The technical report produced by Metso’s Process Technology and Innovation (PTI) organization has won this year’s gold medal in Australia, granted by the Coalition for Eco-Efficient Comminution (CEEC). Metso’s winning paper was explaining the optimization and continuous improvement of the Antamina comminution circuit in Chile.
The CEEC board of directors made a thorough evaluation of the nominated papers, and the selection committee shortlisted three outstanding papers. Of these three, Metso’s report was chosen unanimously as the winner. The winning paper was co-authored by four Metso employees: Dr. Walter Valery, Dr. Alex Jankovic, Roberto Valle and Serkan Dikman.
“The standard of the papers nominated for the 2012 CEEC medal was very good. Our review focused on aspects including the energy savings described in each paper, the ability to integrate the proposed solution into existing comminution circuits and the breadth of the evidence supporting the proposed strategy. We also sought papers which communicated ideas clearly and effectively,” said Dr. Zeljka Pokrajcic, principal process engineer at WorleyParsons, and chair of the CEEC medal evaluation committee.
The judges complimented the paper saying the study was thorough and achieved significant operational improvement. “The Metso paper illustrates a strong partnership between a mining company and a supplier working together to achieve a superior outcome. The paper is seen as a classical study, well supported by evidence using a clear and implementable methodology. The data is clearly presented, easily understood and involves some important innovation.”
Walter Valery, senior vice president of Metso Process Technology and Innovation, judges the CEEC medal as recognition for the PTI organization. “Our PTI team is conducting research and development in the area of eco-efficient mining and processing with the specific objective of investigating alternative technologies and practices in mining and minerals processing that reduce the usage of energy, water and carbon emissions. Significantly more eco-efficient mining and processing flowsheets could already be developed and implemented today through novel application of existing technologies. The CEEC Medal is a very good initiative to recognize and reward industry effort in this direction,” said Valery.
Coalition for Eco-Efficient Comminution was established in 2011 in Australia to support knowledge sharing and change in an area of high energy consumption for the mineral industry. CEEC is a not-for-profit company funded by grants from the mineral industry, whose mission is to accelerate knowledge and technology transfer in the field of energy-efficient comminution.
CEEC aims to raise awareness of beneficial comminution strategies with the objective of improving earnings, achieving lower process costs and gaining energy efficiencies in the mining sector. Launched in May 2011, CEEC is sponsored by Teck Resources Ltd., Gold Fields Ltd., Ausenco, Newcrest Mining Ltd., Xstrata Technology Ltd., Outotec, Metso, AMIRA International, JKTech Ltd., Sustainable Mineral Institute, Gekko Systems, Russell Mineral Equipment and IndoPhil Resources Nl. www.ceecthefuture.org
