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INTRODUCTION
The core process in any mining operation involves the comminution and separation of the in-situ
ore from the waste rock and its conversion to a final valuable product such as metal or an
intermediate product such as concentrate.
Traditionally the mineral industry has classified the total process into two groups, mining and
milling and these are managed as separate cost centres with distinct cost and production budgets.
Process optimisation is achieved by focussing on achieving and/or maximising the production
(tons) budget with minimum cost. The efficiency of each sub process is considered to be optimum
as long as they meet the production targets at the minimum operating cost. There is little incentive
to understand the impact of one sub-process over other downstream processes and to improve the
profitability of whole business unit.
In this traditional approach, drilling and blasting is viewed as a sub-process in mining and its main
objective is to fracture the in-situ rock mass and prepare it for efficient digging and hauling. Hence,
drill and blast results are often evaluated and optimised based on the needs of its subsequent
mining operations such as loading and hauling while maintaining pit slope stability and safety
standards. Blast results are considered good when they ensure good digging and loading
operations while maintaining the safety and environmental standards. Such an approach is
probably true for operations where the sole objective is the transfer of in-situ material from one
place to another but it may not be the optimum in operations where blast results affect mill
throughput, recovery and price of the final product.
Research and industrial experience in the past decade has shown that drill and blast results (such
as fragmentation, muckpile shape, movement and damage) impact the efficiency of down stream
processes and therefore the overall profitability of the mining operation (Eloranta 1995, Kanchibotla
et al 1998, Simkus and Dance 1998, Scott et al 1999, Kanchibotla et al 1999, Kanchibotla 2000,
Valery et al., 1999, Hart et al., 2000, Valery et al., 2001, Lam et al., 2001, Karageorgos et al.,
2001, Morrell et al., 2001, Hart et al., 2001, Carr et al., 2001, Strohmayr et al., 2001, Renner et al.,
2006, Dance et al., 2006, Tondo et al., 2006, McCaffery et al., 2006, Dance et al 2007). The
Mine-to-Mill or Process Integration and Optimisation approach involves identifying and
understanding the leverage each process has on downstream processes (eg. the impact of drill
and blast results on load and haul, crushing, grinding processes) and then use that leverage to
maximise the overall profitability of the operation rather than just that of the individual processes. A
schematic indicating the main variables and parameters involved in this approach is shown in
Figure 1.
Dispatch
Ore characterisation
Ore movement
Drill data
Blast models
Dilution control
Blast parameters
Predicted fragmentation
ROM SIZE
PRODUCT SIZE
DCS
CSS
Ball addition
Water
FEED SIZE
POWER
FEED RATE
LOAD
SPEED
Water
Feeder ratios
Ball addition
Feed rate
Speed
Mill models
Ore characterisation
Mill data
Feed size
IMPACT OF FRAGMENTATION
In most modern metalliferous operations, the ore undergoes at least three stages of breakage or
comminution:
Blasting to prepare the ore for excavation and transport
Crushing to improve its handling characteristics and to prepare the ore for grinding
Grinding which is usually undertaken in two stages (with semi/autogenous milling as the
primary operation)
Table 1 shows the general relationship between energy requirements and cost for the three stages
of comminution while Figure 2 shows the breakdown of operating costs for a typical open pit gold
mine.
Specific Energy
Cost
Energy Factor
Cost Factor
(kWh/t)
(1 = Blasting)
(1 = Blasting)
0.1 to 0.25
0.1 to 0.25
Crushing
1 to 2
0.5 to 1.0
4 to 20x
2 to 10x
Grinding
10 to 20
2 to 5
40 to 200x
8 to 20x
11.1 to 22.25
2.6 to 6.25
Total
$0.10
$0.25
$1.00
$2.20
$1.75
$0.70
$0.40
$3.50
Mining
Milling
FIGURE 2: BREAKDOWN OF OPERATING COST ($ PER TONNE) IN A TYPICAL OPEN PIT GOLD MINE
The energy requirements and operating costs above clearly suggest that drill and blast is the most
inexpensive form of energy to break rock, followed by crushing. In the Process Integration and
Optimisation (PIO) approach, this leverage is exploited and the amount of breakage achieved in
both blasting and crushing is maximised to relieve the mill of as much new breakage as possible.
In essence, the breakage is moved back in the production chain where the energy requirements
are lower and cheaper.
Figures 3 and 4 below illustrate the concept presented in Table 1. In Figure 3, the stages of
comminution are shown from left to right. The first stage of blasting reduces the in-situ block size of
2m (for example) down to the run-of-mine (ROM) fragmentation size of 500mm. This is followed by
crushing down to 150mm, and then grinding down to 100 or 75m. (Fine grinding can take this size
reduction down to as low as a few microns, but the economics of this are not considered here.)
Figure 3 shows that blasting reduces the in-situ block size significantly while crushing and grinding
require increasing amounts of energy (represented here in kWh/t) to produce a finer product. The
result is an exponential increase in the specific energy required to continue the size reduction
process.
original
rock mass
Crushing
(500mm to 150mm)
Grinding
(150mm to 75um)
Fine Grinding
(<75um)
Size Reduction
Blasting
(2m to 500mm)
original
rock mass
Grinding
(150mm to 75um)
range of cost
vs. energy
Fine Grinding
(<75um)
Cumulative $/tonne
Crushing
(500mm to 150mm)
Size Reduction
Blasting
(2m to 500mm)
FIGURE 4: SCHEMATIC OF COMMINUTION STAGE SIZE & COST VS. ENERGY CONSUMPTION
The two lines in Figure 3 represent the range of size reduction/energy relationships that exist and
are dependent on the material properties. Figure 4 includes the increasing cost per tonne
associated with finer comminution stages. The cost per tonne to reduce material down to crusher
feed size by blasting is relatively low, but once again builds exponentially as the particle size
becomes smaller. The cost curves are far more variable due to the combination of fixed and
operating costs.
In order to maximise the benefit of this relatively low-cost, more efficient comminution stage, drill
and blast designs are modified to reduce the top size and increase fines in ROM ore fragmentation
(Figure 5). A reduction in top size will improve the ease of excavation and transport within the
mine, and also allows the primary crusher gap to be reduced, generating material that needs less
breakage in the mill. With a reduced top size, the crusher can be choke fed without the risk of
blockages as this promotes more inter-particle breakage and produces more fines. The increase in
the proportion of fines (defined here as material smaller than the grate size of the mill) should pass
freely through the mill and require no further breakage.
excavated based on pre-blast markings. This can result in significant dilution and ore loss (Figure
6).
Ore
Ore
Waste
Pre - blast
Waste
Post - blast
Figure 6: Dilution and Ore Loss Due to Blast Movement
In order to reduce the risk of dilution and ore loss, many open pit gold mines conduct their
production blasts with low powder factors and choked conditions to reduce any lateral movement
during blasting. Such an approach is believed to reduce the blast-induced movements, but can
have significant impact on fragmentation and muckpile looseness, thus affecting the efficiency of
downstream operations. More importantly, this approach does not address the fundamental cause
of dilution: is it blast movement, or a lack of understanding of blast movement that is the root of
dilution and ore loss?
In the Process Integration and Optimisation approach, the risk of ore loss and dilution is minimised
without compromising the quality of fragmentation. This is achieved by:
measuring the direction and the extent of movements within a blast,
adjusting the post blast ore-waste boundaries based on these measurements, and
understanding the mechanisms of blast movement and modifying the blast designs to
minimise any adverse ore body movements within the blast.
Some open pit mines, especially gold mines where dilution control is critical use poly pipes,
coloured stemming, electronic Blast Movement Markers that are located post blast and marker
bags to track blast movement. Recently some operations have been trialing radio frequency tags to
track blast movement (La Rosa et al, APCOM 2007). Even though some of these techniques have
given a better insight into this complicated problem, they have not been routinely adopted by the
mining industry.
The impact of ore loss and dilution on the overall profitability of a mining operation can be
significant, especially for gold mining operations. Taylor et. al. (1996) reported that dilution levels
could be reduced significantly with proper blasting procedures as well as by accounting for blastinduced movements when implementing ore control.
2400
11
10
2200
8
2000
7
Throughput (tph)
6
1800
Throughput
Specific Power Consumption
1600
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
FIGURE 7: EXAMPLE OF EFFECT OF SAG FEED SIZE F80 ON THROUGHPUT AND SPECIFIC POWER
10
Hole Diameter, mm
200
229
Bench Height, m
10
10
Burden, m
5.3
4.5
Spacing, m
6.3
5.5
Hole Depth, m
10.6
10.5
Column Height, m
5.3
5.3
Stemming Height, m
5.3
5.2
Subdrill, m
0.6
0.5
0.24
0.4
65%
0.18
0.29
61%
Top Size, m
1.5
% Oversize (+600mm)
6%
1%
% Fines (-10mm)
9%
15%
673
767
Fragmentation
14%
In order to demonstrate the economic incentives not clearly shown in Table 2, costs were applied
to each of the processes involved and a number of scenarios were compared in terms of their
effect on operating profit or the bottom line. Before discussing the simulation results, a few
definitions should be described:
Profit per tonne of broken ore is the difference between the price it commands and the costs to
produce it and can be estimated as:
Profit = Revenue Operating Cost Fixed Cost
Where:
Revenue = Unit Value x Throughput
Unit value = (Grade x Recovery x Unit Price) / (1 + Dilution)
Operating Cost = Unit Operating Cost x Throughput
Unit Operating Cost = Unit Cost of (Drilling + Blasting + Loading + Hauling + Crushing +
Grinding + Liberation)
Fixed Cost = Cost of Capital and Overheads
11
The financial simulations are summarised in Table 3 below and used indicative costs with the
following assumptions:
The finer ROM from the mine to mill blast was expected to improve the diggability,
excavator maintenance and reduce the loading and hauling costs by 2% (ie. from current
$0.85/tonne to $0.83/tonne)
No additional capital expenditure or overheads was required for the additional throughput
The ratio of fixed plus overhead cost to variable operating costs was assumed as 50:50
The head grade was 3g/t and the price of gold was $US600 per ounce
3. Additional grade control procedures doubled the grade control costs but reduced
dilution by 10% from the current levels (ie. from 10% to 9%)
The financial simulations illustrate that the simple cost minimisation approach to minimise the cost
of each sub process may not result in an optimal solution for the total operation. The profitability of
an operation can be improved by doing more breakage during blasting and crushing but the simple
Mine-to-Mill approach of increasing blasting intensity may not improve the profitability. For
example, higher blast energies will increase the mill throughput but the benefits are lost if the blast
energy is not controlled and results in increased dilution levels and wall damage. However, with a
better understanding, proper measurements and controls, even if these impose additional costs,
the profitability can be further increased. Therefore, the Process Integration and Optimisation
approach requires a thorough understanding of all the sub-processes and their interactions with
each other, in order to optimise the entire process.
The traditional optimisation approach does not offer incentives for any sub-process to increase its
cost in order to improve the overall profitability. A holistic approach is necessary, wherein each
sub-process is optimised by carefully understanding its impact on all downstream process and the
overall profitability.
12
$0.18
$0.85
$0.20
$1.23
$0.20
$0.40
$2.20
$2.80
673
$4.03
$4.03
$8.06
10%
3.0
80%
2.18
$3.69
$19.29
$42.09
$34.03
Mine-to-Mill Design
No Change in
Dilution
Increase in
Dilution
Additional Grade
Control & Reduced
Dilution
$0.29
$0.83
$0.20
$1.32
$0.18
$0.40
$1.93
$2.51
767
14%
$3.83
3.54
7.36
10%
3.0
80%
2.18
$3.37
19.29
42.09
34.73
$3,979,761
$0.29
$0.83
$0.20
$1.32
$0.18
$0.40
$1.93
$2.51
767
14%
$3.83
3.54
7.36
12%
3.0
80%
2.14
$3.44
19.29
41.34
33.98
$314,261
$0.29
$0.83
$0.40
$1.52
$0.18
$0.40
$1.93
$2.51
767
14%
$4.03
3.54
7.56
9%
3.0
80%
2.20
$3.44
19.29
42.48
34.92
$5,043,321
CONCLUSIONS
Over the past decade, successful Integration and Optimisation of mining operations around the
world have demonstrated the value inherent in mine and concentrator personnel working together
and utilising proper methodology to reduce the overall cost and improve performance to achieve
higher profitability. By considering the downstream effects of product quality, such as ROM
fragmentation, it is possible to improve overall efficiency without any increase in capital or overall
operating costs.
These benefits are derived from better understanding of the inputs to the process, the relationships
between each operation and their impact on overall costs and performance.
An increasing number of operations have realised significant benefits by working more
cooperatively with a common goal of improving overall operational efficiency.
13
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