On August 23 in the seaside city of Antofagasta, Chile, Molycop held the “Molycop Milling Optimisation Seminar”. The seminar attracted more than 60 mining engineers from the major mining companies in the northern region of Chile.
According to Marcelo Lorca, Commercial Manager of Molycop Chile, “The idea was to organize a forum with our key clients to demonstrate and share best practice in mineral processing and discuss the latest trends in the industry and emerging technologies”.
One of the presenters at the seminar was the Senior Metallurgist of Minera Los Pelambres, Pablo Bustos, who shared his experience in relation to the level of ball filling in SAG mills. For Mr Bustos, the primary importance of attending these seminars is “Related to the ability to interact with other organisations, to understand their experiences and different operating conditions. In terms of grinding, Molycop has vast experience in supporting such operations, so there is always something new to see”.
The seminar covered broad mining themes, the incorporation of new processing technologies, process design, comminution, flotation, geometallurgical models and SAG mill load level measurement technologies. According to Rodrigo Barrera, Senior Metallurgist from Minera Candelaria, the main value of these seminars was the opportunity to share their experiences with peers “we know that grinding media are one of the most expensive inputs to produce ore, so we must be at the vanguard to the different scenarios that we face today.” For Andrés Jorquera, Process Engineer from CAP, “we want to start communicating and sharing knowledge and this event is a great opportunity to do so”.
Luis Castro, Superintendent of operations at Minera Las Cenizas, explains that “as a mid tier mining company we are constantly searching for ways to optimize our operations and deliver improvements. These seminars show us provide us with an insight into new ideas that may be feasible to implement in our operations”. For Mr Castro it was also interesting that the seminar included presentations on the latest innovation and technology, because “today we live in a different world from the one we had five years ago, which requires us to think differently to address similar problems”.
Marcello Lorca explains that “We wanted to include an innovation-oriented approach, something a little different from the traditional format of such seminars. We believe that innovation within our industry is a critical issue to discuss. The Molycop Milling Optimisation Seminar offered the opportunity for our customers to learn about each others’ experiences, develop new industry contacts and understand the challenges faced by the mining industry with regards to innovation and resource optimization.”
