
stockpile appears to internally mix them and send them to
reclaim according to normally distributed retention times. For
particles above this characteristic size, there is a roughly
log-normal distribution of retention times due to the presence of
both internally mixed and partially rilled particles, with some
particle recovery lost due to rilling to the dead zone for the
coarser sizes. Thus, there appears to be three distinct
mechanisms to model based on the size of the material.
To illustrate this, Figure 11 shows a generic feed size
distribution of ore coming from the E26 underground mine (data
from March 2005), which has been divided according to the
behaviour of the size fractions according to this study. Zone 1 on
the fine end of the distribution can be modelled using normal
distributions; zone 2 in the middle can be modelled using
log-normal distributions and zone 3 at the coarse end of the
distribution can also be represented as a log-normal distribution,
but with a factor accounting for the significant percentage of
material that reports to the dead zone from rilling.
One of the major implications of this knowledge is that due to
the classification behaviour of a stockpile where finer particles
are preferentially reclaimed first is that SAG mill performance
can be significantly affected by the state of the stockpile. Studies
have demonstrated the relationship between size distribution of
material and SAG throughput (Dance 2004, for example) where
coarser feed distributions generally equate to lower SAG
throughputs. Thus, if one draws down a stockpile from full, SAG
mill throughput should, according to the results from this work,

352

diminish over time as the finer material leaves the stockpile

quicker than the coarse, leading to coarser feed size distributions
over time and lower throughput.
The main result from this experiment is that the methodology
developed for this study to measure size by retention time has
proven to give some good preliminary results. These results are
merely a proof-of-concept for this procedure, but they illustrate
its potential and should provide the basis for design of a more
thorough study upon which reasonably accurate stockpile models
can be developed. Also, ensuring a reliable power source for the
readers and antennas has now been flagged as a much higher
priority than was foreseen before this experiment was
undertaken.

Future stockpile modelling

The preliminary results from this experiment suggest that more
work should be undertaken towards the development of a
reasonable stockpile model that can be used not only for better
control of the SAG mill and subsequent processing, but also for
improved metal accounting and reconciliation. Figure 12 shows a
basic conceptual framework for such a stockpile model.
Further work must be conducted to evaluate the impact of
stockpile shape (ie conical or inverted conical top) on the size by
retention time behaviour. With an inverted conical top, it is
expected that there will be increasingly plug flow behaviour
demonstrated across all size fractions as the particles will be
channelled towards the reclaim point instead of rilling down as
with a conical top. The volume of the stockpile is also an
important parameter to examine, as a lower volume will
presumably lessen the retention time.
Once the shape and volume parameters are determined, the
resulting stockpile model (based upon further experimentation
with RFID tracers at the various volume/shape configurations)
should be called upon to determine the predicted retention times
for given feed distributions of materials. This should allow
prediction of the retention time of the various size fractions
present in the feed for the parcels of ore sent from the mine. This
will, in turn, provide a more concrete basis for estimating and
controlling SAG mill throughput and processing performance,
better metal accounting around the stockpile (ie what is the value
of the stockpile?) and more accurate mine-mill reconciliations.

GENERAL IMPLEMENTATION OF
TRACER-BASED METHODS
Based on the results of the work presented in the previous
sections using the SmartTag RFID ore tracking system, it is
clear that tracer-based methods can provide substantial
information about operation for a relatively small investment in
time and cost. Considering the fact that all mining operations
have unique flow sheets and process hold-ups, the usefulness of
such techniques in a broader sense must be considered.

General strategies to examine process hold-ups

For many operations, the ability to track ore from its source in the
mine to the plant feed stream is the priority from metal accounting
and geometallurgical reconciliation standpoints, but if there are
individual hold-ups that have significant effects on the process
such as mixing or classification, further examination along the
lines of the stockpile tracer work undertaken in this study may be
required. In order to develop an effective generic approach to
evaluating such hold-ups at an operation, the following issues
regarding the individual hold-ups must first be examined:

significance of hold-up (live capacity as a function of

throughput for the various metal accounting periods);

effect of mixing/classification on processing performance;

and

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FIG 10 - Histograms of raw and log of retention times for five tracer sizes.

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W JANSEN et al

Zone 3
Zone 1
Zone 2

FIG 11 - NPM underground mine feed size distribution divided roughly into three stockpile behavioural zones.

site-specific performance issues at, or downstream of, the

hold-up.

Tracer-based examination of significant hold-ups

If a process hold-up is significant, then there is the possibility
that it contains a significant value of valuable material.
Understanding the extent to which material is classified or mixed
in such hold-ups presents a basis for placing a value on the
material in the hold-up. A stockpile model, for example, based
on through tracer-based experimentation and laboratory flow
evaluation, combined with frequent volume/mass measurement
and stock-takes (and application of the setting the clock to zero
philosophy), should enable much more reasonable estimates of
in-process material value in this hold-up.

Tracer-based examination of mixing/classifying

hold-ups
From an operational performance point of view, tracer based
methods for measuring the mixing and classification behaviour
of a process hold-up should be undertaken if there are potential
performance risks associated with the hold-up. For example, if
a conical stockpile is directly feeding an autogenous or
semi-autogenous mill, tracer-based evaluation of the stockpile
rilling/sorting (ie classification) should provide a foothold from
which to make decisions about how to maintain the stockpiles for
optimum grinding throughput and performance. In a paper
written by Simkus and Dance (1998), the stockpiles at Highland
Valley Copper in Canada are modelled as plug flow devices
where batches of material flow coherently through a pile (ie first
on, first off), as shown in Figure 13.
The paper goes on to state that the plug-flow model used is not
adequate for all situations, but that it should work for reasonably
high and well-formed piles. It is further noted that at Highland
Valley, the fluctuations in mill feed size outweigh ore hardness in
terms of effect on mill throughput. The work presented in the
NPM stockpile residence time study show preliminarily that the
size distribution of mill feed reclaimed from a stockpile will

354

change over time as the stockpile is drawn down, due mainly to

the particle size classification that occurs within the stockpile.
Highland Valley have thus concluded that their stockpiles have a
significant influence on processing performance, which is an
example of a scenario in which tracer-based methods such as the
one used at NPM for stockpile sorting can be used.
Besides the operating performance of grinding mills, segregation in process hold-ups also classifies material of potentially
different grades. There is often a relationship between the size of
a particle and its grade with finer particles often of higher
grade than coarser particles in sulfides, such as at Northparkes
Mines (Jansen, 2006, for example) or the reverse in many iron
ores (Miller, 2002, for example).

Ore tracking in reconciliation

Implementation of tracer-based ore tracking systems upon which
to base mine-mill reconciliations should be able to be generically
applied to most operations. This simply involves the expense of
installing a measurement infrastructure and information
management system and the on-going cost of the RFID
consumables (tags) and system maintenance. The benefits of
such a system have been discussed at length throughout this
work.

CONCLUSIONS
The tracking of material from source to product and for use in
evaluating process hold-up behaviour has been demonstrated in
this paper, but it is important to emphasise the implications of the
resulting information on metal accounting and reconciliation,
which is the basic goal of this study. Improved knowledge of the
residence time and mixing/classification behaviour of individual
process hold-ups as well as the entire system in general provides
a significant level of important information for use in metal
accounting and reconciliation. The general conclusions from this
study include:

The usefulness of RFID tracers for ore tracking applications

was demonstrated by the successful detection at the stockpile

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FIG 12 - Preliminary structure of stockpile mode.

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REFERENCES

FIG 13 - Schematic of Highland Valley Copper stockpile model

(after Simkus and Dance, 1998).

reclaim of tracers placed at ore sources in the underground

mines.

The methodology developed and tested in this study for

examining and modelling size by retention time is

determined to have worked as expected and should provide
the basis for further work in examining the behaviour of
stockpiles.

The smaller stockpile retention tracers were reclaimed first

and the coarsest were reclaimed last, with a general trend
showing longer average retention times for larger size
fractions.

It was shown that the classification behaviour of the stockpile

can impact on the size distribution of material reclaimed as it

preferentially reclaims finer material before coarser. This has
implications regarding processing performance and
throughput.

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Guidelines: Release 3, February 2007.
Dance, A, 2004. Removing the disturbance: Stabilising SAG mill tonnage
through proper feed preparation, Preprint 04-110 of the SME Annual
Meeting 2004, Denver, Colorado, 5 p.
Guerney, P, Dunglison, M and Cameron, P, 2005. Leveraging accuracy
and precision Multi-phase mass balancing and reconciliation as a
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Conference, 7 - 8 March, Brisbane, Australia, pp 91-102.
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use of radio frequency ID tags to track ore in mining operations, in
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Available from: <http://www.mmpt.com.au/?p=prod-smarttag>.
Accessed: 5 December 2007.
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Rsource Utilisation, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2002, pp 243-250 (The
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).
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performance, in Proceedings SAG 2001: Third International
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Simkus, R and Dance, A, 1998. Tracking hardness and size: Measuring
and monitoring ROM ore properties at Highland Valley Copper, in
Proceedings Mine to Mill 98 (eds: Scott and Morrell), Brisbane,
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control at Northparkes Mines (not so hard after all), MIPAC report.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank Rio Tinto and the personnel of
Northparkes Mines for their support in this initiative, with
special thanks to Dr Ray Shaw, Miles Naude and Alain Bouchard
of Rio Tinto and Allan Allport of Metso Minerals.

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