Increase throughput and capacity in SAG mills

Key Benefits

Optimise your mill capacity and throughput
Increase liner life and cut replacement downtime
Cut energy costs
Reduce safety risks to employees

SAG mills are the main workhorses in the majority of comminution circuits globally. They need to be fed and kept working round the clock. But challenges can arise when capacity is not optimised causing unnecessary downtime and liner wear leading to the one sound operators do not want to hear - the sound of the mills standing still.

What we offer

Every second counts with SAG mill optimisation

The loudest silence occurs when your SAG mill is standing still. It is the sound of rising costs by the hour both from the downtime itself and from maintenance costs. Optimising the capacity of your SAG mill is crucial to avoiding downtime and liner wear and damage.

With variances in mill ore feed rate, mill speed and slurry density, critical impacts can occur in your SAG mill. The speed at which these variances are adjusted for is thus crucial for minimizing damage and optimizing liner life. Every second counts, and adjusting these parameters within seconds can have a significant effect on the wear of your SAG mill, which will effect on your bottom line.

LoadIQ and ECS/ProcessExpert reduces your mill’s ball-on-liner impacts with up to 45 percent, which prolongs liner life and minimises media degradation. Further, it reduces energy consumption by up to six percent.

Frequent and automatic mill load adjustments

LoadIQ uses smart sensors and proprietary algorithms to measure and predict the SAG mill behavior according to ore properties, trajectory (liner wear) and other main process variables. The smart sensors ensure regular and accurate adjustments to mill loading that greatly increase throughput and efficiency.

ECS/ProcessExpert can, within seconds, analyse incoming information from LoadIQ as well as ore properties and internal mill dynamics together with board power usage, mill weight and bearing pressure. It can then automatically take corrective action if needed and adjust parameters such as the mill ore feed rate, mill speed or slurry density. Where an operator might make adjustments every few minutes, this solution can make less drastic adjustments more frequently, down to every 20 seconds or less.

Keeps the mill rolling

Test results show that these adjustments reduce damage to the liners by up to 40 percent. This means less unscheduled downtime and increase in production.

Lightweight composite liners for large mills

Replacing traditional steel cast mill liners with lightweight composite liners. Major gold and copper operations have already started doing this in mills up to 40’ Ø and seen an improvement in the slurry discharge of up to seven percent.

The composite liners are thinner than steel cast liners, and thinner liners result in a larger volume inside the mill. This means you can have a higher charge level. Using composite liners also cuts the weight of the liners to about 50 percent of standard steel cast liners, making it possible to work with a higher ball charge level without increasing the total weight of the mill. Both of these benefits result in a higher throughput.

ROI in half the lifetime

Where upgrading to a composite liner is the right solution, the return on investment is usually within half the lifetime of the wear part.

Like all upgrades there can be an increase in upfront costs, but the total cost of ownership value is simple to calculate. This value is manifested first by production improvements, often contributing seven figure values to a customer’s profitability. That improvement can stand on its own. However, with the improvements in downtime and reduction in safety risks, the values can be even greater.

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