1 / 21

EEO: Opportunities

EEO: Opportunities. Dr Marcin Ziemski September 2011. Challenges for the Mining Industry. Declining ore grades Increasing complexity Increased world demand Social Expectations Environmental Legislation Energy Cost/Availability Water Limitations Carbon Taxes.

tejano
Download Presentation

EEO: Opportunities

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. EEO: Opportunities Dr Marcin Ziemski September 2011

  2. Challenges for the Mining Industry Declining ore grades Increasing complexity Increased world demand • Social Expectations • Environmental Legislation • Energy Cost/Availability • Water Limitations • Carbon Taxes • Driving a significant increase in energy consumption • Mining Multi-Factored Productivity fell by 24.3% between 2001 - 2007* *Australian Government Productivity Commission (2008)

  3. Increasing Energy Consumption • Growth in mining energy consumption has • been particularly strong since 2001/02 • 9.1 per cent a year Research Report 08.15 December 2008. www.Abare.gov.au

  4. Reversing the Trend Extend approach from: Doing the same things more (energy) efficiently To: Doing things that are more energy efficient Alumina 11-15% Alumina 3-6% Iron/Steel 8-9% Iron/Steel ~15% Process changes* Technology changes* *Energetics 15% - 30%+?

  5. ‘Standard’ Energy Mitigation Approach Doing the same things more efficiently Typically energy consumption/costs reduction limited to ~10% • Standard methodology to reduce energy demand in mining operations • Step-by-step methodology includes: • Pumping systems • Motor selection/application/operating regimes • Power factor correction considerations • Energy and waste heat recycling • Alternative energy source options • Automation and control • Energy Contracts Motors Energy Mitigation Standard Methodology Pumping Energy recycling Alternative Energy

  6. ‘Standard’ Energy Mitigation Approach Doing the same things more efficiently Case study 1 – Haulage to Kurri Kurri Smelter, Hunter Valley • Monitoring of fuel usage • Engine upgrades • Revised maintenance regimes • Driver benchmarking and re-training Haulage fuel consumption reduced by ~13%

  7. ‘Standard’ Energy Mitigation Approach Doing the same things more efficiently Case study 2 – Xstrata North Queensland • Conversion of waste heat to steam at Xstrata MIM copper smelter (2009) • Reduced consumption of natural gas by 1.15 PJ • Underground Pelton Wheel hydro power generator at the Xstrata MIM copper operations (2009) • Reduced consumption of natural gas by 37,500 GJ • Solar hot water, thickener and cooling pump upgrades, boiler replacement • Reduced consumption of natural gas by another 2,000 GJ

  8. ‘Standard’ Energy Mitigation Approach Doing the same things more efficiently Case study 3 – Downer EDI Mining Commodore Mine • Haul truck analysis, benchmarking and operations • Improved haulage energy intensity by 18% between 2005-2010 Case study 4 – Rio Tinto Coal Blair Athol mine • Revised operation/control of Coal Handling and Prep Plant (CHPP) • Improved CHPP energy intensity by more than 10% (~2007)

  9. Extending Energy Mitigation Approach Doing things that are more energy efficient • Future circuits • Effective use of (alternative) transport and fragmentation technologies • In-circuit sorting/separation: Multiple waste removal points • Integrating optimisation of the whole extraction cycle • Optimising blasting, comminution and further processing in combination • Modelling the end-to-end mine site operations • Insights and new opportunities • Understanding up/down-stream effects • Optimising one stage may not improve overall operation! • Extend to off-site processes???

  10. Future/flexible circuits 98% of milled material is barren (precious and base metals) • Replace mills with alternatives where applicable (eg HPGR) • Remove waste at every opportunity before mill • XRT, colorimetric, density, magnetic, electrostatic sorting (others?) • Identify new waste removal opportunities • Dependent on deposit properties – improve orebody knowledge • Eg Blast/primary crush fragmentation size bias of grade Many of these technologies are being trialled NOW CURRENT

  11. Selective Blasting Upgrading metal content through selective higher fragmentation of high grade material: • Increase the metal content of the ore material (grade up ~20%++) • Reduce waste to be processed (30%+ reduction of waste to mill) • Blasting energy is more cost-effective than crushing and produces low GHG emissions Expected 20%++ energy reduction per ton blasted Blast Energy Distribution Size Ore Low Grade CURRENT

  12. Selective Blasting: Matching Energy Distribution to Metal Content Standard blast Selective blast

  13. Integrated (systems) analysis and optimisation Blending Mine Block Info Drill & Blast Simulator Load & Haul Model Reporting Flotation Simulator Reporting Reporting Comminution Simulator Full Reporting of: Energy, Water, Emissions and Costs.. Reporting CURRENT Reporting Summary

  14. Integrated (systems) analysis and optimisation Result: Throughput Increase of 25% and Energy Reduction of 15% PF = Blast Powder Factor TPH = Mill Throughput (t/h)

  15. Ultra-High Intensity Blasting • Concept: Use ultra-high intensity blasts (PF >>3) to reduce required comminution energy • Preliminary analysis: significant energy reduction and large throughput gains SMI is partnering with world’s leading blasting companies Feasible blast designs already prepared with PF=~4 Ultra high energy blast (PF ~4) trials expected by mid 2012

  16. Efficiency of New Projects? Minerals & Energy – Major Development Projects - April 2009 (ABARE.gov.au).

  17. Energy efficiency Opportunities Summary CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT

  18. EEO: Indicators Dr Marcin Ziemski September 2011

  19. Selecting useful energy performance Indicators • Accept that KPI’s will not always improve • Minimising reduction in good KPI is better than improving a misleading KPI • Prepare management for a dose of reality! • Leverage the available data, capture new data • Collate, analyse, compare, report, repeat • Allocate dedicated energy personnel • Key Energy Indicator: Variability • Short term (1min/10min/1hr intervals) • Medium term (shift/weekly/FIFO schedule/monthly) • Long term (seasonal/annual) • Start up/ Shut down procedure energy profiles Effect of plant instability Effect of operators/teams Effect of externalities Often overlooked

  20. Summary: energy performance indicators Compare the right KPIs Embrace weakening KPI values Start using kWh per product (as well) Look carefully at variability Allocate dedicated energy management personnel

  21. Thank youQuestions? Dr Marcin Ziemski September 2011

More Related