The Use of Comminution Testwork Results in SAG Mill Design

M Millard1
1. FAusIMM, Process Manager – Mineral Processing, Worley Chemicals and Minerals,
Level 16, QVI 250 St Georges Terrace, Perth WA 6000. E-mail:
Martin.Millard@worley.com.au

ABSTRACT

The relationship between comminution testwork results and the milling circuit that is
subsequently selected is not a direct one and frequently involves recourse to databases of past
test results. This in itself reflects the lack of a systematic engineering approach in the design
process. This paper reviews comminution tests for SAG mill design in an attempt to identify
where the essential information comes from that will be used in mill selection. The
conclusion is that results from traditional test methods, including obscure and little used
procedures like the Mokken test, are more valuable from an engineering perspective than
parameters for breakage rate based modelling. Suggestions are made on ways in which
existing test procedures can be enhanced in order to generate parameters that can be directly
related to characteristics of the milling circuit being designed.

INTRODUCTION

This paper is an attempt to review testwork procedures that are currently used, comment on
their relevance to the sizing of SAG mills and consider how the results might be presented in
a manner that is more comprehensible and auditable by industry professionals.

When reviewing a consultant’s report collating testwork results and proposing a mill design,
one does not have to ask many questions about the origin of certain figures used or the
rationale behind the conclusions drawn before one is confronted with the response that a
particular feature of the report is based on information from the consultant’s in-house
database.

This gives cause for concern on two counts. Firstly it implies that there is no definitive
methodology or established engineering procedure which has been utilised in the sizing of the
mill, although this might equally be construed as the consultant’s desire to perpetuate the
impression that the sizing of SAG mills is a black art which can only be entrusted to a limited
number of well paid entities. Secondly it poses the question as to whether the experimental
results that have been generated have any meaning as engineering parameters in their own
right or whether they are just a consequence of a standard test procedure that only has
relevance with respect to a database of similarly determined information and may not perhaps
be the best way of testing the SAG milling amenability of a particular material.

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 56
 BOND WORK INDICES

The test methods outlined by Bond (1961) for crushing, rod and ball mill indices and the
calculation procedures for determination of the power requirements for those items of
equipment in comminution circuits still form a fundamental part of comminution circuit
design.

The Bond procedures constitute an empirical methodology based on Bond’s theory of

comminution which states that comminution power is proportional to the inverse square root
of the particle size.

The well known diagram by Hukki (1961) and reproduced here from a JKMRC (1999)
publication as Figure 1 indicates a range for close validity for the Bond theory from about
200 µm to 10 mm. It should also be noted that the Bond theory specifically refers to impact
breakage and with the indicated validity up to 10 mm has difficulty in covering the coarser
feed sizes and significant abrasion breakage associated with SAG milling.

Figure 1. Ranges of validity of comminution theories.

Barratt (1979) proposed an equation to estimate the specific power required for SAG milling
purely from Bond crushing, rod and ball indices. This equation effectively states that for a
two stage SAG/ball circuit, the specific power for SAG milling is 1.25 times the theoretical
Bond power to reduce the feed to 80 per cent passing 110 µm minus the theoretical Bond
power to reduce the SAG discharge to the final product size.

This effectively means that if one regards the power associated with SAG milling as a
combination of impact breakage, which is the power defined by the Bond theory, and
abrasion breakage then the magnitude of the power required for abrasion breakage will be
0.25 times the theoretical Bond power to reduce the feed to 110 µm.

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 57
Consequently it can be seen that although the Barratt equation provides a method to estimate
SAG specific power requirements directly from Bond indices, and gives a valuable empirical
estimate of this power and serves as a reality check for it, it is likely to have significant errors
for ores where the abrasion component of the power consumption is unusually high or low.

DROP WEIGHT TESTING AND BREAKAGE MODELS

The drop weight test that is commonly used in comminution testing today has been developed
at JKMRC and is described by Napier-Munn et al (1999) although the exact methodology of
the test is still evolving and is subject to occasional change. The test evaluates the breakage
of particles in the size range 12 – 70 mm. It consequently just covers the size range in which
critical size build up is likely to occur and extrapolation is necessary in order to predict the
behaviour of the coarser rocks that are found in a typical SAG mill feed.

The drop weight tests evaluate impact breakage at three specific comminution energies (Ecs)
namely 0.25, 1.0 and 2.5 kWh/t. It is useful to do some approximate calculations to visualise
what these energies are equivalent to. Considering the lowest Ecs value of 0.25 kWh/t and
applying this to a spherical, 100 mm diameter rock which will have a weight of 1.47 kg at an
ore SG of 2.8 will result in an impact energy of 1320 j(joules). The impact energy of a
100 mm grinding ball in a 5m diameter mill rotating at 75 per cent of the critical speed is in
the region of 133j. Evidently an Ecs of 0.25 kWh/t is around an order of magnitude above the
impact energy that will be experienced by the coarser ore particles in a typical SAG mill and
that an Ecs of 2.5 kWh/t will be a further order of magnitude above that. A matrix of typical
impact energies at different mill diameters and ball sizes is given in a later section of this
paper dealing with that subject.

It can consequently be seen that specific comminution energies of the magnitude used in the
drop weight test will only be experienced, in typical SAG milling applications, by relatively
small particles when impacted by a ball or large rock. Drop weight testing will therefore
provide information on the breakage of the smaller particles in a mill but reveal very little
about the energy that is required to just break material in the upper critical size range and
above. It is this latter characteristic that will determine whether or not coarser ore material is
broken or persists in the mill charge which is the issue critical to assessing the practicality
and viability of SAG milling.

The drop weight tests provide two appearance functions A and b. These are related to the t10
and Ecs by the relationship given by Napier-Munn et al (1999):

t10 = A(1-e-bEcs)

An assumption intrinsic in software models based on this relationship is that A and b are
constant across the whole range of size fractions in a mill. Regrettably this is not the case as
has been demonstrated on a number of occasions including by Yun Tai Man (1997) from
which Figure 2 has been taken.

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 58
 Figure 2. Variation of the Ab product with particle size.

The Ab product is frequently taken as an indication of impact hardness and it can be seen
from Figure 2 that it is not constant and shows very appreciable variation over the size range
tested. The data for Figure 2 was determined on a basalt from Mount Morrow which would
not be expected to have any particularly untypical change in hardness characteristics over the
size range tested.

A basic assumption of the software used to model SAG mills is that the ore specific
characteristics, the appearance functions, are distinct and separable from the machine specific
characteristics as defined by the breakage rates, discharge functions and the like. The fitting
of experimental data using software that assumes constant appearance functions will result in
the software distorting the breakages rates to compensate for the variation in appearance
functions with size. This will destroy the concepts of portability of machine characteristics
and independence of these from the ore characteristics.

Figure 2 shows the expected tendency of decreasing ore hardness (increasing Ab product)
with increasing particle size. This goes a long way to explaining why models assuming
constant appearance functions are often optimistic in predicting the consequences of reducing
the mill feed size as it can be seen that removing the coarser components will lower the
aggregate Ab product of the mill feed.

The final appearance function determined as part of the drop weight test suite is the abrasion
parameter ta. This is determined by tumbling 3 kg of –55 +38 mm rocks in a 305 mm x
305 mm mill for ten minutes. ta is defined as t10/10 where t10 is defined as the percent passing
one tenth of the average feed size (45.7 mm). There appears to be limited published
information on scale up of the abrasion process. It would be interesting to see the justification
of how the results from such a rudimentary test can be extrapolated to behaviour in a mill 30
times the diameter of the test mill published in a technical paper.

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 59
Setting aside the abrasion aspects of SAG mill simulation for the moment, it appears that
appearance functions derived from drop weight tests are of limited use in isolation in the
SAG mill design process and only tend to have any real value when performed as part of a
full pilot milling program. Even under those circumstances, the inability to properly isolate
machine functions from ore characteristics make mill specification based solely on breakage
modelling a hazardous process.

To illustrate that appearance function information by itself may be misleading, it is

interesting to compare the data from two ore types from the Kagara zinc deposit in North
Queensland (2000) and the Lone Star Gold deposit of First Quantum Minerals (1999) in
Zimbabwe. The appearance functions for these three samples are given in Table 1 and from
this information it might be reasonable to assume that these ores will behave similarly.

Table 1. Comparative drop weight test results.

Sample A B ta
GTD 54 (Kagara Zinc) 80 0.51 0.22
GTD 57 (Kagara Zinc) 80 0.53 0.27
Lone Star 80 0.47 0.23

To get a better appreciation for the SAG milling characteristics of the different ores it may be
instructive to look at some impact work index determinations from the two projects.

Figure 3 gives plots for the Kagara Zinc ore types which indicate impact work indices
determined on autogenous media competency test survivors for which the 85th percentile
values are plotted. The preparation of the sample material will therefore have biased the
results towards the high side compared to the Lone Star tests which were conducted as
crushing work index tests on hand gathered rock samples. Again 85th percentile values are
used. Comparable results from impact tests on autogenous media competency test survivors
from Three Mile Hill ore are included as a reference point.

It can be seen that the SAG/ball mill circuit proposed for Kagara Zinc has every chance of
success while the use of SAG milling at Lone Star would be unlikely to be power efficient.

It should also be pointed out that breakage based prediction of SAG mill performance
becomes particularly difficult for bi-modal ore mineralisation. Currently it is not possible to
meaningfully combine appearance functions for two (or more) components to permit the
performance of a mixed mill feed to be projected.

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 60
 90.0

80.0

70.0 Three Mile Hill

Kagara GTD 57

60.0
Impact Work Index (kWh/t)

Kagara GTD 54

Lone Star 15627

50.0
Lone Star 15628

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0
21.8 30.8 44.0 62.3 88.0
Size Class (mm)

Figure 3. Comparative impact indices.

AUTOGENOUS MEDIA COMPETENCY TESTS

The autogenous media competency test was first developed by Allis Chalmers and was
described by Rowland (1964). This procedure involved the tumbling of ten rocks in each of
five size distributions from –165 to +102 mm in a 1.83 m diameter x 0.305 m batch mill. The
test has since been expanded principally under the guidance of Orway Mineral Consultants as
the ‘Advanced Media Competency Test’ (AMCT) to include impact, rod and ball indices on
the survivors, an abrasion index determination and UCS testing.

The autogenous media competency test only has meaning with respect to a database of
similar results and although parameters such as power are measured during the course of a
test little use is made of them in the final analysis. The following criteria are typically
examined in assessing the results of a competency test:

• The number of +100 mm survivor rocks – an ore that will produce good quality media
will produce at least 15 +100 mm lumps constituting at least 15 per cent of the charge
• The amount of critical size build up – if more than 25 per cent of the tumbled charge
is in the +25 –100 mm size range, the material is considered prone to a critical size
build up. A lower critical size range of +12 –50 mm is also sometimes considered.
• The tendency to generate fines – if the –6 mm fraction is less than 35 per cent of the
tumbled charge weight then the ore is considered to be too hard for power-efficient
fully autogenous milling
• General interpretation of the overall charge size distribution curve with respect to a
database of other results

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 61
Some organisations also calculate proprietary ‘Autogenous Media Indices’ which have
meaning only to themselves.

One of the difficulties with this sort of interpretation is that it is independent of the
commercial operation mill diameter and therefore the impact energy regime that will exist in
the proposed mill. To be truly meaningful a database will need to not only identify a similar
material type for comparison but also one which is being processed in a mill of similar
diameter with similar grinding media size to that proposed for the ore under examination. The
chance of any database being sufficiently comprehensive to match all these criteria on a
consistent basis is improbable. The report received from a consultant using these techniques
will also seldom identify which specific operations are being used as the reference points in a
particular case so it is difficult to gauge whether the database is providing a close parallel or
only a rough correspondence.

It should also be noted that although these databases frequently comprise a large number of
test results, it is only those where a plant has been built or the ore is being processed that have
any real value.

One of the common extensions of the autogenous media competency test is the determination
of impact indices on various size ranges of the survivors. A typical graph of this type was
used to depict the comparative results for the Kagara Zinc and Three Mile Hill impact indices
in Figure 3. A further graph giving a greater variety of impact index results is given in
Figure 4.

80

70

60
Impact Work Index (kWh/t)

50

40

30

20

10

0
22.0 31.5 44.5 63.5 89.0
Size Class (m m)

Figure 4. A variety of impact index results.

There is a fundamental problem with these graphs that casts doubt on the validity of the
impact work index as a measure of hardness in that a large number of the graphs indicate that
impact work index increases with particle size. It is not possible for rock to get harder on a
specific energy basis as it gets coarser. This implies that defects are eliminated at larger sizes
which is plainly not possible. It is only possible to reduce defect densities by breaking rock

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 62
along planes of weakness in the size reduction process and consequently rock must become
more resistant to breakage as the particle size decreases. Reference to Figure 1 indicates the
trend towards increasing specific breakage energy with decreasing size but also that the size
range under consideration is reaching the upper limit for validity of the Bond theory of
comminution.

It is therefore to be expected that there may be anomalous trends in work index values in this
region (22 – 90 mm) and this poses the question as to whether there is an alternative way of
representing the breakage energies which will allow them to be evaluated in absolute terms
rather than purely with reference to a database.

The Bond impact work index is determined by mounting a rock between two opposing equal
30 lb weights which swing on wheels. When the wheels are released the weights strike
simultaneously on opposite sides of the measured smallest dimension of the rock. The height
of the fall is increased until the rock breaks. The work index is then found by dividing the
impact energy per unit width of rock by the specific gravity and multiplying by a constant.

It can be seen that this relationship is highly empirical and is not dimensionally correct for a
work index. However during the course of the test the impact energy has been measured and
furthermore that this is the impact energy to just break the rock which can therefore be related
to impact energies associated with media survival in a mill.

0.16

0.14

0.12

-101+76mm
-76+51mm
0.1
-51+38mm
Ecs kWh/t

-38+25mm
0.08 -25+19mm

0.06

0.04

0.02

0
10 100 1000 10000
Weight g

Figure 5. Specific energies from impact testing of a Wiluna ore.

Weighing the rock prior to breakage in an impact test is a very minor imposition but will then
allow a specific energy to be calculated. Amdel Limited modified their standard procedure to
include weighing the rock survivors being subjected to impact tests following autogenous
media competency testing of an ore sample from Wiluna (2000) resulting in the specific
energy results presented in Figure 5.

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 63
This data now displays the expected trend of decreasing specific energy with increasing rock
size. This information can also be presented as the impact energies for each size fraction and
this is given in Figure 6. With the information in this form, it is now possible to compare the
required breakage energies with the impact energies of balls of various sizes in a grinding
mill. It is also possible to postulate a point where the energy of impact of the rock equals the
energy required to break the rock and it will fracture under its own impact. However, this
point is usually at a size significantly larger than the range tested so that the extrapolation will
be unreliable.

Although the Bond impact work index has relevance in the design and specification of
crushing circuits, it has much more limited significance with respect to SAG milling.

250

Minimum
Average
Maximum
200
65mm ball
80mm ball
100mm ball

150
Impact Energy J

100

50

0
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Particle Size mm

Figure 6. Impact energies required for breakage of a Wiluna ore.

The ball impact energies given in Figure 6 assume a 5 m diameter mill at 75 per cent of its
critical speed. Bearing in mind that the impact resistance of autogenous media competency
survivors will be biased on the high side relative to the ore as a whole, and if the upper limit
of critical size is considered to be 70 mm, then it can be seen for this ore in a 5 m diameter
mill that a 100 mm ball size should be sufficient to prevent a critical size build up. It would
also allow for the addition of 125 mm balls with an impact energy of 280 j should the ore
prove to be harder than anticipated.

BALL IMPACT ENERGIES

In order to give meaning to the impact energies required for breakage it is necessary to be
able to calculate ball impact energies for various mill configurations. The energies used in
Figure 6 were calculated from software provided by Metso Minerals which calculates single
ball trajectories given different mill sizes, speeds and liner configurations. Calculations have

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 64
also been carried out assuming a simple single particle parabolic trajectory and the results of
these are given in Figure 7.

Although it is possible to argue the benefits and deficiencies of each approach, they are only
intended here to provide a qualitative approximation to maximum impact energies. In Figure
7 both indicate that impact energies will peak in the region of 73 - 76 per cent of critical. On
this basis the concept of allowing variable speed SAG mills to reach speeds in the region of
85 per cent of critical in order to alleviate critical size build up is unlikely to be effective as
impact energies will decrease in the speed range from 75 to 85 per cent.

185 1600

175 Smooth Shell Parabolic Trajectory

1500

165
1400

155
1300
Impact Energy Joules

145

Mill Power kW
1200

135

1100
125

Metso Calculated Trajectory 1000

115
Mill Power
900
105

95 800

85 700
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95
Mill Speed % Critical

Figure 7. Ball impact energies at different mill speeds.

One can therefore expect mills running at high speeds to be pebble generators which may be
desirable if secondary pebble milling is being considered.

A matrix of impact energies for different ball sizes in mills of varying diameter is given in
Table 2 to illustrate the significance of these two parameters. To a first approximation, impact
energies can be considered to adhere to the following two rules of thumb:

• impact energy doubles in changing to the next larger ball size; and
• impact energy is roughly proportional to mill diameter.

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 65
 Table 2. Typical impact energies for different mill diameters and ball sizes assuming a
mill speed of 75 per cent of critical.

Mill diameter (m) 3 4.5 6 7.5 9

Ball Size (mm)
50 10 15 20 25 29
65 22 33 44 55 64
80 42 63 82 101 119
100 79 120 158 194 233
125 156 236 304 375 450

MACPHERSON, MINNOVEX TEST METHODS

MacPherson
The standard procedure for the MacPherson test (A.R. MacPherson Consultants (2002))
involves the use of an 18 inch dry mill running in continuous operation. The mill speed is 83
per cent of critical with a maximum ball size of 65 mm and a feed size of 100 per cent
passing 32 mm.

The impact energy of the largest ball size in this mill on a 25 mm particle will be in the
region of 0.04 kWh/t. Figure 5 indicates that if this Wiluna ore were subjected to the
MacPherson test then very little of the top size in the mill will be broken by impact and will
have to be reduced by abrasion. Transferring the proportion of material being broken at
25 mm in Figure 5 to Figure 6, it can be seen that the impact regime is not dissimilar to that
for 90 mm material in a 5 m diameter mill running at 75 per cent critical with 100 mm balls.

It can therefore be seen that the impact regime in the MacPherson mill is similar to typical
full scale mills but that there is no mechanism in the interpretation of the MacPherson data
that specifically adjusts for the size of mill that is being considered for the full scale
operation. Without knowing the full scale mill diameter and how the hardness of an ore
changes with size, it is not possible to check that the energy environment in the MacPherson
mill is relevant to the operation being planned.

Reference to Figure 2 indicates that the size range treated in the mill will be more impact
resistant than for a full scale mill and consequently the results from MacPherson tests will be
intrinsically conservative.

MinnovEX
The MinnovEX test method for SAG mill specification has been described by Kosick et al
(1999). This procedure uses a feed material that is 80 per cent –12 mm in a mill 305 mm in
diameter. Regrettably the paper does not specify the size of grinding media used and
consequently the calculation of impact energy that was used in assessing the MacPherson test
has not been applied.

Given the feed size is even smaller than that for the MacPherson test, the conservatism that
will be associated with testing ores with increasing hardness with decreasing size (which will
always be the case to a greater or lesser extent) will be even more pronounced. It is therefore
difficult to see this test being of significant use for green field project mill sizing. It is
however believed that this test is being principally promoted by its developers as a

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 66
mechanism to comparatively test fluctuations in feed characteristics to an existing mill which
would seem to be considerably more appropriate.

MOKKEN TESTS

The Mokken AG/SAG testing procedure is carried out in a 1 m diameter x 0.6 m batch mill
using a wet locked-cycle procedure not dissimilar to those applied for the Bond milling
indices. Figure 8 is a photograph of a Mokken test mill at a Perth laboratory.

According to the test procedure (IML, 2001) the mill is initially charged with primary
crushed ore and then run for a set time. The mill charge is then screened, the product size
material removed and more new feed added and the process repeated until equilibrium is
reached.

Test runs can be carried out at different mill speeds, ball charge levels, product sizes and with
pebble crushing if required. Skin loss rates can also be carried out on selected rocks in the ore
charge during the course of the tests.

A sample size of about 1t is required for each test run and consequently the amount of sample
material required and the cost is considerably lower than for running a continuous pilot plant.

Figure 8. A Mokken test mill.

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 67
The Mokken test has the advantages of:
• producing an equilibrium SAG mill charge;
• highly flexible milling conditions and configurations;
• moderate sample requirements;
• low cost per run;
• ability to handle bi-modal mineralisation; and
• use of relatively coarse rock sizes.

It is suggested that the Mokken test could be further enhanced by carrying out impact energy
determinations on material from the equilibrated charge. This would permit at least a
qualitative projection as to whether material that has survived in the relatively low impact
energy regime of the small diameter mill would be likely to persist in the higher energy
environment of the full scale mill.

It is also possible to split the energy determined for the Mokken test into an impact breakage
component calculated from the Bond indices and an abrasion energy component calculated
by difference and make projections as to how these components will change in a larger
diameter mill. Combination of this with the charge impact test data and measurements of skin
loss rates permits a more quantitative approach to prediction of the equilibrium charge level
in a full scale mill.

PILOT TESTING

Continuous milling in the standard pilot SAG mill of approximately 1.83 m diameter x
0.60 m is considered to provide the ultimate definition of SAG mill performance short of
industrial scale trials. It is the most expensive both in terms of the testing itself and the
extraction and transport of the sample.

There are relatively few projects for which the orebody is sufficiently accessible for a sample
of sufficient weight, rock size and representivity to be obtained prior to production other than
at very high cost.

On larger projects the cost of the comminution circuit justifies the expense of obtaining the
samples and running comprehensive pilot programs. There are a number of ways in which
data from pilot testing can be evaluated and some of these are discussed individually below.

Specific power
Specific power is the traditional method of scaling up from pilot results to full scale
operation. As the impact energies in the full scale mill will always be larger than in the pilot
mill, a greater proportion of the ore will be broken by impact rather than abrasion and
consequently the specific energy should always be lower in the commercial mill than in pilot
testing.

This effect will be more pronounced for larger mill diameters in the commercial plant and
under these circumstances scale up on the basis of specific power might be considered to be
excessively conservative.

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 68
Modified Barrett Equation
As mentioned earlier the Barrett Equation can be interpreted as implying that the abrasion
breakage in a SAG mill will require 0.25 times the Bond impact breakage from the mill feed
size to 110 µm.

A technique that has been used successfully on a Witwatersrand ore is to modify the 1.25
factor in the Barrett Equation to fit the pilot plant results. This is very similar in concept to
the use of specific power in that it assumes a constant relationship between impact energy
and abrasion energy with increasing mill diameter which is intrinsically conservative. It has
relevance where the pilot conditions and product size is significantly different to that planned
for the commercial operation. It can also be used to compare results from pilot runs with
widely differing product sizes as would be the case from runs simulating SAG/ball mill and
single stage SAG configurations. Where a good fit can be established across a wide range of
product sizes the confidence level in the specific power scale up is considerably enhanced
and the possibility of selecting mill transfer sizes other than those piloted becomes possible.

Breakage models
For the reasons described earlier, the use of breakage models to size SAG mills from drop
weight test data is of limited value. When pilot data is available for use in fitting breakage
functions for the pilot mill, then the reliability of the results from modelling is significantly
improved. However, it is still possible for breakage models to produce results that are clearly
not credible and a good example of this was in the case of the Cannington mill described by
Leung et al (1998). In this instance the specific energy projected from the modelling of drop
weight tests was 7.5 kWh/t, from breakage modelling of the pilot results was 11.4 kWh/t
while the pilot plant specific energy was 18.8 kWh/t which was very close to that experienced
on the commercial plan.

Clearly any breakage modelling that indicates a required power significantly below the
uncorrected Bond power requirement needs substantial justification before it can be used as
the basis for commercial plant design.

CONCLUSIONS

The Bond work index measurements still have an important role to play in SAG mill sizing.
The tests require relatively small samples and can be conducted on small rock sizes so that
ore variability can be assessed more easily than for techniques using large samples.

The Bond indices are designed for use in empirical design procedures and particularly in the
case of the impact index need to be treated with a certain degree of caution. However, the
possibility of the power requirement of a comminution circuit being less than that calculated
from an uncorrected Bond approach is low and consequently significant further investigation
is required before endorsing a design with this characteristic.

The Barratt Equation permits an indication of comminution power to be made to a pre-

feasibility level of accuracy from only work index data.

Drop weight tests have very little value in sizing mills for which no pilot scale testing will be
carried out. The testing and models need to be extended to accommodate different appearance

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 69
functions for different size fractions before there is any chance of independence of machine
parameters and ore parameters. Breakage modelling based on pilot tests is more likely to
have value but needs verification against power considerations.

Autogenous media competency test results only have meaning relative to a database of
comparable results. Consultants drawing on such databases must be asked to quote the
specific examples they are relating to in any particular instance to check the validity and
closeness of the comparison. The interpretation of the results is independent of the mill size
to be used and likely to be unreliable for unusually large or small mills.

Impact testing of autogenous media competency test survivors, Mokken test final charge
material and pilot plant mill equilibrium charge material provides a valuable insight into how
coarser rocks will behave in a SAG mill. To assist in interpretation of these results, they are
best expressed in terms of absolute energy units (joules) with an accompanying particle
weight to permit calculation of a specific energy (Ecs) rather than as an impact work index.

The comparison of impact energies from impact tests with those calculated for the proposed
mill provide a valuable reality check on the viability of a proposed milling circuit.

The MacPherson test will provide conservative results because of the small size of mill feed
tested. The extent of the conservatism cannot be evaluated without testing of larger rock.

The Mokken test provides a valuable test in that it is based on an equilibrium milling
situation with a small sample size compared to a pilot mill run. The test itself is relatively
inexpensive so that if sample material is available at moderate cost this represents a very
economic way to prove up a SAG milling circuit. The Mokken test can also handle ores with
bimodal mineralogy that can otherwise only be assessed by full piloting.

Large capacity milling circuits justify full piloting. The interpretation of results on the basis
of specific power is likely to be conservative while brakeage rate based modelling will need
to be reality checked.

Every ore is unique and the most suitable method of scale up may not always be the same. It
is preferable to retain consultants who do not have preconceptions on the methodology that
should be used or alternatively, on larger projects, retain someone who can objectively assess
the output from a number of consultants committed to specific methodologies.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to acknowledge contributions from the following:

• First Quantum Minerals, Kagara Zinc and Normandy Wiluna Goldmine for permission
to use their experimental data;
• Amdel Limited for modifying their procedure on the Wiluna ore AMCT survivor
impact tests;
• Metso Minerals for providing the software for calculating impact energies;
• Independent Metallurgical Laboratories for the Mokken mill photograph; and
• Alan Bax of OzMet for reviewing a draft of the document.

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 70
 REFERENCES

A. R. MacPherson Consultants, 2002. Personal communication from John Mosher. January.

Barratt, D J, 1979. Semi-Autogenous Grinding: A Comparison with the Conventional Route,

CIM Bulletin, November.

Bond, F C, 1961. Crushing and Grinding Calculations, (Allis-Chalmers Publication No

07R9235B, Revised January 2).

First Quantum Minerals, 1999. Crushing Work Indices, Independent Metallurgical

Laboratories Report No. N068CO99, May.

Hukki, R T, 1961. Proposal for a Solomonic settlement between the theories of von Rittinger,
Kick and Bond, Trans SME/AIME, 223:403-408.

Independent Metallurgical Laboratories (IML), 2001. Personal communication from Murray

Hill, October.

Kagara Zinc, 2000. Comminution Testwork on Mt Garnet Zinc Ore for Kagara Zinc NL,
Ammtec Report No. A7266, May.

Kosick, G A and Bennett, C, 1999. The value of Orebody Power Requirement Profiles for
SAG Circuit Design, paper presented to the 31st Annual Canadian Mineral Processors
Conference in Ottawa, Canada, January 20.

Leung, K, Duffy, M and Andreatidis, J, 1998. Autogenous Grinding at Cannington. Mineral

Processing and Hydrometallurgical Plant Design. Perth.

Napier-Munn, T J, Morrell, S, Morrison, R D and Kojovic, T, 1999. Mineral Comminution

Circuits: Their Operation and Optimisation, pp 12, 71, 90 (JKMRC Monograph series in
Mining and Mineral Processing 2, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland).

Rowland, C A, 1964. Why Intermediate Autogenous Grinding?, (American Institute of

Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, New York, February).

Wiluna Gold Pty Ltd, 2000. Comminution Tests, Amdel Report No. N030CO00, April.

Yun Tai Man, 1997. Proceedings from JKMRC Conference 1997, (The University of
Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland).

Metallurgical Plant Design and Operating Strategies Sydney, NSW, 15 - 16 April 2002 71