Pergamon

0892-6875(00)00030-0
Minerals Engineering, Vol. 13, No. 5, pp. 485--495, 2000
2000 Elsevier Science Lt d
All ri ght s reserved
0892-6875/ 00/ $ - see front mat t er
THE EFFECT OF GRI NDI NG ON MILL PERFORMANCE AT
DIVISION SALVADOR, CODELCO- CHILE*
J. B. YI ANATOS , L. G. BERGI-I ~ and J. AGUI LERA
Chemical Engineering Department, Santa Maria University, Valparaiso, Chile.
E-mail: j yianato@po_ui.utfsm.cl
Divisi6n Salvador, Codelco-Chile, El Salvador, Chile
(Received 9 November 1999; accepted 17 February 2000)
ABSTRACT
This paper presents a sensitivity analysis of the impact the ore grinding level (% +212 microns) has
upon the rougher flotation performance, where the main copper losses are related to fine particles
(less than 12 microns) with high content of soluble copper and coarse particles (larger than 212
microns) that are less liberated
Firstly, a one year grinding data set, considering average daily shifts, was analysed and it was
shown that the classical Bond correlation properly .describes the average trend of the grinding
circuit operation in terms of ore tonnage, operational work index, product particle size dso and
power availabit'ity. On the other hand, the rougher flotation kinetic was characterized from plant
testing. Thus, copper and moly recoveries were correlated by Klimpel's model to describe the
rougher flotation performance, at different particle size classes, in terms of design and operating
variables. The copper recovery was found to be critically dependent on the ore grinding level, %
+212 microns, and the soluble copper content.
Using the grinding and flotation correlations, a plant simulator, that integrates the grinding and
flotation capacities, was built. The simulator was validated with plant data f or a range of ore
tonnage, f or different grinding levels and at two power levels. The simulator is useful in selecting
the grinding reference, to identify critical requirements of instrumentation, bottlenecks limiting
plant capacity, and to complement the supervisory control strategy. Thus, a powerful tool to
estimate the best compromise between ore tonnage and grinding level, in order to maximize the
values recovery, was established 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Keywords
Grinding; flotation kinetics; particle size; modelling; simulation
INTRODUCTION
T h e c o m p l e x i t y , o f t h e c o p p e r s u l p h i d e o r e at D i v i s i 6 n S a l v a d o r , C o d e l c o - C h i l e , w i t h l o w f e e d c o p p e r
g r a d e s , 0 . 6 - 0 . 8 % , a s w e l l a s t h e a c t u a l l o w c o p p e r p r i c e , j u s t i f y a n y e f f o r t o n o p t i m i z e t h e o p e r a t i n g a n d
c o n t r o l strategies. O n e o f t h e k e y p a r a m e t e r s u s e d f o r c o n t r o l p u r p o s e s is t h e g r i n d i n g l e v e l , d e f m e d a s t h e
o r e p a r t i c l e p e r c e n t a g e l a r g e r t h a n 2 1 2 m i c r o n s , b e c a u s e a b o v e t h i s p a r t i c l e s i z e t h e c o p p e r r e c o v e r y s h o w s
a s h a r p d e c r e a s e .
* Presented at Minerals Engineering 99, Falmouth, Cornwall, U.K., September 1999
485
486 J. B . Yi anat os et aL
E! Sa l v a do r c o n c e n t r a t o r
The mine operation is underground and the mill is located at 2600 m above sea level in the Andes
Cordillera. The plant treats about 34000 tpd of ore containing 0.6-0.8% Cu and 0.025% Mo. The grinding
circuit consists of five parallel sections. Four sections operate with a bar mill 3.05x4.27m (10'x14') and t wo
ball mills 3.05x4.27m (10'x14'), in conventional arrangement, while the fifth section operates with a bar
mill 4.12x5.49m (13.5'xl 8') and a single ball mill 5.03x5.79m (16.5'xl 9'). The flotation circuit consists of
five parallel rougher flotation banks, each bank provided with 9 Wemco cells of 42.5 m 3 (1500 ft3), in
arrangement 3- 3- 3. The cleaning stage consists of two rectangular columns (2x6x 13m) in parallel and two
scavenger bankes, each provided with 8 Dorr-Oliver cells of 42.5 m 3 (1500 ft3), in arrangement 2- 2- 2- 2.
Figure I shows an example of the typical copper recovery distribution in the rougher flotation circuit, in
terms of particle size at two grinding levels, 22.2% and 25.6% +212 microns. Both curves are similar and,
for the range of interest, no significant effect of the grinding level upon the copper recovery per size class
was observed. The main copper losses in rougher flotation are related to the presence of fine particles, less
than 12 microns, where, despite the copper minerals being well liberated, there is a significant decrease in
the particle-bubble collision efficiency. Also, about 90% of the freest class, less than 12 microns, was
found as soluble copper. However, coarse particles larger than 212 microns cause significant losses due to
the lack of liberation and froth transport limitations.
This study focused on evaluating the impact the change of the grinding level (% of ore coarser than 212
microns) has upon the overall flotation recovery and upon the ore throughput (tpd). In this work, the overall
flotation recovery was constrained to the rougher recovery, since the main copper losses occur there, while
the cleaning stage copper recovery was more stable around 94-96%.
O
8
c-
o
100
9 0
80
70
6 0
5 0
4 0
30
20
10
0
1 10 100
A v e r a g e pa r t i c l e s i z e , mi cr ons
Fig. l Copper recovery versus particle size.
. . . . . . 1
1000
GRI NDI NG MODE L L I NG BAS ED ON OP ERATI NG VARI AB L E S
In order to develop a grinding model based on operating variables, data from one year plant operation was
used to link the ground product characteristics with the process variables, according to the following
relationships,
Effect of grinding on mill performance 487
1--Energy-Ore throughput
2--Particle Size Diistdbution
3-Cumulative Metal Distribution
The first step wa:; the validation of the classical Bond's Model in order tO correlate power (kW'), ore
throughput (tpd) ~nd grinding level (% +212 microns).
Figure 2 shows the daily grinding data, from January tO December 1998, where the circuit operates at
normal levels of utilization (95-98%) of the available power. During this time there was a period of 80
days where the grinding circuit was operated without the largest ball mill of the fifth section, which
decreased by 20% the total available power. Figure 2 shows the operation at 100% and 80% power level,
together with pre~lictions from Bond's model for an average mineral hardness (Work Index was relatively
constant 14.0 + 0.4 kW/ton) and an average feed particle size ((IF = 11200 + 1200 microns). The typical
operation of the mill at full power capacity was in the range of 32000-34000 tpd of mineral throughput,
from January to May, while the grinding level varied from 18-23 % +212 microns. During the low power
period, June to August, the mineral throughput was pushed up to 30000 tpd while the grinding level varied
in the range 23-2"V % +212 microns. After restarting the operation at full power in September, the mineral
throughput reached the higher levels 34000-37000 tpd by keeping the grinding levels at 23-26 % +212
microns.
4 0 O O O
3oooo
25OOO
2 0 0 0 0
i
o Power 100%
Power 80% ~ 1
Bond' s Model - _ ~ 3
~ o . ~ ~ ~ O o
i
I
I
I I I I I
10 15 20 25 30 35
Grinding.level, % +212 mi crons
Fig.2 Effect of grinding on mineral treatment at two power levels.
A linear correlation between dso of the grinding product and the corresponding grinding level (% +212
microns) was observed for the whole range of grinding levels. Figure 3 shows the model fitting of grinding
data from particle size distributions at different plant operating conditions, thus, the correlations used to
link the power consumption, the ore throughput and the grinding level are,
Bond's model
P
T (tph) = (1)
10 Wi (1/~/dp - l/~/dr)
where T is the ore throughput (tpd), P is the available power (kW), Wi is the Work Index (kWh/t), dF and tip
are the feed and product sizes (80% passing) in microns, and
488 J.B. Yianatos et al.
The 80% passi ng size model
dp (microns) = 8.64 ( G ) + 38.62 (2)
where G is the grinding level (% +212 microns).
.o
E
09
(/J
n
32O
3OO
28O
26O
240
22O
20O
2O
I
i
I
J
I i_J
I
22 24 26 28 30 32
Grinding level, % +212 microns
Fig.3 Product passing size (ds0) versus grinding level (% +212 microns).
The second step was the selection and fitting of a particle size distribution model in terms of the grinding
level. For this purpose a Schuhmann's type model was adapted to describe the size distribution below the
reference size (+212 microns). Thus, the size modulus di * was set equal to 212 microns, corresponding to
the maxi mum size class, and the distribution modulus ' ~" was found to be almost constant and equal to
0.448 for the whole range of plant data. Figure 4 shows good agreement of the model with plant data for
the whole range of grinding levels, and the resulting correlation was,
The part i cl e size di st r i but i on mo d e l
Yi" = (I00 - G) (di / 212) '44s (3)
where Yi" is the cumulative percent less than di size class and G is the grinding level (% +212 microns).
8 0
70
c
Q
s o
5o
2
- i
o 4O
30
0
~ ~ 22.2% +212 microns
0 25. 6% +212 microns
31.0% +212 microns
~Model
50 100 150 200
Particle Size, mi crons
250
Fig.4 Feed size distribution model.
Effect of grinding on mill performance 489
The third step wa.,; the correlation of the metal distribution as a function of the feed size distribution,
considering the good fitting of the correlation reported by Bazin et al. (1994) and Edwards and Vien
[1999]. Figure 5 shows the experimental data from different plant operating conditions (M-I, M-2 and M-
3) and the model fitting.
' 1
0 . . . . . I
0 20 40 60 80 100
CumulaUve % Passing Size
Fig.5 Cumulative copper distribution model.
A cubic polynomial model was found to describe the plant data properly, which is in good agreement with
previous observations, and the resulting correlation was,
Th e c u mu l a t i v e c o p p e r di st r i but i on mo de l
Z i" = 1.112 Yi" + 0.00688 (Yi') 2 - 0.00008 CYi') 3 ( 4 )
where Z{ is the curaulative copper distribution corresponding to Yi'. Equation (4) was constrained to ensure
that the boundary conditions at Yf equal 0 and 100%, also correspond to Zi" equals 0 and 100 %,
respectively. In summary, the simple models to describe the grinding operation are linked as shown in
Figure 6.
W i, P S, d * Ao..A 3 X F
t , 0 I 1
%+212 um
,-
.= 1 M O D E L I v I
z ;
POWER PARTI CLE
SI ZE
DI STRI BUTI ON
CUMULATI VE
METAL
DI STRI BUTI ON
Fig.6 Grinding plant simulation.
490 J. B . Yi anat os e t al .
FLOTATION MODELLING BASED ON OPERATING VARIABLES
The rougher circuit at Salvador consists of 5 parallel lines, each one provided with 3 banks of 3 mechanical
cells, in series. The rougher flotation kinetics were described by Klimpel's model, which has been
previously used by Cort6s et al. [1995] to describe other plant operations with a very good agreement.
Klimpel's model considers a rectangular rate constant distribution, that allows for a more realistic and
flexible approach, while keeping the parsimony principle of using the minimum number of parameters. In
this case the parameters are two, the maximum rate constant kr~x and the maximum recovery at infinite
time, R~.
Figure 7 shows the flow of information. The input data considers the mineral throughput, feed grade and
metal content of valuable minerals, solids percent, cumulative size and metal distribution and circuit
characteristics such as the effective volume of each cell. The model output gives the cumulative recovery
and grade, and the residence times along the rougher bank.
CUMULATI VE
SI ZE AND METAL
DI STRI BUTI ONS
Roo k max
J 1
:[ FLOTATION
M O D E L "
t T
tpd, % Solids CIRCUIT
CHARACTERI STI CS
RECOVERY
GRADE
Fig.7 Rougher flotation simulation.
The correlation to describe the flotation operation of N cells in series was,
Kli mpel's model
R i Plant = R ioo 1 -
ki (N-1) x
(5)
where Ri Plant, and Ri, represent the actual plant recovery and the maximum plant recovery at infinite time,
of the i species, ki is the maximum rate constant of the i species and x is the effective residence time of the
pulp in one cell of the bank. The calculation of the cumulative recovery cell by cell along the bank allowed
estimation of the effective residence time.
Parameter esti mati on
In order to estimate the model parameters, two approach were used. Firstly, kinetic sampling of the rougher
flotation banks allowed adjustment of mass balances from assays of different species and size classes.
Thus, the fitting of Klimpel's parameters for different size classes was developed from plant data. Figure 8
shows an example of the kinetic data per size class from plant tests, together with the model fitting.
A second approach was to scale-up the Klimpel parameters from laboratory batch data. In this case, the
batch tests that arc regularly performed in order to predict the behaviour of the future mineral during the
Effect o f gri ndi ng on mill performance 491
next month, were 1ased to match the average results of the actual rougher flotation operation for the same
month. Thus, scale-up factors were derived to predict the plant operating parameters from batch tests.
100
8 0
~ . 6 0
8
4 0
0
2 0
0
A
" - 45 um
A "- 212+75 um
[ ] "+212 um
"- 75+45 um
Klimpel's Model
[ ]
i I i i i t i i i i
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Cel l r ubbe r
Fig.8 Rougher flotation kinetics per size classes.
Scale-up factors
The firing of the average rougher recovery with the recovery estimated from monthly batch tests, for 7
months, allowed tile following scale-up factors to be fitted
Ri oo, plan t = 0.989 Rioo, Lab (6)
ki, Plant = ki, Lab / 2.5 (7)
Effect of soluble c.opper
A critical problem affecting flotation recovery is the presence of soluble copper. A mineralogical study
showed that soluble copper was mainly related to the presence of oxide minerals and other non-sulphide
complex species. Figure 9 shows the copper rougher recovery versus the ratio between soluble copper and
total copper in the feed ore. It can be seen that the amount of soluble copper varies typically from 6 to 15%
of the total copper in the feed, which causes significant variations (5-7%) in the overall copper recovery. In
order to account for the presence of soluble copper in model predictions, laboratory batch tests were
developed to characterize the kinetics of soluble copper and non-soluble copper.
Figure 10 shows an example of experimental results from batch tests and the fitting of Klimpel's model for
sulphide copper and soluble copper, in order to get the batch parameters. A final recovery higher than 90%
for the sulphide copper and lower than 30% for the soluble copper was typically observed.
492 J.B. Yianatos e t al .
00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
n,
. - I
o
t -
.- 1
O
r r
90
80
70
60
50
O
i ~ i i i i i
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Ratio Soluble Cu / Total Cu, %
Fig.9 Effect of soluble copper on rougher flotation recovery.
100
8 S
e0
w w
O
f . )
40
Sulphide Cu
o Soluble Cu
Klimpel
0
20
n o 0
/
0 I I I I I
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Ti me, mi n
Fig. 10 Klimpel's model fit.
Figure 11 shows an example of the rougher flotation simulation, cell by cell, using parameters from batch
scale-up.
In general, predictions were in good agreement with plant data in terms of the f'mal cumulative recovery
and grade. Figure 12 shows the agreement between the rougher flotation operation, in terms of average
copper recovery from 7 months, and the corresponding estimated copper recovery based on scale-up factors
from batch data.
Effect of grinding on mill performance 493
100 50
45
80 Reco:v. " 40
eo C-urn.
~o - - e- - Cum. Grade 25 .,_
8 4 0 20 8
15
2O 10
5
o d( . . . . . . ,~ ~ ~ o
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 .10
Cell number
86
8
84
8O
g.I
Fig. 1 1 Rougher flotation simulation.
76 K . . . .
76 78 80 82 84 86
Rougher recovery, % Cu
Fig. 12 Rougher recovery prediction from scale-up.
EF F ECT OF GRI NDI NG ON MI LL P ERF ORMANCE
The grinding and flotation models derived and validated for the whole range of plant data can be integrated
to predict the effect of grinding on mill.performance. Figure 13 shows the rougher copper recovery (%) and
the copper tonnage (tpd) recovered to the concentrate in terms of the grinding level (% +212 microns). It
can be seen that a maj or change in the grinding level, from 30% to 20% +212 microns, increases the copper
494 J.B. Yianatos e t al .
rougher recovery by 4.5%, while decreasing the copper production by 13.6%. Here, it can be seen that for
the actual circuit characteristics and metal prices the operation at grinding levels less than 20% +212
microns was not economically optimal, due to the significant decrease in copper concentrate production,
despite the increase in flotation recovery.
90 7 r 2 2 . 0
#
88
o
k . .
0.
0.
o 8 4
o
t ~
e-
O)
- ' 8 2
o
n~
8 0
78
- - e - - C u r e c o v . %
- - - [ - - o - C a c o n c . t p d I
1 5
r i
20 2 5
G r i n d i n g l e v e l , % + 2 1 2 m i c r o n s
210
e"
20o
p
.180 " i
0 .
170 o
O
I 1 6 0
3 0
Fig. 13 Copper recovery and copper production versus grinding level.
However, the circuit operation near the limit of circuit capacity increased the frequency of other potential
troubles (overflow, blockage, shut-down) that cause waste of time and lower equipment utilization. In
summary, the best operating point was found closer to 22-24% +212 microns, in a good compromise
between copper recovery, copper production and the limiting capacities of the plant.
CONCLUSIONS
Using simple grinding and flotation models, a simulator was built to integrate the grinding and flotation
capacities.The simulator was validated with plant data for the range of typical operating conditions, on a
one year period.
The results were useful in selecting the proper grinding level (20-25% +212 microns) according to the
mineral throughput required (30000-35000 tpd), to identify critical instrumentation (need for on-line
particle size analysis) and circuit bottlenecks.
Maximum copper production (tpd) was observed at the maximum circuit capacity (tpd), despite the
decrease in the rougher copper recovery.
A powerful tool to estimate the best compromise between the ore tonnage and the grinding level was
established, in order to maximize values' production and benefits.
A higher level of automation and a supervisory control strategy will soon help to improve the mill
performance, by adding direct measurement of particle size, on-line x-ray analisis of the rougher copper
concentrate and automation of the air and level control in rougher flotation.
Effect of grinding on mill performance 495
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to E1 Salvador Division of Codelco-Chile for providing access to their plant and
for valuable assistance in the experimental work. Funding for process modelling and control research is
provided by CONICYT, project Fondecyt 1990859, and Santa Maria University, project 992723.
REFERENCES
Bazin, C., Grant, R., Cooper, M. and Tessier, R., Prediction of metallurgical performances as a function of
fineness of grind, In Proc. of the 26 th Annual General Meeting of Canadian Mineral Processors,
Ottawa, 1994
Edwards, R. and Vien, A., Application of a model based size-recovery methodology, In Control and
Optimization in Minerals, Metals and Materials Processing, ed. D. Hodouin, C. Bazin and A. Desbiens,
CIM, Quebec, 1999, pp.147-159
Cortes, F.L., Yianatos, J.B. and Urtubia, H.C., Characterization of the copper-moly collective flotation
circuit at Divisi6n Andina, Codelco-Chile, In Copper'95: Mineral Processing and Environment, ed. A.
Casali, G.S. Dobby, C. Molina and W. Thoburn, IIMCh-CIM-AIME, Santiago, Chile, 1995, pp. 37-51
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e - ma i l t o b wi l l s @, mi n- eng. com, or b y Fa x t o +44- (0) 1326-3183 52