The Coalition for Energy Efficient Comminution (CEEC) has entered into a sponsorship agreement with Newmont Mining Corporation to support the organisation’s work in energy efficiency.
CEEC CEO Alison said both CEEC and Newmont are interested in innovative minerals processing practices that increase shareholder value and enhance sustainability performance.
“Newmont’s sponsorship helps us continue sharing industry-leading best practices that foster efficient mining with a smaller footprint,” Alison said.
Scott Lawson, Newmont’s Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, said energy-efficient processes are central to driving down operating costs while reducing the carbon footprint.
“The knowledge shared through CEEC helps us and other mining companies be more efficient producers while also enhancing our sustainability performance,” he said.
In 2017, the prestigious CEEC Medal (Operations category) was awarded to Aidan Giblett and Steven Hart for their paper titled ‘Grinding Circuit Practices at Newmont’. The publication documented the practical approaches used to improve energy efficiency in grinding practices across 12 Newmont operations worldwide.
“By sharing how it improved the efficiency of comminution, Newmont has inspired others to also look for ways to enhance productivity and shareholder value while reducing energy use,” Alison said.
Alison said that the collaborative sharing of comminution research and insights is key to driving productivity improvements, lowering costs and maximising net present value (NPV) in mining and minerals processing operations.
“By freely disseminating high quality resources online, and by hosting workshops globally, CEEC is proud to help businesses stay at the cutting edge of sustainable minerals processing,” she said.
Tackling site energy costs
CEEC recently released the first new enhancement to its free suite of energy curve tools – specific energy cost curves – to help miners and METS companies consider the impact of energy costs and identify options to improve energy efficiency of comminution circuits.
Miners and METS can now input their latest plant data from different sites and equipment options via the CEEC website or at CEEC’s upcoming workshops to benchmark and improve performance using the newly enhanced curves. Using real data will help them to assess the impacts of planned or actual improvements. Updates to the CEEC website will be rolled out progressively, starting with the first enhancements by October 2018.
The specific energy cost curves are important because the variation in electricity price directly impacts the economic value that can be achieved by companies employing energy efficient comminution technologies.
A simple model has been developed that can be used to estimate availability of electricity generating assets near a mine. This can help operators and METS companies consider which mines are best suited to comminution and energy improvement and which projects represent the greatest return on investment. The factors included in the model are the average industry electricity price of the country where the mine is based and the geographical proximity to electricity generator assets.
For more information go here.