YANACOCHA GOLD SINGLE STAGE SAG MILL DESIGN, OPERATION, AND OPTIMIZATION Ben Burger1, Luis Vargas1, Hamer

Arevalo1, Sergio Vicuna1, Jim Seidel2, Walter Valery3, Alex Jankovic3, Roberto Valle3, Eduardo Nozawa3
1

Minera Yanacocha SRL (MYSRL) Cajamarca, Per ben.burger@newmont.com Newmont Metallurgical Services Englewood, Denver, CO, USA jim.seidel@newmont.com

Metso Process Technology and Innovation 1/8-10 Chapman Place Eagle Farm, Brisbane, QLD, Australia walter.valery@metso.com

OPTIMISATION OF THE SINGLE STAGE SAG MILL CIRCUIT AT THE YANACOCHA GOLD MILL

ABSTRACT This paper describes the design, the first three years of operation and optimization of a large, single stage SAG mill at Minera Yanacochas Gold Mill facility located in northern Peru. The Gold Mill was commissioned in March 2008 with a 32 x 32 EGL, 16.5MW single stage SAG mill, to process 5 million tonnes per annum high grade oxide Au/Ag ore. Operational control, feed size distribution, grinding media, mill liner, grate and pulp lifter optimisation have allowed the mill to operate 15-30% above design throughput rates, but with a product P80 coarser than design. As part of the optimization, full grinding circuit surveys were conducted. Historical operating data and survey data were analyzed and used to evaluate possible circuit changes and determine alternative operating strategies. A number of changes were implemented which allowed the SAG mill to operate similarly to a large ball mill and achieve finer mill product that was closer to design. This paper summarizes life to date data analysis and improvements made by Minera Yanacocha as well as the grinding circuit optimisation study conducted by Metso Process Technology and Innovation.

KEYWORDS Yanacocha, SAG, grinding, optimization, simulation, comminution INTRODUCTION Minera Yanacocha SRL (MYSRL) has conducted mining operations in Peru since 1993, and has subsequently produced more than 30 million ounces of gold as of 2011. The mining operations are located 600 km north of Lima and 20 km from the city of Cajamarca, covering an area of 16 km east-west by 8 km north-south at altitudes of 3200 to 4100 metres above sea-level. Figure 1 shows the geographic location of the MYSRL operation and the Gold Mill. MYSRL is owned by Newmont Mining (51.35%), Compaa de Minas Buenaventura (43.65%) and the International Finance Corporation (5%). MYSRL has historically processed up to 130 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of oxide and transitional gold ores that are recovered by cyanide heap leaching using Carbon-in-Columns and Merrill Crowe processes. Recently high grade ores have been processed in the Gold Mill, with gold recovery from pregnant solutions in the heap leach CIC and Merrill Crowe plants.. Yanacocha Gold Mill (YGM) began operation in March 2008. The process includes a SART (Sulphidisation, Acidification, Recycling and Thickening) circuit, commissioned in December 2008, which operates on a campaign basis when processing copper bearing gold ores.

1000m

Cajamarca

Peru
Lima

Figure 1: MYSRL mine showing Gold Mill as well as adjacent facilities YGM processes high grade gold ores at higher recoveries than heap leaching. The mill quickly exceeded the nominal design capacity of 5.0 Mtpa by 10-20% during the first two years of operation. However, the operation was also producing a product P80 that was coarser than design. The recovery impact of the coarse product was negligible and allowed the operation to process additional high grade ores. Figure 2 compares the YGM design and achieved throughput. Historical Mill Throughput
900 800 700 600 Tonnes/h 500 400 300 200 100 0

Average Monthly t/h

Throughput design t/h

Figure 2: Gold mill throughput above design from early months of operation

DESCRIPTION OF THE YANACOCHA GOLD MILL OPERATION The Run of Mine (ROM) ore is stockpiled close to the crushing plant and is blended according to process requirements. The YGM crushing plant consists of two parallel lines, each line consisting of a single truck dump pocket, apron feeder to a 112 x 30 grizzly and a 50 x 60 C160 Jacques jaw crusher. The minus 150 mm crushing circuit product is conveyed to a 9,000 tonne live capacity mill feed stockpile. The YGM grinding circuit consists of one 9.75 m x 9.75 m (32 x 32 EGL) SAG mill with an installed power of 16.5 MW in closed circuit with ten 650 mm cyclones. The SAG mill product discharges to a trommel with 12.7 mm x 31.8 mm apertures and the trommel oversize (pebbles) returns to the SAG mill via conveyors; there is no pebble crushing. The SAG mill was designed to process 620 t/h and yield a product P80 of 75 m. Table 1 summarizes the design criteria for Yanacocha crushing and grinding circuits. The target product P80 of 75 m has not been achieved since commissioning. Table 1: Summary of design criteria for YGM crushing and grinding circuits Primary Crushing Ball Mill Work Index (kWh/t) Bond Abrasion Index (g) Availability (%) Design throughput (t/h) Feed Top Size (mm) P80 (mm) CSS (mm) SAG MILL Availability (%) Design throughput (t/h) Circuit P80 (um) Pebbles production rate (t/h) Circulating Load excl. Pebbles (%) Mill installed power (kW) Critical speed - normal (%) Ball charge (%)

15.7 to 19.2 0.467 to 0.555 75% 1,500 750 180 165 92 620 75 186 275 16,500 60 to 80 up to 15

The cyclone overflow is thickened prior to cyanide leaching in tanks. A Counter-CurrentDecantation (CCD) circuit produces precious metals bearing pregnant solution and thickened tailings for disposal into the tailings facility located within the adjacent La Quinua heap leach pad. Pregnant solution from the CCD circuit that contains high concentrations of copper and silver is sent to a SART/AVR plant to remove these metals prior to gold recovery in carbon-in-columns (CIC). Alternately, clean solution from oxide ores bypasses SART and is sent directly to CIC. The CIC plant utilised by the Gold Mill process is part of the adjacent La Quinua heap leach processing facility. Gold Mill pregnant solution displaces approximately 25% of the pre-2008, lower grade, heap leach solution treatment capacity in the carbon columns. The La Quinua processing facility contains two CIC plants. The Gold Mill pregnant solution is treated in one CIC plant while the barren solution from the second CIC plant is used in the mill for process and CCD wash water as the leach pad barren solution has lower cyanide and metals contents than the barren solution from the first CIC plant which treats the Gold Mill pregnant solution. This allows the CCD circuit to produce tailings with low WAD-cyanide (WAD-CN) content and is a fundamental design feature for compliance with the International Cyanide Code for the Gold Mill and Minera Yanacocha.

The gold and silver recovered onto carbon at the La Quinua CIC is stripped off the carbon in conventional pressure strip vessels and the high grade strip solution is pumped to the Yanacocha Norte Merrill Crowe circuit where it is precipitated with zinc and smelted into dore bars in the Yanacocha refinery. YANACOCHA GOLD MILL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS Yanacocha Gold Mill was designed and built based on the following criterion: Treatment of high grade gold (2-6 g/t), silver (0-100 g/t), oxides and transitional ores. The YGM process would increase gold recovery. Under conventional heap leaching conditions, the gold and silver recoveries from oxide and transitional ores averages ~55% and ~12% respectively. The YGM process treating this same material achieves gold and silver recoveries of +82% and +65% respectively. The YGM process achieves recovery in a short timeframe. Primary gold recovery in heap leaching typically takes 60 days and continues for several years to achieve ultimate recovery. The YGM process achieves ultimate recovery in approximately 24 hours. YGM incorporates SART (Sulphidisation, Acidification, Recycling and Thickening) and AVR (acidification-volatilization-recycling) circuits to process gold and silver ores from a mixed sulphide/transitional material, known at MYSRL as Deep Transitional ore. Deep Transitional material cannot be processed economically with heap leaching due to low recovery and high reagent consumptions associated with copper and pyrite contents. Furthermore, transitional ores containing cyanide soluble copper (CN sol Cu) consume more cyanide and require higher free cyanide concentrations during leaching to achieve good gold and silver leach recoveries. YANACOCHA GOLD MILL CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS Throughput versus Grind Size YGM was designed to produce 620 t/h at a P80 of 75 m. The throughput objectives were met and exceeded within four months of commissioning with exception of the target product grind size, which was never achieved, due to a combination of mill configuration, ore hardness characteristics, grinding media size plus interaction with discharge grates and classification efficiency. Figure 3 shows the historical trend of the YGM throughput and final product grid size. Mill Throughput and Product Size P80
900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Jun-08 Aug-08 Oct-08 Jun-09 Aug-09 Oct-09 Jun-10 Aug-10 Apr-08 Dec-08 Feb-09 Apr-09 Dec-09 Feb-10 Apr-10 Oct-10 Dec-10 Feb-11 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

Tonnes/h

P80, m

Average Monthly t/h

Monthly Average P80

Figure 3: Historical mill throughput and P80 The data in Figure 3 shows an average Life to Date (LTD) throughput of 717 t/h and final product grind P80 of 148 m at an operating work index of 23.0 kWh/t, which is about 8% higher than the 21.3 kWh/t design work index. The mill has operated at or below the design operating work index for extended periods of time, most notably from January 2010 to November 2010, during which higher throughputs were achieved at the expense of grind size. For reference, the computed throughput for a P80 of 75 m grind (based on operating work indices) shows the tonnage rates would range from 76% to 87% (average 81%) of the actual LTD rate for the mill. It should be noted that regardless of the throughput, it was not possible to generate a product approaching the design grind size. Recovery, Grind Size and Operational Variables Overall there has not been a strong economic incentive for producing a finer product from the mill as LTD laboratory grind size versus recovery data indicates only a 1.3% recovery increase for gold and a 7.1% recovery increase for silver associated with a reduction of grind size from P80 of 150 m to 75 m. Since recovery is reasonably insensitive to grind size, increased metal production is essentially linearly proportional to increased throughput. Although this relationship is less accurate for silver, the difference is short of being an economic driver to pursue a finer grind size. However, there have been shorter term ore specific periods of operation where gold recovery increased by more than 3% over the 75 m to 150 m size range and the inability to achieve a finer grind size has occasionally been detrimental. Further to this, operational issues around the CCD contribute to the need for better management of the final grind size. The Yanacocha ores are typically more than 80% quartz and have an extremely high settling rates and high settled pulp densities. The coarser grind sizes have resulted in thickener operational problems due to formation of sand bars in the thickeners producing rake high torque spikes and necessitating taking thickeners off line to manually clean out the thickener bed.. Additionally the coarser grinds caused poor mixing, short circuiting, and poor washing efficiencies in the CCD circuit, resulting in some gold losses to the tailings. Mill Liners Mill Liner designs have evolved since start up as part of continuous improvement practices in MYSRL. Each of the design changes are described below, and a summary of operating conditions for each design is provided in Table 2: First design, as shown in Figure 4 A total of 54 rows of lifters around the mill circumference. Traditionally mill lifter spacing was based on a 2 x mill diameter in feet rule and hence a 32ft diameter mill would have traditionally had 64 rows of lifters. The alternative 54 row design can be considered a wide spaced design (the number of rows, i.e. 54, is equal to 1.69 x mill diameter in feet). A lifter face angle of 20 degrees (from vertical). High/low lifter design with alternating high lifters (250 mm above the plate) and low lifters (150 mm above the plate). Integrated lifter and plate in a top hat style with a plate thickness of 102 mm.

Figure 4: First liner design (March 2008) Second design, as shown in Figure 5 A total of 54 rows of lifters around the mill circumference. Lifter face angles of 25 and 30 degrees (from vertical) to test two lifter face angles with a single liner set to aid subsequent lifter design decisions. High/low lifter design with alternating high lifters (330 mm above the plate) and low lifters (290 mm above the plate). Separated lifter and plate, plate thickness of 130 mm, with intent to operate 2 to 3 lifter sets per set of plates. Lifter height varied from tallest lifters in first quarter of mill length to a shorter and rounded top lifter in the last quarter of mill length to account for differential wear rates along the mill length observed early in mill operation, and to promote a ball mill-like charge motion in the discharge end of the mill to promote finer grinding, protect grinding media from breakage and reduce grae pegging from ball chips.

Figure 5: Second mill lifter design July 2008 (installed July 2009) Third design, as shown in Figure 6 A total of 36 rows of lifters around the mill circumference, which is very widely spaced. Lifter face angle of 30 degrees (from vertical) High/high lifter design with high lifters (230 mm above the plate) for the feed end and feed middle shell lifters. High/high lifter design with high lifters (200 mm above the plate) for the discharge end and discharge middle shell lifters. Integrated lifter and plate in a top hat style with plate thickness of 120 mm.

Figure 6: Current mill lifter design (December 2010) Table 2: Summary table of operating conditions for different liners design First design Mill Speed range, % critical Ball charge volume, % v/v Total charge volume, % v/v Ball top size, mm Discharge grates Shortly after mill start-up a number of operational problems appeared including a serious grate pegging problem resulting in severe throughput reductions and mill overloads. Short term controls involved manually cutting ball chips from grate slots every 10-20 days, as shown in Figure 7, while alternative grate designs were sourced and fabricated. Four different grate designs were tested simultaneously to test grate slot shapes (rhomboids, relief angles) in steel grates and a rubber/metal composite grate with smaller rectangular slots. Parallel efforts were aimed at reducing grinding ball breakage rates through optimization of mill operating conditions (slower speeds and lower sound) and improving ball quality. In February 2009, four different shape grate slots were installed, and are shown in Figure 8; three of the grates trialed were metal and one was a rubber/metal composite. 60% 13-15 18-25 105 Second design 68-70% 16 - 20 20 - 23 105 Third design 74-76% 18-20 20-25 105

Figure 7: Cutting ball chips from discharge grates

Figure 8: Before and after images for the different grate designs/types Results from the grate trial confirmed that steel grates suffered from severe pegging (90% of open area pegged) regardless of slot design and relief angle, whereas the flexible rubber paneled grates did not suffer significant pegging. The rubber grates have undergone several developments aimed at extending wear life to 5-6 months such that it matches shell lifter life and can be changed in a common shutdown. Table 3 shows the design specifications of the rubber discharge grates. Figure 9 shows some design variations of the rubber discharge grates. Table 3: Rubber discharge grates design changes Grate total area (m2) 1.66 1.66 1.66 1.66 # Slots 190 190 172 126 Slot dimension (mm x mm) 25x50 25x50 25x50 25x50 Passing area (m2) 0.238 0.238 0.215 0.158 Passing area (%) 14.34 14.34 12.95 9.52 Working days 75 86 118 155 Wear rate (mm/day) 1.7 1.5 0.96 0.5

Grate rev 1 Grate rev 2 Grate rev 3 Grate rev 4

Grate rev 5

1.66

70 + 28

25x50 / 80x50

0.200

12.05

165

0.6

a) Rubber grate Rev 2

b) Rubber grate Rev 3

c) Rubber grate Rev 4

d) Rubber grate Rev 5

Figure 9: Different rubber discharge grate designs Additional benefits of the rubber/metal composite grates include: Average installation time is 15 minutes per grate which less than 50% of the time required to install metal grates. Rubber grates are 45% lighter than metal grates. Slots remain clean resulting in increased mill throughput. No extra mill shut downs required to clean the grates, which saves 20 hrs/month in downtime used for these cleaning activities. Rubber doesnt suffer impact welding as metal does, hence the rubber grates are easier to remove.

REVIEW OF GRINDING CIRCUIT OPERATION MYSRL-METSO A review of the single stage SAG mill circuit was conducted by Newmont Yanacocha and Metso Process Technology and Innovation (PTI) in mid-2010. The aim of this review was to identify opportunities to minimise the final grinding circuit product size while maintaining plant throughput rates. Comprehensive grinding circuit surveys were conducted on the 12th of May and the 9th of June 2010. Samples were collected and laboratory breakage tests conducted to determine ore characteristics. Data was analysed and used to develop models of the SAG mill circuit. These models were then used to conduct simulations, evaluate possible circuit changes and determine alternative operating strategies. Additional information such as historical operating data and shift log reports from February 2010 were also

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collected and analysed. The study was performed for the current operating conditions while treating ore from the Yanacocha and Chaquicocha pits, which were the main ore sources at the time. From December 2010 to presently, the main ore source has been from El Tapado, which is harder and more abrasive than the Yanacocha and Chaquicocha ores, as demonstrated in Figure 10.
Yanacocha ore Abrasion index for metal wear
45% 40% 35%

% Frequency of samples

30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 0.15 0.25 0.35 0.45 0.55 0.65 0.75 0.85 Abrasion Index, Ai
ETO ET YN CHQ

Figure 10: Abrasion index for YGM feed ores Ore Characterisation Ore samples collected during the grinding circuit surveys were sent to the Metso Process Technology Centre, in Sorocaba Brazil, for breakage and grinding characterisation tests. The tests conducted included: Point Load Test (PLT), SMC test, Bond Ball Mill Work Index and Abrasiveness Index. Point Load Index (Is50) can be used to estimate Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) by multiplying the Is50 value by a known calibration factor for rock type. If calibration factors are not available, then a multiplier of 24 or 25 can be assumed. For example, an Is50 of 2 MPa equates to an estimated UCS of 50 MPa. The SAG feed sample showed an average Is50 of 2.62 MPa (estimated UCS of 64 MPa) with a standard deviation of 0.90 MPa. Overall, the UCS calculations for the Yanacocha samples correspond to a soft ore. Ores with UCS values greater than 75 MPa are considered to be hard. Results from the SMC tests are provided in Table 4. The A, b and ta parameters (required for grinding circuit modelling with JKSimMet) were estimated based on SMC test results and a database of known results. The DWi value of 3.47 kWh/m and corresponding A x b value of 72.9 indicate soft ore with low resistance to impact breakage. The parameter ta corresponds to resistance to abrasion; the ore had a ta value of 0.75. As indicated in Table 5 both the A x b and ta values for the SAG feed samples tested are considered typical for soft ore.

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Table 4: SMC test summary SAMPLE SAG Feed DWi kWh/m 3.47 DWi % 21.0 Mia kWh/t 12.3 Mih kWh/t 8.0 Mic kWh/t 4.1 A 82.8 b 0.88 SG 2.52 ta 0.75

Table 5: Qualitative Description of Impact Breakage Resistance According to A x b Intervals Property Axb ta Very Hard <30 <0.24 Hard 30-38 0.24-0.35 Mod.Hard 38-43 0.35-0.41 Medium 43-56 0.41-0.54 Mod.Soft 56-67 0.54-0.65 Soft 67-127 0.65-1.38 Very Soft >127 >1.38

Bond Abrasion and Ball Mill Work Index (BWI) tests were also conducted on SAG feed samples collected during the grinding surveys. The Bond Abrasion Index for SAG feed was 0.528 g, which is considered abrasive ore. The Bond Ball Mill Work Indices for SAG feed were 16.52 kWh/t for a closing screen of 212 m and 17.53 kWh/t for a closing screen of 106 m. The Bond Ball Mill Work Indices from the ore samples from the surveys (treating a blend of Yanacocha and Chaquicocha ore) were compared to historical results for the two individual ore types. Historical Bond Work Indices (BWI) for both ore types are presented in Figure 11. The average BWI for the Yanacocha ore is 16.5 kWh/t and for the Chaquicocha ore is 14.9 kWh/t. The Yanacocha ore had a greater frequency of high BWI values than the Chaquicocha ore indicating that the Yanacocha ore blend contains a greater proportion of harder material than the Chaquicocha ore blend. However, the results indicate that both ore types can be considered soft, and these results compare well with the results from the grinding survey samples.

Dotplot of Yanacocha vs Chaquicocha Ores (BWI)

Yanacocha

Chaquicocha

7.5

10.0

12.5

15.0

17.5

20.0

BWI (kW-h/t)

Figure 11: Historical bond ball work indices for Yanacocha and Chaquicocha ores

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Overall, all the Bond Work Index and abrasiveness results as well as the SMC and Point Load Test results consistently indicate that these ores are soft, but abrasive. Results from the blended ore samples from the surveys are consistent with historical results for the two ore types. Circuit Observations Initial observations of circuit operation provided opportunities for improvement, such as the design of the discharge head plate. The height of the discharge head plate was increased from 228 mm to 300 mm to improve slurry discharge and reduce pegging in the grates. Grinding Circuit Surveys On the 12th of May and the 9th of June 2010, complete SAG mill circuit surveys were carried out by Metso PTI and Yanacocha staff. Samples were collected from all cyclone overflow and underflow streams every 15 minutes for a period of one hour, and the cyclone feed sample was collected from a blanked-off cyclone at the beginning and the end of the survey. The operation of the SAG mill circuit was stable during the surveys. At the end of the collection of the slurry samples the SAG mill was crashstopped together with all conveyor belts. Representative samples were collected from SAG mill feed and pebble conveyors and pulp level was measured. The mill was then ground out before the ball charge and ball size distribution were measured. The Yanacocha Gold Mill Grinding circuit flowsheet indicating sampling points is provided in Figure 12.

D-26" Cyclone Cluster (10) Process Water U/F

O/F

Stock Pile SAG Mill 32'x32'

Pebbles

Process Water

: Sampling Points
Pump 26"x22"

Figure 12: Grinding circuit flowsheet and sampling points The average operating conditions of the grinding circuit during the surveys are provided in Table 5. The throughput during the second survey was significantly higher than that of the first survey whilst maintaining the same product size. It was not possible to increase circuit feed to higher rates during the first survey due to slurry flow constraints. Total charge, ball charge, power and slurry percent solids were also higher during the second survey.

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Table 6: Survey operating conditions Variables Fresh Feed Top Size Fresh Feed F80 Cyclone F80 Cyclone P80 Mill % of solids Circulating Load# Cyclone Feed % of solids Cyclone OF % of solids Cyclone UF % of solids Cyclone pressure Number of Cyclones operating Throughput Pebble recycling rate SAG Power draw SAG Power usage SAG Motor Current SAG Mill Speed % of critical speed Total charge Ball charge Ball top size Average Bearing pressure Units mm mm m m % % % % % kPa # t/h t/h kW % A rpm % % % mm kPa First Survey 165 79.1 699 152 73.0 274 60.0 32.8 70.9 95.6 5 620 31.4 12,286 74.6 2,040 8.9 65.2 17.9 16.5 101.6 8,988 Second Survey 171 72.4 560 154 80.4 169 56.9 39.1 78.0 95.2 5 779 22.0 13,992 84.8 2,316 8.7 63.7 22.9 19.1 101.6 9,412

Note: # calculated from survey mass balance, not from the plant control system data

Histograms presented in Figure 13, Figure 14 and Figure 15 show differences in mill operation during the two surveys. Mill power, bearing pressure and power draw were all significantly lower during the first survey, while recirculating load (calculated from PI data) and pebble discharge rate were both significantly higher during the first survey. Grate pegging was significantly more severe during the first survey, and is considered to be a major contributing factor to the difference in performance for the two surveys.

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Histogram of Mill Power (kW) Surveys

30 25 20 Percent 15 10 5 0
0 00 12 0 25 12 0 50 12 0 75 12 0 0 0 0 00 25 75 50 13 13 13 13 Mill Power (kW) Surveys 0 00 14 14 0 25 0 50 14
Surv ey 1st 2nd

Figure 13: Comparison of surveys conditions - Mill power

Histogram of SAG Feed (tph)
60 50 40 Percent 30 20 10 0 580
Surv ey 1st 2nd

600

620

640

660

680 700 720 SA G Feed (tph)

740

760

780

800

Figure 14: Comparison of surveys conditions - Mill throughput

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Histogram of Circ. Load (%)

50
Surv ey 1st 2nd

40

Percent

30

20

10

0 200

225

250

275

300

325 350 375 Circ. Load (%)

400

425

450

475

500

Figure 15: Comparison of surveys conditions - recirculating load (Calculated) Pulp and charge level Pulp level was measured for both surveys from known points on the pulp lifter and feed trunnion, and charge level was estimated by measuring the depth of a pipe below the water level in several points. Measurement of pulp and charge level is illustrated in Figure 16. Total charge (as percent of internal mill volume) was estimated to be 19% for the first survey and 23% for the second survey. Slurry pooling was observed for both surveys. After crash stop measurements were taken, the mill was ground out and ball charge was measured inside the mill. The ball charge level (as percent of internal mill volume) was estimated to be 16.5% for the first survey and 19.1% for the second survey.

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Figure 16: Pulp level and total charge measurements Ball Size Distribution Photos of the ball charge were taken to estimate the ball size distribution, as shown in Figure 17. Make-up balls are 75% 90 mm and 25% 100 mm when treating coarse material, and 100% 90 mm when treating finer material. The resulting media distribution was well-graded down to 60 mm with most balls between 75 mm and 90 mm. The ball size distribution appears to be slightly coarser for the first survey as demonstrated by histograms of ball size distribution presented in Figure 18.

Figure 17: Ball size image analysis

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Ball size distribution

25 12th May

Bin distribution (%)

20 15 10 5 0

9th June

Bin range (mm)

Figure 18: SAG mill media size distribution Grate Pegging During the first survey, performance of the mill was significantly affected by excessive grate pegging; reducing both mill throughput and grinding efficiency. Table 7 shows the proportion of the grates that were pegged for both surveys. With blocked grates, the slurry pool level is much higher with slurry discharging through the less blocked grates closer to the centre of the mill. Therefore, a large proportion of the slurry effectively by-passes the grinding area, and with very little size reduction it is returned back to the mill through the cyclone underflow. The mill is consuming power to lift the ball charge but a significant proportion of slurry is passing through the mill without being ground. The recirculating load increases due to the by-pass, throughput is limited, energy is wasted and the resulting final product is coarse. Thus mill grinding efficiency deteriorates with excessive slurry pooling. Table 7: Pegging by grate type Survey 1 % pegging 61 35 48 Survey 2 % pegging 20 14 3 14

# Steel Rubber (Old Design) Rubber (New Design) Total 12 12 0 24

# 9 11 4 24

The difference in performance of a mill with clean grates compared to a mill with blocked (pegged) grates is shown schematically in Figure 19. With clean grates the slurry preferentially flows through the grates closer to the mill periphery; the majority of the slurry flow goes through the charge and is subjected to grinding action. However, minor slurry pooling can occur even when grates are clean especially in cases where slurry flow is high due to cyclone underflow recycle, as is the case for YGM. Slurry pooling was observed during second survey despite less severe grate pegging than during the first survey, although the effect was less significant.

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CLEAN GRATES SLURRY FLOW

Blocked grates Clean grates

BLOCKED GRATES

Slurry Charge

Figure 19: Slurry flow with Clean and heavily pegged (blocked) grates Grinding Circuit Modelling and Simulation The survey data were mass balanced using JKSimMet to confirm the data quality and estimate any stream flow rates that could not be measured. The mass balance results matched the experimental data very well indicating the good quality of the survey and collected data. Size distributions of streams from the current surveys were compared with previous work conducted by Minera Yanacocha / Newmont and were found to be within the envelope of results from this previous work. Cyclone overflow results from the current surveys also compared well to daily sizing results (obtained twice a day from February to June). The good fit of the mass balance and comparability of survey data to historical and daily results indicated the quality of data collected during the surveys was adequate for circuit modelling and simulation. The conditions during the second survey (in terms of ore blend and throughput) were closer to desired conditions; therefore, the parameters of mathematical models were fitted based on the data from the second survey. Mass balance results, plant operating data, ore characterisation tests and historical data were also considered to ensure consistency and proper fitting. The SAG mill model developed was satisfactory and a standard shape breakage rate function was obtained, as shown in Figure 20Error! Reference source not found.. The critical size material, associated with the dip in the breakage rate curve, is in the range of 6-20 mm; this is significantly finer than the range observed for harder ores which is typically 25-50 mm.

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1000 100 10 1 0.1

SAG Breakage Rate

Breakage Rate (1/h)

0.01 0.01 0.1 1

size (mm)

10

100

1000

Figure 20: SAG mill breakage rate function The cyclone model was used to determine the cyclone efficiency and performance of cyclones through development of a partition curve, as shown in Figure 21. It can be observed that the sharpness of classification curve was good with an parameter of 2.5. The fraction of fines by-passing to the underflow was around 29% and the d50 cut point was 124 m.

Cyclones Efficiency (UF)

100 90 80

efficiency u.f. (%)

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0.01 0.10 1.00

Fitting

d50=0.124 mm
10.00

size (mm)

Figure 21: Cyclone efficiency curves after model fitting The SAG mill model matches the experimental data well. The predicted total load was 23.5% compared to the measured load of 23.8%. Predicted and measured values also compared well for power draw (14.1MW predicted versus 14.0 MW measured) and cyclone pressure (98.7 kPa predicted versus 100.5 kPa measured). As the model fitted data matched experimental data well, the model was considered sufficiently accurate and was used to conduct simulations of various circuit operating strategies. Simulations were

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carried out to assess effect of cyclone geometry and operation on cyclone overflow product size, and a summary of simulation results is provided in Table 8. Table 8: Summary of cyclone simulation results Base Case Vortex Finder Vortex Finder Apex No cyclones Dry throughput P80 OF solids Feed Density Cyclone Pressure Cyclone pump flow SAG discharge flow Circulating Load SAG power Total Load Pebbles inches mm mm # t/h um % solids % solids kPa m/h m/h % kW % t/h 9" 230 170 5 755 144 40 58 101 2,288 1,260 173 14,100 21.2 25.4 SIM1 9" 230 170 5 700 125 33 54 93 2,692 1,372 214 14,136 21.2 24.5 SIM2 9" 230 180 6 680 121 33 54 99 2,769 1,410 232 14,150 21.2 24.1 SIM3 7.5" 191 170 6 680 122 35 56 115 2,604 1,378 230 14,145 21.1 23.8

The variable with the most influence on cyclone overflow size in the simulations was the cyclone feed density. A reduction in product size can be achieved by reducing the cyclone feed density; however, a significant reduction in throughput is also required. The existing 26 inch cyclones are not considered appropriate for the design cut size. To achieve the design cut size and final product P80 of 75 m, smaller 20 inch cyclones would be required. Historical Data Analysis Contour plots were used to analyse historical data, and analysis was conducted for variables including mill power, mill speed, throughput and average bearing pressure. The contour plot analysis averages a third parameter according to nearest points and denotes these averages by colour producing a 3D surface with levels represented by a colour gradient. The two contour plots shown in Figure 22Error! Reference source not found. and Figure 23Error! Reference source not found. have the same X and Y axis data (mill power and speed), but the Z axis (colour gradient) is throughput and average bearing pressure respectively. Specific regions were delimited from the contour plots according to throughput and bearing pressure levels and the presence of data points: Region A: High throughputs (above 800 t/h) and medium bearing pressure (between 9200 to 9500 kPa) at wide range of mill speed and power. Represents 45.2% of observed data. Region B: Low throughputs (below 650 t/h) and medium-high bearing pressure (between 9400 to 9600 kPa) in a narrow range of mill speed and power. Represents 16.3% of observed data. Region C: High throughputs (above 800t/h) and high bearing pressure (above 9500kPa) at a narrow range of mill speed and at higher than average power. Represents 13.9% of observed data.

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Contour Plot of SAG feed tph vs Mill Power (KW); Mill speed RPM
16000
SAG feed tph < 620 620 660 660 700 700 740 740 780 780 820 820 860 > 860

15000 Mill Power (KW) 14000

B
13000

12000 11000

7.0

7.5

8.0 8.5 Mill speed RPM

9.0

9.5

Figure 22: Contour Plot of SAG Feed, Mill Power and Mill Speed

Contour Plot of B.Pressure (kPa) vs Mill Power (kW); Mill speed (rpm)
16000
B.Pressure (k Pa) 900.0 < 900.0 8900.0 8900.0 9100.0 9100.0 9200.0 9200.0 9300.0 9300.0 9400.0 9400.0 9500.0 9500.0 9600.0 9600.0 9700.0 9700.0 9800.0 9800.0 9900.0 > 9900.0

15000 Mill Power (kW) 14000

B
13000

12000 11000

7.0

7.5

8.0 8.5 9.0 Mill speed (rpm)

9.5

Figure 23: Contour plot of Bearing Pressure, Mill Power and Mill Speed

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High throughput operation is represented by Regions A and C. Region A is characterized by low bearing pressures which can be associated with lower ball charges, whereas in Region C bearing pressure is high indicating higher ball charges. The ability to achieve high throughput at lower ball charges in region A could be contributed to softer ore and low to medium pegging (0-30%) of discharge grates. Ball charge is increased when harder ore is processed in order to preserve throughput (Region C). This is clear as power is increased without increasing the speed. The high bearing pressure conditions are mainly observed during February 2010. Observations of the cyclone overflow history, taken twice a day, indicates that the P80 was below 115 m in 50% of the observations in February, while on the other months the frequency of P80 below 115 m is significantly lower, at 22.7%. This may indicate that operation at high ball charge levels is favourable for obtaining finer product size. The low throughputs experienced in region B can be explained by a high level of discharge grate pegging (30-60%) which results in slurry pooling, increased recirculating loads and decreased grinding efficiency. The orange point on the contour plots represents the mill speed and power during the first survey, while the green point represents the second survey. For the first survey, the very low throughput (620 t/h) can mainly be attributed to severe pegging of discharge grates and partially due to low bearing pressure. For the second survey, circuit feed (779 t/h) was within the range (700 to 800 t/h) expected from the contour plots, as was the bearing pressure (9400 kPa). Observations from the historical data analysis align well with findings from surveys and circuit modelling and simulation. Grate pegging and slurry pooling are believed to contribute significantly to lower throughput and inefficient grinding. GRINDING CIRCUIT OPTIMISATION The review of the grinding circuit identified several potential opportunities requiring further investigation that may be beneficial to reducing final product size while maintaining plant throughput rates. Areas identified for optimisation include: grate and pulp discharge design, ball size and charge level, and lifter/liner design. Optimisation of the primary crushing circuit which feeds the grinding circuit is also likely to provide benefits to grinding circuit product size. The Potential for Producing a Finer Grind The potential for generating a fine product from the single stage SAG mill focuses on the hydraulic capacity of the hydrocyclone classification circuit and the ability of the SAG mill pulp lifters to deliver the slurry for classification. Secondary issues of ball size management in conjunction with the interaction of the mill liners and grates contribute to a lesser degree. The design criteria for the hydrocyclone classifiers requires a feed density of 45 weight percent solids to produce an overflow product with a P80 of 75 m at a slurry rate of 3712 m 3/h. LTD operational data shows the average slurry flow to the hydrocyclones is limited to 2900 m3/h at an average density of 65% solids with a P80 of 148 m. Metso Process Technology and Innovation (PTI) noted as part of the mill optimization study at Yanacocha that to achieve a grind size approaching a P80 of 75 m, a nominal doubling of pumping, hydrocyclone and pulp lifting capacities would be required along with a significant reduction in mill throughput from current levels. Grate and Pulp Discharge Design The Yanacocha SAG mill processes large throughputs of soft ore in closed circuit with cyclones, which results in very high slurry flowrates through the mill. Excessive accumulation of slurry at the toe of the charge, or slurry pooling, occurs when the slurry hold-up in the mill occupies a volume larger than the volume occupied by the rocks, balls and their interstices. This phenomenon is related to the ability of the discharge grates and pulp lifters to efficiently remove slurry from the mill. The slurry discharge capacity of a SAG mill is affected by the discharge grate design, pulp lifter design and mill operating conditions

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(including mill speed, charge level and size distribution/voidage). Slurry pooling can have deleterious effects on power draw and mill performance. This was considered in the mill design with selection of a 32diameter mill with deeper pulp lifters over alternative designs of operating single stage SAG mills at the time (2005), to afford greater slurry pumping capacity to handle very high slurry flowrates of up to 500% recirculating load at design tonnage of 620 t/h. Historical operation has indicated recirculating loads of +400% at higher throughput rates of +750 t/h indicating the current operation is operating at the limit of the design mill discharge capacity. Significant slurry pooling was observed in the Yanacocha SAG mill during both of the surveys. The slurry pooling was more severe during the first survey, where excessive grate pegging contributed to restriction of pulp discharge from the mill. Changing to rubber grates with a new aperture design has resulted in greatly reduced pegging, but even with reduced grate pegging slurry pooling remains an issue for the Yanacocha SAG mill. This is demonstrated by the second survey which experienced slurry pooling despite significantly lesser degree of grate pegging. The discharge capacity of standard pulp lifters is not sufficient for the flowrates experienced in the Yanacocha SAG mill. Pulp lifter design modifications could significantly increase pulp lifter capacity and improve slurry discharge from the mill. When slurry is discharged more efficiently, the slurry pool may be reduced or eliminated, improving grinding efficiency. The recirculating load at the Yanacocha mill is ranges between 150-400%. Increasing the current pulp lifter capacity should allow mill operation at higher recirculating loads resulting in finer circuit product size. Pulp lifter design changes represent a relatively low investment compared to the benefit normally observed in terms of volumetric flowrate and increased throughput in SAG mill operations. There are several ways pulp lifter design can be modified to improve slurry discharge. The opening at the top face of the dischargers can be increased, as shown in Figure 24, or the vane arrangement can be changed from Long-Short-Short (LSS) to Long-Short-Intermediate-Short (LSIS) as seen in Figure 25.

Figure 24: Slurry Pulp Lifter Design with Different Opening of the Top Face of the Dischargers

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Figure 25: Pulp lifter vane arrangements Ball Size and Charge Typically breakage in SAG mills occurs by a combination of impact breakage caused by larger rocks in the feed and attrition and abrasion caused by grinding media. However, with the relatively soft ores at Yanacocha, the SAG mill operates more like a large ball mill, where most of the rock particles are much smaller (or rapidly break to be much smaller) than the steel balls and sufficient steel grinding media surface area is required for the ore particles to be broken. During the surveys, the Yanacocha mill was operating with a relatively high ball charge of 16.5-19%, which is an appropriate level for this soft ore. Evaluation of grinding ball size distribution in the mill have indicated that addition of a smaller ball 50 to 75 mm as a significant portion of the make-up ball charge would provide a large population of smaller balls and higher ball surface area to promote finer grinding. However, ball consumption is already very high 2 to 3.5 kg/t and use of a smaller ball would further increase this consumption and costs to potentially prohibitive levels. Lifter/Liner Design Extensive survey data and industrial experience at a number of operations have shown that it is possible to obtain increases in mill throughput of 3 to 5% from lifter/liner design changes in operations with hard ore and relatively coarse feed size. In a conventional SAG mill operation, maximum impact breakage and high grinding efficiency are achieved with the media landing in the toe region of the mill charge. The mill is operated to avoid ball impacts on the shell above the toe to avoid risk of breakage and/or rapid wear of lifters/liners. This type of operation requires an aggressive lifter profile to throw the charge and promote impact breakage. However, due to the soft fine ore feeding the Yanacocha mill is operated more like a large ball mill with high flowrates, small balls, high ball levels and low speed. This type of operation promotes low energy abrasion and attrition breakage. Currently, the Yanacocha mill is using less aggressive lifter design throughout all sections of the Yanacocha mill, producing less charge lift and promoting more attrition and abrasion breakage which is beneficial for producing a finer product. Primary Crusher Operation

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The primary crushers at Yanacocha Gold Mill are not well utilised, with minimal flow of coarse ore through the crushers. To operate the SAG mill efficiently as a large ball mill, the grinding circuit feed size should be reduced by improving the effectiveness of the primary crushers. Providing a finer feed to the SAG mill would eliminate the need for aggressive lifters in first section of the SAG mill, and less aggressive lifters could be fitted with the added benefit of reduced liner wear rates. CONCLUSIONS AND FOLLOW UP The Yanacocha Gold Mill has been a highly successful operation since start-up in 2008, consistently operating at up to 30% above design tonnages producing more gold than design. Operational optimisation efforts are focused at reducing grinding ball consumption rates. It is reasonable to conclude after three years of operation, that it is not practical to generate a final product with a P80 of 75 m from the single stage SAG mill without significant modifications to the circuit and more importantly a significant reduction in metal production. If economic drivers such as an increase in ores with a stronger correlation between grind size and gold and/or silver recoveries were to dictate that a finer grind was attractive, a mill expansion project would need to be considered. The expansion would likely focus on the addition of tower or ball mills to grind the material from the nominal SAG mill product P80 of 150 m to a finer final grind size target based on economic optimisation. This approach would meet the objective of a finer grind without compromising the circuit throughput. Following implementation of several recommendations, the subsequent conclusions were drawn: Installation of rubber grates alleviated the pegging problem experienced with steel grates. The design of rubber grates, particularly the shape of pebble ports, is still being improved. The first two shell liners designs had too many aggressive lifters, so the mill was operated at low rpms (< 9), causing high torque and high motor and excitation current. Reduction of the number of lifters from 54 to 36 allowed the mill to be operated faster, at 76% of critical speed, solving the problem with the high torque, motor and excitation current. Ball consumption rate is high, between 2 kg/t to 3.5 kg/t. However, this is related to the high abrasivity of ore processed in the plant. Changes to the blasting pattern and the explosive type resulted in a reduction of the ROM P80 from 135 mm to 67 mm with the added benefit of also producing additional microfractures in the ore. These changes have reduced the consumption of power and steel in the mill. Operating the SAG with lower speed and power and high ball charge has not negatively affected the throughput. Taking into consideration those operational conditions along with the reduction of the number and angle of the lifters and a finer ore feed (because of the changes to drilling and blasting) the mill operational philosophy has changed and the SAG mill is consequently being operated like a large ball mill. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors thank Minera Yanacocha and Newmont Mining Corporation for permission to publish this paper along with Metso PTI for their technical support and guidance in ongoing grinding circuit optimisation activities. REFERENCES Guzman, G., Mamani, V., Arevalo, H., Vicua, S., Vargas, L., Burger, B., SART / AVR Circuit Design and Operation at Yanacocha Gold Mill, Minera Yanacocha unpublished paper prepared for Precious Metals 2010 conference, 2010. Vente, L., Vicuna, S., Vargas, L., Valle, R., Valery, W., Optimizacion del Proceso Gold Mill en Yanacocha, PERUMIN, 30 Convencin Minera, Arequipa, 14 - 18 de setiembre de 2011. Valery, W., Jankovic, A., Valle, R., Nozawa, E., Duffy, K., Metso Process Technology & Innovation Review and Optimisation of the Yanacocha Grinding Circuit, 2010.

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