Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr
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90 E&MJ; • SEPTEMBER 2017 www.e-mj.com PROCESSING SOLUTIONS water testing equipment and analytical in- struments for site-based testing globally. The blog post described a case study in which Hatch recently completed a high-throughput testing study to evaluate and compare several coagulants and fl oc- culants, and combinations thereof, against the chemical recipe used at an existing tailings reclaim water treatment plant in Ontario. The testing program was devel- oped to screen the performance of a wide range of chemicals at various dosages due to the limited data that was available for treating this particular reclaim water. Employing a high-throughput testing method, 425 distinct tests using various chemicals at different dosages were con- ducted in three days. The results of this study were used to guide larger volume tests conducted at the mine site and to evaluate treated water toxicity. The testing demon- strated that more conventional chemicals could be used at reasonable doses, and that switching to the new recipe would result in signifi cant annual operating cost savings. Biederman concludes that, while not guaranteed to have the same re- sults at other sites, this high-throughput bench-testing method could be used at existing plants to quickly confi rm whether dosing levels are optimal, and to poten- tially lower costs. Web-based Modeling to Improve Ball Mill Performance Metcom Technologies recently launched the Streamline ball mill circuit modeling system, described as the fi rst-ever web- based application which uses Functional Performance Analysis to carry out circuit performance improvements. Metcom's chief metallurgist, Robert McIvor, said, "This system has been spe- cifi cally developed to empower the plant metallurgist and others working with ball mill circuits to make circuit modifi cations and realize valuable performance gains." According to Metcom, the application uses plant survey data to construct an easy-to-understand, effective ball mill model represented by cumulative grind- ing rates. Cyclone performance is mod- elled by classical size by size recoveries to underfl ow. This two-unit circuit model, says Metcom, perfectly replicates the circuit survey size distributions and mass fl ows. Pump and cyclone performances can then be adjusted using the provided step- by-step procedures to maximize Classifi - cation System Effi ciency (CSE). Energy savings, increased tonnage, and/or fi ner grinds can then be quantifi ed. Additional information about Streamline can be ac- cessed at www.metcomtech.com. Metcom TechnologiesÕ Streamline system uses plant survey data to construct an easy-to-understand, effective ball mill model represented by cumulative grinding rates.