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Developing interdepartmental communication to improve operational performance
Dirk BaasPanAust Senior Advisor, Process Control
Introduction
• This is not a presentation on a project that set out to achieve effective inter-departmental communications
• A number of successful projects were completed in mining and the processing plant which led to effective communications
• Data from mining became useful to the processing plant and vice versa
• The communications between mining and the processing plant improved, improving the efficiency of the operation as a whole
PanAust Limited
• PanAust Limited (PNA) is an Australian incorporated copper and gold mining company with:
– Two operational mines in Lao PDR – Phu Kham Copper-Gold Operation and Ban Houayxai Gold-Silver Operation
– A world-class, large resource growth project in Papua New Guinea, the Frieda River Copper-Gold Project
– Ongoing exploration activities and interests in Southeast Asia and South America– A logistics and supply network in Vietnam and Thailand
• PNA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Guangdong Rising Assets Management (GRAM), a Chinese state-owned enterprise
– PNA was fully acquired by GRAM in mid-2015 and subsequently delisted from the ASX – GRAM had been a cornerstone investor in PNA since 2009– The acquisition was smooth and completed without interruption to the business and GRAM is
very supportive of PNA’s vision, values, and operational and growth objectives
• PNA’s Lao-registered subsidiary, Phu Bia Mining (PBM) is 90 per cent owned by PanAust and 10 per cent owned by the Government of Lao PDR
Phu Kham Copper-Gold Operation
Mining open pit• Owner-operated fleet moving 55 million tonnes
per annum using:– 53 x CAT 777D 100t trucks
– loaded by 5 primary loading units, 3 PC 3000, 2 O&K RH90 and 2 PC 2000 excavators
– Fleet of ancillary gear CAT D10T, 16M, ADT 740s, drills DM45s/L7s
• Real time fleet dispatch system from central mine and process control room
• Owner maintenance model, fleet and component rebuild facilities saving US$1 million / month
• Advanced geotechnical and hydrological services on site, including real time radar
Phu Kham Copper-Gold Operation
Copper concentrator• A nameplate capacity of 18Mtpa:
– One primary crusher– A SAG mill and two ball mills.– 15 rougher flotation cells– 2 regrind Isa Mills– A Jameson Cell– Three cleaner banks– A concentrate thickener and two filter
presses.
• The processing plant is controlled by a DCS, operated from the central mine and process control room
Inter-departmental communications
• With the current technologies available being able to get data from one part of an operation to the next is no longer an issue.
• In 2012 the real time dispatch system and processing plant operations moved to a central control room.
– This had no immediate impact on inter-departmental communications
• In 2012
– The ore delivered to the crusher did not adhere to the plan
– The manual operation of the processing plant could not be improved with mining information
Effective communications
Sender Receiver Action taken
Feed back to sender
Results analysed
What data does the processing plant need?
• The tactics for each shift in the processing plant should be determined from
– The mining shift plan, what ore will be treated
– The concentrate grade specifications, inventory and transport costs
• This can only be done if:
– Mining adhere to their plan and the ore mined is as per the geological prediction
– If the plan has to change inform the relevant parties
– Operations understands the behaviours of the various ore types and can manipulate the plant to suit
Mining improvements achieved
• Improved utilisation of the equipment
– CAT 5 star workshop accreditation– Staged shift change over– Reduced the number of blasts and
refuels during blasting
• Improved geological and geotechnical understanding of the pit
– Geological, geotechnical and hydrogeological
• Improved the adherence to the Phu Kham mine plan
– Spatial compliance reviewed monthly
Production Management System
The Production Management System includes four key components that support the attainment of the system’s purpose, including:
– Standards,– Documentation of standardised
practices (developed off the standards),
– Continuous improvement (PERI) cycle and
– Auditing for system sustainability (and benchmarking).
Strategy, Targets
Stages/Polygons/ Dumps
Block Model
Equipment, Plant
Operational constraints
Minesched Scenarios
Draft Plan
Alternative Plan
Scoping Meeting Final Plan Commitment
MeetingApproved
Plan
Routine Analysis &
Review
Everyone is involved Everyone reviews Everyone commits
PBM mine scheduling process
Plan review, plan compliance
Consistent week-on-week improvement in spatial compliance demonstrates improved planning and execution of the plan
Better plan compliance = better forecast (since plans are done with projected starting faces)
2015 2016
Before PMS Routine spatial compliance to plan checks implemented (PMS)
target compliance
Processing plant improvements achieved
• Improved throughput, recovery and grade of the processing plant through automation and metallurgical understanding of the ore being treated
– SAG mill and grinding circuit automation 2012 – 2013
– Rougher automation 2013 – 2015• Using froth analysers and the on
stream analyser grades
• Built an understanding of the behaviour of the ore being treated
• Cleaner 1, 2, 3 automation 2015 – present
– Airflow and froth depth profiles adjusted to suit the grade
Advantages of automation
• Automation reduces variation
• The obvious improvements realised by reduced variation are:
– Improved recovery and grades– Allowing the process to run
closer to its constraints
• The understated benefit is:
– The accuracy of determining the behaviour of the plant under specific conditions is improved and requires less sample points
Rougher stability improvement
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
800 950 1100 1250 1400 1550 1700
Freq
uenc
y
Regrind Cyclone Feed Rate (m3/h)
BeforeAfter
Understanding the plant
• The impact clay has on the roughers was identified
• Oxidised ore reduces recovery and can be identified by increased lime consumption
• The reduced process noise passed down to the cleaners led to the automation of the cleaners
– Results of metallurgical test work identified the best airflow and level profiles for various conditions
– A control model was built around these results
Recovery test work
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Roug
her C
oppe
r Rec
over
y (%
)
Rougher Mass Recovery (% of Rougher Feed)Average Ore Chalcocite Transition Very High Pyrite High Pyrite
Chalcocite Desseminated Chalcocite - Chalcopyrite Chalcopyrite Disseminated Chalcopyrite Primary
Original
Design
IRP
Design
250 tph 500 tph - 1500m³/h
A shift mining plane
Applying the information
Applying the information
• The expected grades and recoveries• The expected impact on the plant• The appropriate response if any• The probable time frames the ore types can
be expected
The daily processing plant shift meetings now discuss the ore
types expected during the shift
• The ore being treated and the current inventory in the shed and at the port
• A higher concentrate grade costs less to transport per tonne of copper
The final concentrate grade target is now
determined by:
Feedback to close the loop
Feedback to close the loop
The ore delivery does not always perform as planned
• Geological information• Deleterious material
The processing plant needs to provide feedback on how the ore received on
the day behaved
• A deviation from an expected result must be acted on immediately
• Improving the understanding of the ore body increases the value that can be extracted from it
Conclusion
Effective communication between mining the processing plant and the port improves the performance of the operation
The data needs to be accurate The user of the data must be able to realise
a benefit from the data Feedback must be provided on both good
and bad data