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