Molycop’s processing optimisation services are improving mining operations on a global scale.
In early April, gold prices hit $US2400 per ounce for the first time ever while copper also recently hit an all-time high of over $US11,000/tonne.
And this metals frenzy doesn’t appear to be slowing down, which is good news for Molycop, a company with a customer base comprising mostly of gold and copper miners.
“Right now, things are going well in the gold industry from a price perspective,” Molycop commercial vice president Australasia Pieter Strobos told Australian Mining. “Miners need to take advantage of the situation by maximising production.
Take Resolute Mining, which operates the Mako gold mine in Senegal, where a combination of Molycop and Orway IQ’s technologies and expertise delivered a 25 per cent reduction in planned downtime.
This has resulted in significant benefits to Resolute’s bottom line.
“Molycop has the technology, skills and expertise to help mining companies boost production by increasing throughput and recovery, while also reducing wastage of energy and reagents,” Strobos said.
As one of the world’s most well-known and trusted mining commodity and technology suppliers, with a particular reputation in the copper and gold mining industries, Molycop is helping companies improve their throughput, recovery and efficiency through its process optimisation technology and services.
“We do this through advanced instrumentation, advanced process control, process modelling and digital twin technology,” Strobos said.
Molycop has more than 100 years of history in the mining industry, with some client relationships spanning several decades, highlighting the company’s enduring commitment to its mining partnerships.
“It’s difficult for mining companies to run their plants optimally, considering they are literally digging rocks out of the ground,” Strobos said. “Mining is variable in nature, and ore doesn’t come out of the ground based on a pre-determined recipe.”
“Plants are invariably subjected to wear and tear and maintenance issues. A lot of these plants are also very remote, and it can be difficult to get skilled personnel out to these sites.”
“By having Molycop as a partner, mining companies are provided with a range of digital tools and services that help overcome these problems and achieve greater efficiency. A lot of the digital solutions Molycop offers can be partially deployed online reducing the need for global travel to remote sites.”
In 2022, Molycop acquired Process IQ, a mining technology company providing a suite of proprietary data analytics and visualisation, instrumentation, and advanced process control solutions.
Image: Molycop
This acquisition also saw Molycop partner with Orway Mineral Consultants, a subsidiary of Lycopodium. Through this union a new revolutionary process optimisation technology, MillROC, was developed. MillROC brings the power of people and the latest technology together to deliver a step change in productivity.
Orway IQ chief executive officer Marnu Lombaard said the acquisition has combined a wide range of technologies and disciplines into a single product solution.
“What’s exciting is we have brought together a great deal of expertise to assist our clients in the mineral processing industry to solve their problems in-house,” Lombaard told Australian Mining.
Molycop further contributes to these online solutions by integrating the latest measurement and process control technologies, for example MillSlicer, which uses vibration and machine vision technology.
This is supported by Molycop’s consulting and coaching services, which see the company gather real-time customer plant data and interpret it to facilitate continual improvement in production by applying a disciplined process to eliminate bottlenecks.
Within this, MillROC (Mill Remote Optimisation Consulting and Coaching) is an expert-supported data platform that remotely monitors and models circuits and mineral processing plants while closing the loop through consulting and coaching in real-time.
MillROC provides live performance data and features focus applications to offer deeper insight into what operators can immediately do to address specific problems that may, for example, be constraining throughput.
The solution can also identify opportunities for improvement, giving supervisors the chance to train or upskill their workforce.
MillROC is supported by remote real-time assistance from mineral processing consultants who can view the circuit’s live performance dashboards and provide immediate advice and coaching.
Built on the VIP platform, MillROC is equipped with features such as enterprise-wide data integration and reporting, storage for operational data, intuitive dashboards, graphs and key performance indicators (KPIs). This is truly turning data into information and actionable insights.
“I see MillROC as the platform where all the solutions we offer can be effectively implemented because it also includes the human factor,” Lombaard said.
“MillROC requires the client to onboard their data into our VIP cloud-based data analytics platform, which enables a consultant to engage with the remote team as if they are part of the team. In turn, they become a resource.
“We then use advanced data analytics and the digital twin principle of measuring performance to effectively create positive change within the operation guided by subject matter experts.”
Typically, after the first few months of MillROC being installed on a site, Molycop will install MillROC Focus, a program that continues the platform’s performance and principles by providing continuous circuit performance benchmarking and suggests optimisation actions.
“Most site teams are empowered to run the optimisation platform and process themselves so there’s minimal need for higher engagement levels from the consultant,” Lombaard said.
“It is also a store of critical process knowledge for the site, and a way to sustain performance during inevitable personnel changes.”
Data and analytics are also a significant part of Molycop’s process optimisation services portfolio.
“Data can be integrated from various places, but one of the main sources of data we deal with is what we call ‘time series data’, which is data generated by machines over time,” Strobos said. “We use that information to carry out data analytics, and then we develop KPIs, models and optimisation strategies.
“We not only develop more advanced ways of visualising mineral processing plants but also utilise artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to control the plant.
“The control systems on most plants are based on historical data, so they’re controlled based on what’s happened in the past. Molycop uses models that predict the future based on process dynamics as well as ore characteristics. These models provide a much more robust basis for process control.”
After Molycop deployed a full milling optimisation solution at the Mako mine in Senegal, Resolute referred to the project in their December 2021 annual report.
The company revealed that ore mined at the Mako gold mine increased by seven per cent to 781,000 tonnes – up from 730,307 tonnes in the September 2021 quarter.
Resolute credited this increase in productivity to Molycop’s MillSlicer VIP, which in Resolute’s case combined MillSlicer with the VIP platform. MillROC and advanced process control solution MillStar were also deployed at the mine.
MillSlicer consists of vibration sensors mounted on the mill shell that measure angular impact intensity, maximum impact angle and centroid of the impacts.
When combined with the VIP platform, MillSlicer VIP improves the throughput and efficiency of semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) and autogenous mills by measuring volume, steel charge per cent, toe angle and liner impacts.
The solution features more accurate and precise mill fill level measurements, helping to enable better mill feed control.
More than 12 months after the initial project was commissioned by Molycop, Resolute said in its December 2022 quarterly report: “As a result of the MillSlicer software that was installed in late 2021, planned downtime for the SAG mill relines has reduced 25 per cent on an annual basis.”
Strobos said a mining company will typically spend $10–15 million on a site shutdown. This translates to thousands of tonnes of lost production.
“If you can reduce your shutdowns from four to three per year, which is essentially what Resolute Mining did, it means productivity will be greatly improved,” Strobos said. “It also means you have to replace one less set of liners which in itself can be a very significant expense.”
A mining company in Resolute’s situation has the potential to save up to $US4 million per annum related to mill relining cost and downtime alone using Molycop’s solutions.
Molycop isn’t just focused on the latest mineral processing technology, but rather building a close working relationship with its clients so they get the most out of their plants.
“We see the project through and help our clients implement recommendations, so value goes to the bottom line,” Lombaard said.
“Mining is essential to the world’s development and is key to achieving a net-zero future, and our purpose is to not only make the mining industry more sustainable and efficient, but also make it a more interesting and rewarding part of the global landscape for generations to come.”
This feature appeared in the July 2024 issue of Australian Mining.
