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QUANTIFYING THE INFLUENCE OF LINER SHAPE AND MILL FILLING FOR

PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION

Conference Paper · September 2011

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QUANTIFYING THE INFLUENCE OF LINER SHAPE AND MILL FILLING
FOR PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION

Paul Toor1, Jochen Franke1, Malcolm Powell2, Thomas Perkins2, Matt Bird3, Jason Robertson3.
1
Suite 1, Enterprise Unit 5
7A De Laeter Way
Technology Park, Bentley, WA 6102
Western Australia
(*Corresponding author: paul.toor@scanalyse.com.au)
2
University of Queensland, JKMRC - SMI
40 Isles Rd
Indooroopilly, Australia, 4068
3
Cadia Valley Operations
Newcrest Mine

1
 QUANTIFYING THE INFLUENCE OF LINER SHAPE AND MILL FILLING
FOR MILL PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION

ABSTRACT

The operation of SAG mills is variable over time due to their continually changing liner shape,
mass and subsequent load motion. However, this tends to be poorly accommodated in liner design and
mill control, with only limited compensation made for this influence, usually in the first few weeks after a
new liner is installed. With ever-increasing ore competency, increasing energy costs and decreasing ore
grades, simplified design and operational approaches that compromise the achievable mill efficiency are no
longer adequate. This paper presents a methodology that has been developed to measure and account for
the changes in mill performance as the liner wears. This involves monitoring all liner profiles – in other
words the three-dimensional liner shape - over the life of the liner, then conducting controlled surveys at
different stages of the liner wear life, and correlating the mill performance to the liner profiles. The
measured liner mass is modelled to provide an ongoing meaningful load mass measure that excludes the
liner mass.

KEYWORDS

Liner Design, Liner Wear, Liner Wear Tracking, Modeling, Optimization.

INTRODUCTION

One option to reduce energy and material consumption while optimizing production yield in mill
operation is through balanced design and selection of liners. Liners play an important role in grinding due
to their strong influence on load motion and behaviour (Makokha, Moys, Bwalya & Kimera, 2006).
Generally grinding efficiency depends on the behaviour of the load inside the mill which governs the
nature of the ore presentation to breakage. However, liner shape is dynamic as it is continually wearing. It
is a common practice in the minerals processing industry to attempt to overdesign mill liners such that
throughput increases and specific energy (kw/t) decreases as mill liners wear. Without appropriate liner
measurement tools to track and quantify wear, this practice is difficult to validate. There is also a trade-off
between liner life and grinding performance which to date has not been studied closely.

The matching of liner shape with mill performance modelling facilitates the determination of
periods of peak performance in relation to liner shape. This provides a methodology for the design of
liners that maintain a favourable shape for the majority of liner life, yielding desirable production
parameters such as energy consumption and throughput, while at the same time maintaining practical liner
life cycles.

The published work tends to provide end of liner life versus new liner mill throughput data. There
were over twenty such studies presented in the proceedings of SAG’01, 2001 and SAG’06, 2006. These
studies show reductions in throughput of 5% to 10% after reline, but there is insufficient data provided to
assess how the operation responded to the change in liner in terms of operating strategy. For example
actual mill filling rather than measured load is never reported, and this is likely to undergo a step change
with liner change if the site does not have an adequate strategy for compensating for the huge change in
liner mass. It is therefore possible that considerable changes in mill operating point substantially
contribute to the measured changes in mill performance.

Mill filling is an important operational parameter in a mill circuit and by its control and
optimisation it can produce significant improvements in production capacity and energy efficiency (Kolacz,
1997) (Apelt, Asprey, & Thronhill, 2001). However, it is industry practice to report mill load as the total

2
output given by load cells, or kPa for systems based on lubrication bearing back pressure, rather than actual
mill charge mass. This practice is flawed because as the liners wear, total mill load reduces over liner life
whilst actual mill filling is likely to increase due to the increase in internal mill volume as a result of the
liner wear. It is worth noting that liner mass loss over the life of a liner can equal the total charge mass.
Thus to accurately report mill filling, load cell output should be calibrated such that it compensates for the
loss of liner mass. Measures that utilise bearing back pressure require an additional calibration stage to
correlate the output kPa to actual load. Using the MillMapperTM functionality to track changes in liner
volume over the liner life it is possible to calibrate load cell output to report actual mill filling percent
rather than mill load, with no capital cost required. This paper provides a description of this process of
liner design optimization and load cell calibration results for the 32 ft. SAG mill, located at Newcrest’s
Cadia Valley Operation (CVO) in NSW, Australia.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The hypothesis of this work is that the increase in throughput in SAG milling over a shell liner life
cycle witnessed in industry is due to both an increase in internal mill volume due to liner wear, and
secondly, to an optimum liner shape being achieved during liner life resulting in increased breakage rates.

Increase in internal mill volume over liner life cycles is easily tracked from the MillMapper™
software as it is a standard output. The net mill volume for each survey is calculated by accounting for the
exact 3D liner shape at the wear stage in question for feed, shell, and discharge liners. Traditional internal
available mill volume estimations are based on a few manual point based distance measurements of
maximum diameter and length that cannot account for 3D shape changes. Using the MillMapperTM
condition monitoring tool, changes in mill volume, including feed and discharge cones, can be measured
with a high degree of accuracy.

The following example illustrates these points for a 36 foot SAG mill. Two years of
MillMapperTM data recorded a maximum increase of 3% in internal mill volume between new and
completely worn liners. However, this historical data over several life cycles demonstrates that throughput
for this period increases on average in the order of 10% (Table 1, Figure 1).

Assuming constant transport rates and percentage fill levels for new liner and completely worn shell
liner mill volume, the increase of only 2-3% in mill volume does not account for the observed 10% of
throughput increase. Lacking other conclusive evidence that could explain any potential change in
transport rate or fill level, the remaining 6-7% in observed increased throughput may be attributed to an
increase in efficiency of liner shape as it wears. The data suggests that new liners as used are less efficient
and at the other end of the scale, worn liners are most efficient. This paper outlines a robust technique to
capture and quantify this optimum liner shape for improved milling efficiency by designing liners that
maintain a favourable shape for the majority of liner life, yielding desirable production parameters such as
lower energy consumption and higher throughput, while at the same time maintaining practical liner life
cycles and not compromising product sizes. This paper also describes the benefits of reporting mill filling
rather than mill load.

Table 1– Percent increase in throughput of operating hours from new to old shell liner 36 ft. SAG
Shell Liner New Liner Average Throughput (tph) Worn Liner Average Throughput % Increase
Life (First Two Weeks of Life) (tph) (Last Two Weeks of Life)
1 1172 1190 1.6%
2 1169 1265 8.2%
3 1154 1272 10.2%
4 1126 1274 13.1%
5 1097 1151 4.9%
6 1113 1316 18.2%
7 1153 1192 3.4%
8 1055 1170 11.0%

3
 9 1114 1255 12.7%
10 1119 1275 14.0%
Average Increase 9.7%

Figure 1 – Increase in throughput over liner life for 36 ft SAG mill

Figure 2 shows throughput as a function of liner life for the 32 ft mill studied at Cadia. It can be
seen that the throughput increases as the liner wears, and then drops at half-life when the discharge grates
(1/2 set) and the feed outer liner are relined. This causes the regressed throughput curve to taper but still
increase as the shell liners wear further, resulting in a 12% increase in throughput at the end of liner life
when compared to new.

It should be noted that the throughput post grate reline is still approximately 3% higher on average
than the throughput prior to the grate reline, indicating the increase in throughput is not only due to an
increased open area of the grates but also due to the wear in the shell liners. Aside from throughput
improvements over the shell liner life, specific energy (kW/tph) decreases by a significant 12 % over the
same period. Importantly, this decrease is observed even with an increase of mill speed to adjust for a
reduction in lift due to worn lifters. Finally, grinding surveys conducted during the course of the project
indicate that SAG product is finer as the liner wears. Thus all available data suggests that the three primary
performance indicators of throughput, energy consumption and product size all improve considerably as
the liners wear in the 32 ft mill studied, with greater throughput, reduced power, and finer product
observed towards the end of shell liner life cycle.

4
 Figure 2 - Throughput and Specific Energy as a function of shell liner life for Cadia 32 ft mill

METHODOLOGY

To aid the determination of the optimum liner shape that maintains a favourable shape for the
majority of liner life the following tools were used:

Controlled Grinding Surveys;

MillMapperTM;
JKSimMet simulator.

Grinding surveys are conducted at various stages in the liner life (4 times), to gain snap shots of
milling efficiency at each stage. Laser scanning based MillMapperTM condition monitoring output
provides detailed and accurate 3D liner shapes at each stage. The four grinding surveys are used to create
four separate JKSimMet SAG mill models, where each model describes a stage in the life of the shell liners.
These typically are the following:

New (Post-reline)
Half life ( 50% of life)
Heavily worn ( 80% of life)
Fully worn (Pre-reline)

Each model is normalised to facilitate direct comparisons between each distinct liner shape. This
is done by simulating the model fitted at each survey back to a standard base case set of conditions, such as
the ‘A’ and ‘b’ ore impact breakage parameters from the JK drop weight test, and the mill filling and ball
load. Any change in the breakage rates and/or mass transfer can therefore be attributed to the change in
liner shape rather than changes in feed or operating conditions.

With the establishment of optimum liner operating window based on the normalised JKSimMet
models, a new liner design can be proposed which maintains a favourable liner shape for the majority of
life. DEM modelling provides a platform to make one to one comparisons between various stages of liner

5
shape and will be used in conjunction with JKSimMet modelling in future work to provide additional
insight into the influence of liner shape on mill behaviour. As a first iteration of liner design change, the
new shape may be chosen to closely resemble actual liner shape as measured by MillMapper TM at the
preferred new starting stage of liner life. Provided that operating conditions don’t vary going forward and
other relevant production parameters are favourable for the new chosen life cycle, this change should
maintain a stable behaviour of the mill when compared to the original design. It should also ensure that the
more favourable production outcomes of the later liner life stages are exploited. DEM modelling can
subsequently be used to assess the functionality of any second iteration liner design changes in the virtual
environment. This caters for inexpensive and flexible considerations of ‘what if’ scenarios rather than
going through the costly, time consuming, and quite possibly unsuccessful process of physical trialling of
new liner designs in situ.

SURVEY PROTOCOL

A series of surveys over two shell liner life cycles were conducted on the 32ft SAG mill, located
at Newcrest’s CVO to characterise the performance of the mill at different stages of liner wear. The
nominal shell liner life cycle for this mill is six months, and the surveys were scheduled for the beginning,
middle, and end of the liner life, with an additional survey completed two weeks before each reline to
capture the expected increase in liner wear immediately prior to the reline.

The surveys were designed to capture the performance of the 32ft SAG mill in terms of power
draw, throughput, and product size. The feed to the 32ft SAG mill was a varying blend from two ore
sources, the Cadia pit, and the Ridgeway underground mine. This blend was put through a single crushing
stage and passed through a screen with 70mm apertures. The mill was also fed a crushed pebble recycle,
and a portion of the ball mill combined underflow stream. The flow rate from the cyclones to the 32ft SAG
mill was controlled by maintaining a set slurry head above an orifice with measured dimensions. This set
up allowed the flow rate to the mill to be calculated but there is some doubt as to the calculation’s accuracy.
There was no check on this flow rate possible from the mass balance. The flow sheet of the circuit, as set
up in JKSimMet, is given in Figure 3.

Figure 3 - 32ft SAG Mill JKSimMet Circuit

The discharge from the 32ft SAG mill is passed through a trommel, and the oversize material is
passed over a screen. The screen oversize is recycled back to the cone crushers via a pebble stockpile and

6
transferred to the SAG feed belt. The screen undersize is pumped back to join the trommel undersize
before falling into the cyclone feed sump.

The majority of the samples were simple to take. There were three belt cuts taken during each mill
stop, one each of the recycle crusher feed, the screen oversize, and the combined feed to the mill. The
recycle crusher product was sampled on line with a half pipe sample cutter. The cyclone underflow,
overflow, and feed were all sampled by cutting the falling stream. The cyclone feed was sampled by
blanking off the overflow on one of the cyclones, and only switching the cyclone on to sample.

The SAG discharge sample was more difficult to access, yet the quality of the SAG discharge
sample is crucial to the quality of the survey data. The discharge from the 32ft CVO mill is passed over a
trommel and then over a screen, resulting in three samples that provide the full mill discharge when
combined. The streams from the screen are simple to sample, one being taken as a belt cut, another by
cutting a fall stream with a low flowrate. However, it is much more difficult to sample the trommel
undersize accurately. The sample point in place during the first liner life survey was a door at the discharge
end of the trommel casing on the opposite side to the majority of the flow. The sample was taken with a
long sample cutter to sample as much of the trommel undersize as possible but the sample point did not
allow a truly representative sample to be taken. The sample point was improved for the surveys during the
second liner life, with a series of hatches being cut along the length of the trommel casing on the side of the
trommel with all the flow. The trommel cross cutting technique (Powell, Perkins, & Mainza, 2011) was
used to take a series of cuts along the width of the stream, providing a much more representative sample.

OPERATIONAL CONSTRAINTS AND SAMPLING SUMMARY

The 32ft mill was originally planned to be a fully autogenous mill, and has since been converted
to a semi-autogenous mill with a high ball to rock ratio. The ball filling stayed consistent between the
surveys, varying from 13-14% with a typical total charge filling of between 16-20%. This high ball to rock
ratio causes the mill to be severely power limited, and reduces the flexibility in operation. The lack of
flexibility is worrying, and makes the mill less able to handle changes in feed size distribution or variances
in the ore hardness. Currently the ore is completely pre-crushed and passed over a 70mm screen before
being fed to the mill, effectively removing the ability of the ore acting as a grinding media. It is reasonable
to expect improved mill performance with respect to energy efficiency in the 32ft CVO mill with a reduced
ball load and increased rock load. By increasing the top size of the feed to the mill, the reduction in ball
grinding media could be somewhat offset by an increase in the number of larger rocks which act as
grinding media. A partial bypass of the secondary crusher screen could be introduced to send some larger
rocks to the mill, increasing the energy in the charge.

The 32ft SAG mill used for these surveys was fed with a varying blend of ores from two different
locations. The main component of the feed was a higher grade, softer ore from the Ridgeway underground
mine. The other component of the feed was sourced from the Cadia pit and was harder with a lower grade.
The mill was only fed material from the Cadia pit when there was limited availability of the Ridgeway ore.
The work of Bueno, Shi, Kojovac & Powell, (2011) shows that optimum operation of a mill occurs for
different total mill fillings for differing ore competences. Conducting a grindcurve is the best method for
establishing the performance of a mill with respect to mill filling. The procedure for conducting a
grindcurve has been described in previous work by the authors (Powell, Perkins, & Mainza, 2011).

The SAG mill sample point was improved for this work with other sample points also needing
attention to allow for an optimized identification and quantification of potential process improvements. To
demonstrate the utility of the improvement in sample points, a series of three samples were taken in quick
succession before and after the new SAG mill sample point was installed. The sizing data is presented in
Figure 4 and Figure 5. The reduction in variability of repeat samples is seen quite clearly in the coarser end
of the size distributions. The improvement to the SAG mill sample point was quite simple and cheap. A
series of hatches were cut into the side of the trommel casing during scheduled downtime to allow multiple
samples along the length of the trommel to be taken.

7
 Figure 4 - Size distribution of repeat samples of the 32ft SAG trommel undersize stream with the
original sample point.

Figure 5 - Size distributions of repeat samples of the 32ft SAG trommel undersize with improved
sample point.

Surveys were conducted immediately before and after liner changes in July, 2010. The data from
these surveys has been used to simulate the change in mill performance due to liner wear. These two
surveys were chosen because the mill conditions were very consistent. JKSimMet can be used to simulate
between the two surveys by varying the key operating parameters that change with liner wear. Throughput
increases as the liner wears due to a number of factors, most notably the increase in mill internal diameter
and the wearing of grates apertures. The ball filling % drops slightly as the mill internal diameter increases.
The ball filling is easily adjusted as it is scaled by the ratio of the new and worn internal mill radii squared.
The wear in the grates was accounted for with a variance in the discharge function, and the breakage rates
were also adjusted.

8
 LINER SHAPE AND MASS TRACKING

MillMapperTM provides high resolution three-dimensional mill liner thickness information inside
a mill by mapping in the order of 10 million individual survey points. Aside from tracking liner shape and
wear, other variables such as liner weight, net mill volume, charge volume, ball size distribution, and
discharge grate open area are also quantified, (Franke, Michalek, Schurmann, Achkar & West, 2010).
After completion of a condition monitoring series, high wear zones are automatically identified and used
for reline forecasting. More detailed descriptions on the MillMapperTM methodology and industry case
studies have been provided in (Franke, Redman, Johnson, Michalek, 2009). Variables such as effective
lifter height and face angle, which significantly affect the trajectory of the charge, are measured and
provide the basis for representative Discrete Element Method (DEM) modelling. Critically this can be
done not just for new liner shapes, but for worn shapes as well, which is the only way to model grinding
behaviour at times other than the very initial period of a liner life cycle. An example of liner 3D thickness
model output is presented in
Figure 6.

Figure 6 – Sample 3D thickness models of new liners (left) and completely worn liners (right) as
produced by MillMapperTM - note asymmetric wear along shell lifters

IMPORTANCE OF MILL FILLING

The combination of MillMapperTM and the plant survey output provide an opportunity to calibrate
a load cell such that mill filling rather than mill load can be reported by the Distributed Control System
(DCS). The benefits of reporting mill filling rather than mill load are highlighted in this section.

Key production parameters such as throughput, power, and product size are sensitive to mill
filling. Liner life can also be severely reduced if mill filling is too low, thus control and optimization of
mill filling is vital. Low fillings reduce energy efficiency due to excess steel to steel contact, be it ball on
ball or ball on liner. Too high mill filling reduces throughput due to a damping of the grinding media
leading to reduced coarse ore breakage rates.

A variable mill filling also creates process variability with consequences as per the logic flow
below (Powell, van der Westhuizen & Mainza, 2009):

9
 Variable Operation Variable Grind Variable Recovery Lower Recovery.

Figure 7 shows the trend of mill load over liner life for the mill that was studied. It can be seen
the mill load is trending down until a step change occurs at approximately half life. This is due to the
reline of the Feed liner after which the load continues to trend down. Due to the steel liners having a
specific gravity (S.G.) of 7.8 t/m3 whilst the ore has a S.G in the order of 3 t/m3, any change in % mill
filling is masked by the loss of liner mass. Furthermore, any long term trends such as changes in ore type
and ball charge are likely to be masked by loss of mass in the liners and go unnoticed by operators and
metallurgists when using un-calibrated load cell data.

Figure 7 – Load cell mill load reading over liner life 32 ft SAG CVO
Note Feed End liner change out at half life

Figure 7 illustrates the inherent difficulties of setting mill load set points for mill operators.
Traditionally, mill operators apply estimated step changes to the mill load set points to account for liner
mass loss experienced over a liner life but this is far from ideal as it does not allow for steady control and is
poorly correlated to actual mill filling.

Mill operators and metallurgist also attempt to control mill load or filling by controlling mill
power. As power draw for a given mill filling does change with liner wear, this can be a deceptive figure
to use. The sensitivity of dynamic power draw to filling can be surprisingly low, with short and long term
fluctuations related to measurement accuracy, the intrinsic uneven torque provided by a cascading charge
and dynamic fluctuations in charge density resulting in significant fluctuations (100 – 200 kW) in observed
power. If the mill is operating at a high filling the power curve is quite flat. As a consequence of these
factors, the filling can vary by a few percent for a given target range in power draw.

The procedure of using power draw as a mill control parameter is often based on the assumption
that a peak in power correlates to a peak in throughput, but the work of Powell et al (2009) on grindcurves
has shown this is not necessarily the case, especially for open circuit mills. Thus the mill, though running
at maximum power, may not be necessarily running at maximum throughput. The maximum power draw

10
paradigm also tends to utilize an increase feed rate until the power target or peak is exceeded before
decreasing the feed rate again to reduce the power, therefore leading to cyclic operation.

THEORY OF LOAD CELL CALIBRATION

The theory behind the presented load cell calibration is simple, derived from physical
measurements, and requires no real time sensors, which can be expensive and difficult to maintain. The
calibration equation is given below.

Charge Mass = Load Reading + Offset + (New Liner Mass - Current Liner Mass) (1)

The offset is incorporated to take the load reading from an unknown zero load reference point to
actual load for a new liner without any charge in the mill.

A relationship for current liner mass as a function of liner life, expressed in cumulative tonnes
milled, is calculated from the measured liner thickness data over life of liner. MillMapper TM with its highly
accurate thickness models (
Figure 8) is able to provide volumes of individual liner types (shell, feed outer, etc) which are
converted into a total liner mass. The regression equations obtained for individual liner segments are
summarized in
Figure 9 for the 32 ft. SAG at CVO.

Figure 8 – Example of new and worn shell liner row shape as measured by MillMapperTM

11
 Figure 9 – Liner mass over liner life as output by MillMapper TM

As can be seen from

Figure 9 the total liner mass is dominated by the shell and the feed outer liner row. The feed outer
liner row was relined mid-life for this mill causing the total mass to undergo a step change. As shown by
the outer feed pre-reline and feed outer liner (post reline) curves, these have almost the same slope and join
together if they are shifted along the y-axis to provide a continuous wear curve for a single set of outer feed
liners, i.e. the pre-reline data is simply an extension of the previous set of outer feed liners. To accurately
model this influence on total liner mass, total change in liner mass can be evaluated in two distinct time
periods as follows:

1. Mass of liners pre-reline (outer feed liner row) and

2. Mass of liners post-reline (outer feed liner row)

Both regress well giving R squared values greater than 0.98. Thus these regressions can be
incorporated into the charge mass calibration with a high degree of confidence to compensate for the loss
of liner mass. Having calculated the charge mass it is then possible to calculate the mill filling. For mill
filling to be calculated the following assumptions are made:

Constant Ball Charge

Constant slurry level fraction
Constant Specific Gravity of the ore
Constant Slurry % Solids

In this work the ball load was found to be consistent within a fraction of a percent over the four
surveys, so this principal assumption was validated. Having made the above assumptions it is possible to
calculate % mill fill by solving equations 2a to 2c, where

M is mass of the charge,

V is the occupied mill volume including voidage,
is the density of each component

12
 Voidage is assumed to be 0.4 as per standard figures derived through mill charge studies (Napier-
Munn, Morrell, Morrison & Kojovic, 1996). The subscripts used describe each component of the mill
charge. The slurry density inside the mill ( Slurry) is assumed to be the same as that of the discharge slurry
density measured during the site surveys.

VTotal VBall VOre (2a)

VSlurry 0.4 VTotal (2b)

M Total VOre Ore VBall Ball VSlurry Slurry
(2c)

Table 2 summarises the determination of key variables.

Table 2 – Variables and their determination

Variable Measurement/Calculation Technique

V Ball MillMapperTM output (grindout required) at survey times

M Total Calculated from the calibration equation (equation 1)

V Sluryy .
, rearranging equations 2a,b,c.

VOre × ×

VTotal VTotal VBall VOre

Finally, mill filling is calculated by the equation 3.

VTotal (3)
Mill _ Filling
VMill _ Cavity

Where V is the net internal mill volume, which is also output by MillMapperTM and
accounts for the increase in volume due to liner wear.

Figure 10 shows a comparison of the volume of the mill for new and fully worn liners. The
colour scale shows liner thickness.

New Liner Fully Worn Liner

Net Internal Mill Volume = 756.6m3 Net Internal Mill Volume = 793.4m3

13
 Figure 10 – Comparison between new and worn mill volume.

LOAD CELL CALIBRATION RESULTS AND EXPECTED BENEFITS

When calibrating the load cell readings presented in Figure 7, actual filling trends shown in red in
Figure 11 were calculated. Despite the mill load cell readings decreasing over time (blue curve), the mill
filling is increasing as the liners wear and the internal mill volume increases. The curve shows that there is
no load compensation at the mid-life when the feed-end liner is relined, leading to an immediate drop in
mill filling.

Figure 11 – comparison mill load cell readings and calibrated mill filling 32 ft. SAG CVO

14
 Note Feed End liner change out at half life

Knowledge of mill filling has many advantages which include:

Long term changes/trends such as changes in ore type and ball charge are more likely to be
identified by operators and metallurgists when tracking mill filling rather than mill load

A variable mill filling creates process variability which in turn reduces recovery. The presented
calibration mechanism allows for tighter control of this key variable

Consistent control of the mill can be achieved over the liner life by setting a mill fill set point
rather than a mill load set point. A mill load set point has to be continually changed to account for
liner wear. Without calibration the amount of change applied to the load set point is typically an
intuitive guess by the grinding metallurgist to account for liner wear

Using a mill filling set point rather than maximum power draw as the operational criterion can
result in stable throughput at a higher tonnage and lower power draw.

The use of a calibrated load cell in conjunction with grindcurves (Powell, van der Westhuizen & Mainza,
2009) should be particularly exciting to metallurgists. Grindcurves correlate throughput, product size and
power to mill filling. Figure 12 shows the grindcurve for throughput and power for this mill.

Figure 12 – Grindcurve for 32ft SAG, CVO.

Grindcurves allow metallurgists to either target a maximum throughput, a desired product size or
an optimal trade-off between the two. Having fitted grindcurves to a mill for a given ore type and liner
shape, and using a DCS which outputs mill filling rather than a load provides the plant metallurgist with
much greater direct control over and insight into the grinding process than is possible with conventional
methods.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

The presented methodology results in a comprehensive set of data collected over the liner life
using various technologies. This in turn results in a wide array of deliverables available to the site
operating personnel.

15
 These include standard outputs such as:

Ore breakage characteristics from drop weight testing

A liner wear model as produced by the MillMapperTM technology
Liner life prediction as produced by the MillMapperTM technology
Mass balancing of the circuit at four stages of the liner life

Additional higher level outcomes include

Correlation between mill performance and liner shape.

o MillMapperTM laser scanning results can be directly coupled with grinding surveys to
correlate liner shape to performance. This allows for an optimal operating window as a
function of the liner shape to be determined, including recommendations on how to
modify operating variables including ball charge, mill speed and mill filling for
maximum energy efficiency

Reline strategy for optimal mill performance

o With knowledge of an optimal liner shape a reline strategy can be recommended to best
capture the periods of increased production

Liner design recommendations

o The matching of liner shape with mill performance modelling facilitates the
determination of periods of peak performance

JKSimMet models at 4 different liner life stages based on the survey work
o By modelling the changes to the process due to wear at various stages of liner life plant
metallurgists are able to fine tune their process for current operating conditions rather
than use a one size fits all approach, or make reactive changes throughout the liner life by
intuition or feel

It is possible to add DEM Models at four different liner life stages based on the survey work and
MillMapperTM scans
o DEM Modelling can further verify the findings concluded from site survey work and
JKSimMet simulations
o Output energy spectra from DEM modelling can be correlated to the mill performance
with the aim of optimizing SAG energy consumption

It is possible to develop DEM for appropriate “What If” scenarios and liner redesign

Mass calibration of load cell to report the mill filling

o Controlling and optimizing mill filling can produce significant improvements in
production capacity and energy efficiency. This is discussed in greater detail in the
following.

Modelling for the assessment of mill performance over the life of the shell liner of the 32 ft. SAG
at CVO is scheduled for completion in time for the conference presentation.

CONCLUSIONS

The long-term response of SAG mills is dynamic in nature due to their continually changing liner
shape, mass and subsequent load motion. However, this tends to be poorly accommodated in liner design
and mill control, with only limited compensation made for this influence, usually in the first few weeks
after a new liner is installed. With ever-increasing ore competency, increasing energy costs and reducing

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ore grades, simplified design and operational approaches that compromise the achievable mill efficiency
are no longer adequate. It is envisaged that designing liners that maintain a favourable design over the
majority of the life, and by adapting mill control that is optimised to current operating conditions, operators
can achieve significant improvements in performance of the majority of mills in operation today.

An overall methodology to optimize the throughput and energy consumption through the
determination of a suitable liner design based on the use of MillMapperTM 3D shape data, well controlled
surveys and JKSimMet modelling has been presented.

As part of the process of achieving controlled liner life optimization, a method to calibrate load
cell readings to report actual mill filling rather than mill load has been described for the 32 ft. SAG mill at
CVO. This method can be applied to any other such mill provided the same data collection strategy is
followed to allow for the calculation of mill filling. The calibration is simple, derived physically, and
requires no dedicated sensors other than existing load cells. It is envisaged that the calibration equation
can be imported and applied at the DCS level to provide operations with improved control over the
grinding behaviour of their mills.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge the support and co-operation of Cadia Valley Operation in
general and Jason Robertson in particular. The help of the metallurgy team has been greatly appreciated,
as is Newcrest’s permission to publish the data. The authors would also like to extend their gratitude to the
Australian Government for their support through the Climate Ready grant scheme provided by AusIndustry.

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