SAG Mill Control

Primary grinding consumes a significant percentage of plant operating costs

It has a significant impact on the performance of downstream process, such as flotation.

Effective SAG mill control will maximise throughput, minimise damage to mill internals (liners and lifters) and contribute significantly to achieving maximum recovery in flotation. Well designed and implemented SAG control will payback in weeks not years. SAG mill control is essentially the stabilisation of mill load (and/or power) and density which can be implemented successfully and very cost-effectively on most modern PLC or DCS platforms.

The application of advanced regulatory control is a MIPAC speciality which we have applied productively in SAG milling and other mineral beneficiation processes.

Download MIPAC SAG Mill Control Application Note
Request a copy of the conference paper: "‘Evolution of Semi-Autogenous Grinding Mill Control at Century Zinc’" by A.Thornton, A.Prinsloo, & R.Tewu

Related Projects

MMG Century Mine: SAG Mill Stabilising Control Century Mine, Queensland Foxboro I/A

01-Jun-2007 |  The Century Zinc SAG mill has been the recipient of two major advanced control projects since its commissioning in 1999. Over time both systems had failed to meet the needs of the mill and operating staff lost confidence, preferring to operate the mill semi-automatically.

NorthParkes: Grinding & Flotation Optimisation Parkes, NSW, Australia Schneider PLC, Citect HMI

03-Jan-2005 |  Improve the stability of the grinding (SAG / Ball Mills) and flotation plant (conventional and Jameson cells), through improved instrumentation and control strategies

Xstrata Zinc: SAG Mill Power / Load Control Mount Isa, Australia Yokogawa CS3000 DCS

01-Oct-2007 |  The new SAG mill at Xstrata’s Zinc/Lead Concentrator had not been performing to expectation. The mill was operating below design power (2100kW), and at lower rock loads – leading to reduced throughput and a shorter liner service life.