Metal cap versus steel lining system at Philsaga

Mining Corporation’s Ø6100 mm SAG Mill

N S Weerasekara1, E Lessing2, S Town3 and J A De Torres4
1. Senior Engineer, Weir Minerals Australia, 1 Marden Street, Artarmon NSW 2064. Email:
nirmal.weerasekara@mail.weir
2. MAusIMM, Director, Engineering & Product Development, Weir Minerals Australia, 1 Marden Street,
Artarmon NSW 2064. Email: evert.lessing@mail.weir
3. Mill Systems Manager, Weir Minerals Australia, 15 Gindurra Road, Somersby NSW 2250. Email:
stuart.town@mail.weir
4. Mill Division Manager, Mindanao Mineral Processing and Refining Corp., Bayugan 3, Rosario, Agusan del
Sur 8504. Email: jadetorres@philsaga.com

ABSTRACT
Philsaga Mining Corporation (Philsaga) had three main aims in converting their lining system from steel to
metal cap. They wanted to increase mill availability, minimise localised high wear and optimise particle
breakage to deliver increased efficiency within the milling circuit. Combining Discrete Element Method (DEM)
modelling and empirical interpretation of liner wear resulted in a rigorous approach to understanding the impact
of mill liners on overall mill performance. This new understanding was subsequently used to not only derive a
new lining design to optimise performance and thereby improve overall plant economics, but also to guide
further lining development.
In this work, detailed DEM modelling, developed from actual plant data, together with optimising liner design
for wear paved the way towards the installation of a Metal Cap lining system at Philsaga’s Ø6100 mm SAG
Mill. The results were a reported increase in SAG mill throughput of 16 – 20 per cent due to improved breakage
through more efficient use of installed power, a reduction in localised high liner wear with overall increase in
liner life and reduction in liner replacement time. Site also reported an increased gold recovery of 2 per cent
which the improved breakage might have contributed to.
This paper will present the design challenges and compare the Metal Cap lining systems performance against
Steel lining system.

INTRODUCTION
Whilst liners play an important role in protecting the mill shell from the aggressive milling environment, they
also play a critical role in delivering the input power to the charge, thereby greatly impacting the mill charge
motion (Powell, et al, 2012). For a mill with identical operating conditions, a different lifter design will change
the charge profile and consequently the mechanism of grinding (Powell & Nurick, 1996a, b, c).
The motion of grinding media and the energy distribution have a profound influence on the comminution of ore
particles in tumbling mills. The DEM modelling allows numerical simulation of the dynamic interaction of the
mill charge media with the mill liners and lifters. It allows calculation of the trajectories of individual entities in
the entire grinding charge as they move in the mill and collide with one another and the mill shell. The resulting
impact energy and force distributions can be used to calculate the grinding rate in mills, as presented by some
workers in this area (Mishra and Rajamani 1994, Cleary 2001, Datta and Rajamani 2002, Mishra and Rajamani
1994, Powell, Govender, and McBride, 2008, Herbst, 2004). Detail review of the application of DEM in this
area can be found in Weerasekara et al (2013). The DEM modelling could help to study charge motion and
energy in detail (Weerasekara, Liu and Powell, 2016).
Based on years of research in the field of comminution and SAG milling, it has been observed during SAG
milling operation that a wide distribution of energy events (collision) is generated. Consequently, designs based
on the concept of single high energy impact breakage events in the toe region do not reflect the reality of the
collision environment that actually exists within the mill. A broader range of breakage mechanisms, including
ones that operate at very low impact energies, are involved in comminution in a SAG mill. Typically, five
dominant breakage mechanisms are identified (compiled in Weerasekara et al, 2013):
1. Abrasion: reduction in diameter by shear interactions.
 2. Rounding: change in shape (reduction in aspect ratio and angularity) by preferential frictional sliding
on corners and high curvature parts of the particles surfaces.
3. Chipping: preferential removal of corners and edges by normal impacts (leading to shape change).
4. Impact breakage: single impact breakage due to high energy normal interactions.
5. Incremental damage: cumulative damage from normal impacts leading to body breakage. This is a
critically important mechanism, particularly in SAG mills where there are many weak collisions.
Philsaga assets are located in Central Eastern Mindanao in the Republic of the Philippines and are accessed
by the national highway north of Davao City. The new ‘Co-O’ Mill, based on a SAG mill with capacity of
approximately 2500 tpd, was commissioned in the March quarter 2014 as a Carbon-In-Leach (CIL) circuit.
The plant incorporates some upgraded leaching circuits from the old mill. Philsaga had three main aims in
converting their lining system from steel to metal-cap. They were to increase mill availability, minimise localised
high wear and optimise particle breakage to deliver increased efficiency within the milling circuit.
This paper presents the work carried out, and some of the modern tools used, to convert the existing steel
lining system to optimized metal-cap lining system at Philsaga’s concentration plant, both to improve grinding
efficiency and to decrease liner wear. This work presents the improvements achieved.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Charge particle trajectory predications

In order to determine the charge trajectory, software called MillTraj® was used, an approach developed by
Powell (1991). This provides a quick and easy way of initially identifying and comparing charge trajectory for
a given lining system under a given set of operating conditions. The design of the liner and the operation of
the mill need to ensure that there are no direct steel on steel impacts above the toe region, otherwise the liners
and balls will suffer severely accelerated wear and there is a risk of major breakage and damage to liners and
lifters.

DEM Modelling
DEM solves Newton’s equations of motion to resolve particle motion and incorporates a contact law to resolve
inter-particle contact forces (Figure 1). Forces are typically integrated explicitly in time to predict the time history
response of the material using an appropriate quadrature method. A detail description of the mathematical
models can be found in early work of (Cundall and Strack 1979, Cundall, 1988) and publications since then.

Impact Specific Energy

The impact specific energy is a cumulative value of the total normal contact energies experienced by a particle
divided by its mass. The impact component refers to a normal collision event as depicted in Figure 2. For
example, the regions which exhibit high impact collision events are those primarily underneath the cascading
throw of the particles in the charge and also those generally under the bulk mass of the charge.

Shear Specific Energy

The shear specific energy is a cumulative value of the total shear contact energies experienced by a particle
divided by its mass. The shear collision event is depicted in
Figure 3. For example, the regions which exhibit high shear collision events are those primarily in the upper
and lower regions of the dead-zone of the charge.
Figure 1 – Particle contact model (figure from Weerasekara, Liu and Powell, 2016).

Figure 2 – Normal collision.

Figure 3 – Shear collision.

Collision energy spectrum

Using these DEM simulations, the energy dissipation associated with different particle interactions can be
calculated. Frequency distributions of energy, both in the normal and shear directions can be determined from
all the individual collision events. Spectra can be calculated for each type of collision event and for each ball
and rock size class. The collision energy is expressed as a specific energy (Ecs). This energy density is noted
by researchers and practitioners in comminution to be the key driver in rock fracture. Thus, although a large
rock may experience a large absolute collision energy, the dissipation of that energy throughout the rock can
result in little damage due to its large mass. For the same absolute impact energy, a small rock one tenth of
the diameter will experience 1000-fold energy density of the large rock and may shatter from the resultant high
intensity stress waves.
The simulations for SAG/AG mills are revealing that the conditions for breakage are different to those
traditionally assumed and reported by existing breakage tests (Weerasekara et al, 2013). This is evident from
the primary output of the DEM simulations, the calculated particle energy spectra shown in Figure 4.
The DEM calculated energy spectrum for a SAG mill indicates that most of the particle impacts are occurring
at very low energy (Weerasekara et al, 2013). In fact, this energy level is well below that required for a typical
ore to break. In general, for a single impact breakage to occur, the energy need would be above 0.5 kWh/t,
however the figure indicates that less than 0.1 per cent of impacts are in this range. A further 2 per cent of
impacts are sufficient to cause incremental damage and breakage through repeated impact events. The
majority of the impacts in a SAG mill do not cause particle breakage for the rocks (plus 15 mm) in the mill.
Most impacts are of low energy and are more likely to cause attrition than fragmentation. Therefore, these
interactions have to be taken into account in the design process such that the target throughput and product
size (P80) can be achieved.
Figure 4 – The DEM calculated energy spectrum for 35mm rocks in a SAG mill (Powell & Weerasekara,
2010).

SAG Mill operation

The Philsaga SAG mill is 6.1 m × 7.32 m with a 20° conical angle (to vertical) of feed and discharge heads.
This SAG mill is used to grind a feed nominally passing of 130 mm. It is driven by a 1400 kW motor coupled
with a variable frequency (VF) drive designed to run at 13.2rpm (ie 76 per cent critical speed). The mill currently
runs at a constant 11.5 rpm which is 67.5 per cent of critical speed (the speed at which media or balls would
be pinned to the mill shell by centripetal forces).

Steel system
During the life of the Steel SAG mill shell, before conversion to the Metal-Cap system, three sets of steel shell
liners were installed at different time intervals. The first, two sets of shell liners were from Supplier #1 and third
set was from a Supplier #2. All three sets had the same high-low lifter design using steel, while Supplier #1
provided 70 mm thick liner plates and Supplier #2 provided 85 mm thick liner plates. The mill shell is lined with
36 rows of lifters. Specifications of lifter/liners used are shown in Table 1 and Figure 5. The mill is typically run
at 25 per cent total filling, with 11 per cent ball and 14 per cent ore filling.

Metal cap system

Steel systems are generally heavier compared to rubber based composite systems. This means in a SAG mill
every tonne of weight saved in the lining system is another potential tonne of ore or media charge that can be
put into the mill. Leveraging of this and capitalising on the synergy brought about by utilising the unique wear
properties of rubber and metal for specific areas a composite system was considered. This lead to the design
of a composite rubber and Chrome Moybdenum (CrMo) steel metal cap system.
Chrome Moybdenum (CrMo) steel is an industry standard for highly abrasive grinding duties generally found
in SAG Mill applications. Weir Minerals has developed a range of CrMo Casting Inlays that have shown clear
benefits in mill lining systems where they have been adopted. The philosophy adapted is based on proven
concepts that suit the milling environment. The mill lining systems are individually designed to meet the
grinding criteria and requirements, rather than providing an off the shelf standard product and solution. In this
design, the CrMo is strategically located in areas that will see high abrasive contact. This construction adds to
the overall component properties by allowing high energy impacts to be absorbed and deflected, delivering an
increase in service life while retaining the face angle for an extended period. The benefit of retaining the face
angle for a longer period is that impact breakage is high through the liner life and therefore milling efficiency is
sustained.
Following an initial trajectory analysis, this system (Table 2 and Figure 5) was selected for detail study. The
Metal Cap system is expected to run under the same process conditions as the steel system.
Lifter
Plate Number of
Face angle Height Width Lifters in row
thickness(mm) rows
(°) (mm) (mm)
High 30 280 310 85 4 18
Low 30 200 310 85 4 18
Table 1 – Specifications of the steel liner-lifter system (Supplier #2).

Lifter
Plate Number of
Face angle Height Width Lifters in row
thickness(mm) rows
(°) (mm) (mm)
Ring 1 & 2 30 250 210 125 2 36
Ring 3 & 4 45 250 210 125 2 36
Table 2 – Specifications of the metal cap liner-lifter system.

Figure 5 – Geometric views of the lining systems.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Charge particle trajectory predications

To obtain an initial estimate of the performance of the steel system design and to compare the potential of the
metal cap design, the maximum trajectory paths of the outermost balls and rocks was calculated using
MillTraj® program, as it can run with limited computational effort. With these initial estimates, it is ensured that
the new design of the liner and the operation of the mill will result in no impacts above the toe region, otherwise
the liners and balls will suffer severely accelerated wear and risk major breakage.
For the filling information given, the liner profile data are used as input to the simulation presented in Figure 6.
The trajectories are given for the corresponding liner. The design of the lifter is done in such a way that for
the mill operational speed there are no impacts in the middle of the toe region for each corresponding filling,
using the lifter dimensions at that point in the liner life.
The trajectory plots provide input to the safe operating ranges for the mill. This information is then used in
detail DEM modelling work.
Figure 6 – Charge trajectories simulated using MillTraj.®

DEM Predictions
DEM modelled charge profiles and Particle Trajectories
The mill charge trajectories provide an insight into the internal mechanical environment of the tumbling mill.
The comparison of the complex interactions between particles and the lining system are well described in the
following figures. Bulk shear region in a tumbling mill is very important in promoting abrasion and attrition
breakage. Using particle trajectories and tangential normal force, the bulk shear region can be defined.
Figure 7 shows that the steel system and a metal-cap 30° system have similar particle trajectories, with no
over throw, which also confirms the initial simple trajectory (MillTraj®) analysis. This kind of charge motion will
promote efficient grinding. By comparison, the metal-cap 45° system has less throw and more cascading
charge motion that promotes abrasion and attrition. This is important in generating fine particles, such that it
will generate a better grind and a finer average product size (P80; 80 per cent passing size) which will lead to
improved liberation and higher gold leach recovery in the CIL. A combination of 30° metal cap lifters in the first
two rings and 45° metal cap lifters in rings three and four were selected due to a simulated performance most
closely matching the lining design criteria.
Figure 7 – DEM predicted charge profile, Metal cap vs Steel system.

Collision Energy Spectra

The collision energy spectra provide the opportunity to better understand the various contributions to the
overall energy distribution within the mill, which cannot otherwise be estimated using charge trajectory
analysis. Knowledge of the changes in these spectra with operational and geometric mill attributes may create
the possibility of improving the energy efficiency of size reduction by shifting energy from less useful types of
collisions to more useful ones through the change of mill operating conditions.
It is evident for Figure 8 that the metal-cap system has a higher frequency of collision across the possible
energy range generated in the mill compared to the steel system. On average this translates to a 20 per cent
increase for the 45° and 26 per cent increase for the 35° metal cap system. This increase in collision frequency
translates into a higher probability of particle breakage events which will translate into an increase in
throughput.
Resolving the collision frequency into both impact and shear frequencies showed that both impact and shear
collisions increase relative to the steel system as can be seen in Figure 9. High energy, low frequency impact
collision will generally contribute to body breakage while the low energy, high frequency impacts will cause
surface damage (Figure 10a). High energy, low frequency shear will promote attrition and low energy, high
frequency shear will result in abrasion (Figure 10b). Therefore, any increase in these collision events will
enhance the grinding process.
Figure 8 – Collision energy spectra, Metal cap vs Steel system.

Figure 9 – Percent increase in collision frequency, Metal cap vs Steel system.

Figure 10 – Impact and shear collision energy spectra, Metal cap vs Steel system.

Collision energy by size

The collision energies were mass-averaged as collision specific energy (Ecs) (kWh/ton) and plotted against
particle size distribution for each mill system (Figure 11). Specific energy (Ecs) can be considered as average
intensity (energy density) of a collision event in the mill. As described above, this energy density is noted by
researchers and practitioners in comminution to be the key driver in rock fracture, and a way of quantifying
applied energy as explained earlier.
Figure 11 clearly shows that metal-cap systems have higher Ecs relative to the steel system. This is about a
23 to 27 per cent increase for 45° and 30° respectively compared to the steel system. This means that the
Metal cap system will, on average, transfer the input energy more efficiently to the breakage process than the
steel system. It is also evident that this is achieved through similar amount of input power (energy use) (Figure
12) or approximately 2 per cent less than the steel system.

Figure 11 – Average particle collision energy (intensity/density) distribution, metal cap vs steel system.
Figure 12 – Energy use, metal cap vs steel system.

Effect of converting steel to metal cap

Grinding performance
To evaluate the effects of new liner design (Metal cap system), the average throughput of the mill for each
liner set for its period in operation were compared (Table 3). Note that at the time of writing this paper, the
Metal cap system is still in operation so data was not available for a whole campaign. During each liner
campaign (life of liner), it is possible that all milling parameters were not held constant. In particular, variables
that are known to contribute to wear and throughput such as feed size distribution, ore hardness, charge level,
density and grinding media addition rate could have deviated from average operating levels. Figure 13 shows
that at each new liner set there is a considerable increase in throughput. This could be due to continued
operational improvement and due to the factors mentioned above. Therefore, if we use liner set #3 and its
operation as the basis, the increase in throughput with respect to that baseline would be about 20 per cent.
On that basis, it is reasonable to assume a large part of this process improvement is due to the Metal-Cap
lining system.

Wear performance
To quantify liner wear performance, mill liner plate thickness reduction per unit mass milled was used as a
measure (Table 4). This can be represented as total dry metric tonnes/amount of liner plate thickness worn
(t/mm); and total running time/amount of liner plate thickness worn (hr/mm). This easy way to quantify the wear
performance has been used here as the lifter profile variation over life of liner was not available for the steel
system. Table 4 shows that Liner set #3 has a lowest performance at 95 hr/mm or 9314 tonne/mm, whereas
the Metal-Cap system had the highest at 134 hr/mm or 15777 t/mm. During inspection the metal-cap system
had reached 35 weeks in operation and maintained wear of around 22-48 per cent (Table 5) along the mill
length. While achieving higher performance in wear (improved liner life), it is also able to retain its lift angle
(Figure 14).
Figure 13 – Increase in throughput (milling rate) with change in liner/lifter, metal cap vs steel systems.

Figure 14 – Metal cap lifter profile measured during mill inspection.

Supplier #1 Supplier #2 Weir
Lining system Liner set #1 Liner set #2 Liner set #3 Metal-Cap
Total Dry Metric Tonnes, during a
561 814 483 040 605 399 362 872
period of liner life*
*Time in operation (hours) 6479 5,255 6150 3082
Throughput (Milling rate) (tph) 87 92 98 118
Table 3 – SAG mill performance under different lining system.
 Supplier #1 Supplier #2 Weir
Lining system Liner set #1 Liner set #2 Liner set #3 Metal-Cap
Amount of liner plate thickness worn
50 50 65 23
(mm)
Total Dry Metric Tons / Amount of liner
11236 9661 9314 15777
plate thickness worn (Tons/mm)
Total running time/ Amount of liner plate
130 105 95 134
thickness worn (hr/mm)
Table 4 – SAG mill liner wear rates for different lining system
Material
Usable Period of Wear
lost due
Location in mill area operation calculated
to wear
(cm2) (weeks) (%)
(cm2)
RING 1 78 360 35 22%
RING 2 78 250 35 31%
RING 3 104 215 35 48%
RING 4 104 215 35 48%
Table 5 – Metal cap lifter bar wear rates after 35 weeks in operation.

CONCLUSIONS
Combining DEM simulations output, trajectory analysis, liner wear monitoring and site data provide useful input
into understanding and also assessing the impact of liner changes on mill performance. This in combination
with selection of specific materials to optimise liner wear has proven to be successful in designing and selecting
an appropriate lining system for a specific milling duty. Philsaga’s mine wanted to increase SAG mill availability,
minimise localised high wear and optimise particle breakage to deliver increased efficiency within the milling
circuit. Application of the above approach has resulted in these objectives being met through design of
composite rubber and metal-cap lining system.
It was seen from the DEM modelling that a 20 to 26 per cent increase in frequency of collisions across the
entire energy range for metal cap 45° and 30° respectively compared to the steel system could be achieved.
The Metal cap systems further showed a 23-27 per cent increase in collision energy intensity (Ecs) relative to
the steel system. The combination of an increase in collision frequency and energy intensity (energy density)
contributes to increased probability of breaking a rock particle and this will translate to increased throughput.
Resolving the collision frequency into both impact and shear frequencies showed that both impact and shear
collisions increase relative to the steel system. High energy, low frequency impact collision will generally
contribute to body breakage while the low energy, high frequency impacts will cause surface damage. High
energy, low frequency shear will promote attrition and low energy, high frequency shear will result in abrasion.
Therefore, any increase in these collision events will enhance the grinding process. This means that the metal-
cap system will, on average, transfer the input energy (motor power) more efficiently for the breakage process
than the steel system. Following on from these results it was reported that the site has increased gold recovery
by 2 per cent, increased SAG mill throughput by 16-20 per cent while improving liner service life by 40 per cent
and has reduced liner system replacement time by more than 60 per cent.
Liner design has a dramatic impact on both mill availability and grinding efficiency. By optimising the design
through materials of construction, significant improvements can be made to not only enhance wear resistance
but also to reduce relining times, thereby positively improving availability. Combining this approach with DEM
modelling to better understand proposed changes to grinding efficiency leads to a more holistic approach that
improves not only availability but also grinding efficiency, which in many cases can be of significant more value
to the end user.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank Philsaga for supporting and implementing the outcome of this work and also
permission to publish the article. Special appreciation is also extended to the operating, maintenance,
metallurgy, R&D personnel and Nico Sarte, Weir Minerals Customer Service Engineer for their continued help.
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