INCREASED SAG GRINDING CAPACITY AT GOLDEX

SECONDARY CRUSHING OF SAG MILL FEED

A. Allaire1 and D. Runnels1, Y. Sylvestre2, J. Fournier2, F. Robichaud2

1
BBA Inc.
630, boul. Ren-Lvesque West, Suite 2500
Montral, Canada H3B 1S6
(andre.allaire@bba.ca)
2
Agnico-Eagle, Goldex Mine
1953, 3e Avenue Ouest
Val dOr, Canada J9P 4N9
 INCREASED SAG GRINDING CAPACITY AT GOLDEX
SECONDARY CRUSHING OF SAG MILL FEED

ABSTRACT

The Goldex operation of Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM) commenced operations in the spring of
2008. Following some months of initial operation, the grinding circuit capacity was under-performing
according to the original design throughput. BBA Inc. (BBA) was commissioned, in February 2009, to
study the different options and recommend the quickest and most cost-effective solution to increase the
grinding circuit throughput rate. The mandate was to increase the throughput of the grinding circuit to
beyond the original design of 7,000 tpd to 8,000 tpd or greater, while retaining the existing SAG and ball
mills. The circuit was modelled using JKSimMet software to evaluate the different options, each with a
number of different operating parameters. The option of secondary crushing of the SAG mill feed was
retained. Comparison of the different options and simulation outcomes, design of the secondary crushing
circuit, operating conditions, and initial adjustments in the design and operating results of the new grinding
circuit are discussed in this paper.

KEYWORDS

Secondary crushing, SAG/Ball mill circuit throughput increase, grinding circuit simulation, JKSimMet
software

INTRODUCTION

Agnico-Eagle is a Canadian-based gold producer with mines and exploration properties in

Canada, Finland, Mexico, and the United States. The Goldex property is an underground mine and a
processing plant located in Val dOr, Qubec some 60 kilometres East of Agnico-Eagles Laronde flagship
mine property. The mine had initial gold in reserves of 1.6 million ounces (24.7 million tonnes at 2.1g/t).

The gold is mined using an innovative but simple high-volume bulk mining method combining
block caving and long hole stoping and shrinking. The broken muck is crushed underground at a closed
side setting (CSS) varying between 140 mm to 180 mm by a jaw crusher and then hoisted to the surface.
The CSS varied from 2008-2011 to accommodate the capacity required by the underground mine
operation. Milling operating cost is 8$C/mt. Total operating costs are very low at 21$C/mt or
318$C/ounce gold and Goldex is one of the lowest-cost underground hard-rock mines in the world.

Most of the gold at Goldex occurs as liberated particles recoverable by the gravity circuit. The
balance of the gold occurs as finer particles associated with pyrite. The processing methods chosen to
recover the gold take advantage of its coarse native character and its association with pyrite.

The Goldex processing facilities include grinding, a gravity circuit to recover coarse liberated
gold, sulphide flotation, a flotation concentrate handling facility and a gold room to transform gravity
concentrate into gold ingots. Gravity circuit particles range in size from 100 to 800 microns while the
flotation concentrate contains gold particles in the range of 10 to 100 microns. The flotation concentrate is
trucked to the Laronde facility and is fed to a dedicated leach extraction circuit where gold is leached from
the sulphide concentrate by an oxygen/cyanide circuit and recovered by carbon in pulp. Overall gold
recovery (gravity and flotation plus leach) averages 93% with 65% gold recovery to the gravity circuit and
28% of the gold recovered in the flotation/leach circuits.

During the initial operating period of the project the mill circuit throughput was only averaging
252 tph for a daily average rate of 5,850 tpd. The design was based on a daily throughput of 7,000 tpd at a
plant utilization of 92%, equivalent to an average operating rate of 317 tph. Then, during the initial
operating period, in order to overcome some of the shortfall in capacity, a contractor with a mobile
crushing plant was hired to crush a part of the coarse rock from the surge stockpile and therefore increase

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the SAG throughput rate somewhat. The mobile crushing plant consisted of a jaw crusher followed by a
short head cone crusher HP400 in open circuit. The contractors scope was to produce 95% passing 38mm.
Design daily throughput of 7,000tpd was reached with minimum of 40% of the fresh ore crushed by the
mobile crusher. However this was only a short term solution because of its high operating cost. AEM
hired BBA to assess the under-capacity situation and to study the options to improve the grinding capacity
of the circuit. The mandate was to recommend various options available to AEM and to improve the
grinding capacity to greater than 7,000 tpd.

The grinding circuit was modeled using JKSimMet software. A crash-stop sampling test was
carried out for the grinding circuit according to JKSimMet protocol and the results were used as input to
develop the model. Various options were modelled including adding pebble crushing, adding pre-crushing
to the circuit, or adding pre-crushing with scalping of the crusher feed. Various operating variables were
studied including pre-crushing size distribution, slurry grate opening size, and percent ball charge in the
SAG. For each option, the tonnage rates that were outcomes of the modelling, along with the capital cost
for each option were used to make a final selection.

Implications of each option were also evaluated as to their effect on the downstream circuit. The
major effect on the downstream circuits was the coarsening of the final grind as is normally the case with
the addition of crushing to SAG grinding circuits (either pebble crushing, pre-crushing or pre-crushing
with scalped feed). Other constraints such as daily/weekly hoisting capacity from the underground mine,
limitations of tailings line pumping capacity, and site layout constraints were also considered in the
selection of the final solution.

INITIAL MILL DESIGN AND INITIAL OPERATING CONDITIONS

Plant Design Description, Initial Design Parameters of the Grinding Circuit

The Goldex project is comprised of an underground mine, underground primary jaw crusher, a
production shaft for hoisting ore and personnel, a primary crushed ore covered stockpile on surface and a
process plant. The process plant consists of grinding, gravity gold recovery, flotation and recovery of gold
in the flotation concentrate. The gravity gold is refined on-site. The flotation concentrate is transported via
tanker truck to the AEM Laronde process plant for gold recovery via leaching and recovered by carbon in
pulp. An abbreviated summary flowsheet of the grinding circuit is presented below in Figure 1:

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Figure 1 Summary Flowsheet for the Goldex Process Plant Grinding Circuit

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 The initial design of the process plant was to process ore at an average grade of 2.1 g/t and at a
daily rate of 7,000 tpd. The process plant design utilisation rate was based on 92 %. This is equivalent to a
design grinding rate of 317 tph. In the period immediately following commissioning, it was apparent that
the mill circuit was not achieving the design rating. Following the initial operating period the grinding
circuit average capacity was approximately 252 tph for an average daily throughput of 5850 tpd.

The grinding circuit consists of an open circuit SAG mill, 24 ft. dia. x 13.5 ft. F/F equipped with a
4500 HP induction motor, gearbox and VS drive. The ball mill operates in closed circuit with the cyclones
and gravity sizing screens and gravity tailings. The ball mill is 16.5 ft. dia x 27.5 ft. F/F and is equipped
also with a 4500 HP motor and gearbox, fixed speed. The ball mill, when started, is accelerated by the VS
drive of the SAG mill. When the ball mill is accelerated to full speed it is switched to operate across the
line, fixed speed, at 4.16 kV.

Table 1 Mill Circuit Initial Design Versus Actual Performance

Plant Capacity Design Actual
Daily tonnage (tpd) 7,000 5,850

Grinding Circuit Capacity @ 92% 317 252

Utilisation (tph)

STUDY OF ALTERNATIVES TO INCREASE CIRUIT CAPACITY

Mill Circuit Modeling

In order to increase the grinding capacity of the existing circuit, it was necessary to analyse
different potential circuit changes and compare their performance based on tonnage rate changes and
changes in the final product size distribution. The Goldex plant flowsheet is based on gravity and flotation
recovery of gold of the grinding circuit product. For the Goldex orebody, gold recovery to flotation
concentrate is not very sensitive to grind over a wide range of grind P80,s from approximately 95 microns
to 150 microns. This permitted a significant degree of freedom to vary the grinding circuit configuration
and to vary the operation parameters in order to increase the grinding circuit throughput without
significantly affecting the gold recovery.

JKSimMet software was used to model the grinding circuit and was used to predict the
performance of various grinding configurations and to predict various outcomes when changing circuit
operating parameters.

The grinding circuit model was calibrated using plant survey data from a period of steady state
operation on January 23, 2009. Operating measurements were recorded, samples were taken and analysed
and a crash stop was used for taking the mill feed sample and mill volume/grate opening/mill liner
measurements. These measurements and sampling and crash stop were all executed according to the
JKSimMet protocol for model calibration.

The model was then applied to the operation data of two (2) previous crash stop tests
(October 8, 2008 and December 11, 2008) that represented different plant operating feed material size
distributions. The calibrated model was able to successfully predict observed plant performance for
different sized ore feed, predicting throughput, SAG product size and final ball mill product size with
reasonable accuracy. Figure 2 compares the predicted versus the actual product size distributions for the
crash-stop tests executed on, December 11, 2008 and October 8, 2008 using the model which was based on
the data from the January 23rd, 2009 crash-stop test.

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1: Jan 23 SAG Feed 2: Oct 8 SAG Feed 3: Dec 11 SAG Feed 4: Jan 23 SAG Mill Prod, Exp. 4: Jan 23 SAG Mill Prod, Sim

5: Oct 8 SAG Mill Prod, Sim 6: Dec 11 SAG Mill Prod, Exp 6: Dec 11 SAG Mill Prod, Sim

Figure 2 - Graph of Comparison of Predicted Versus Measured Size Distributions

for Jan 23/09, Dec 11/08 and Oct 08/08

For the balance of the experiments, the model used the October 8, 2008, feed PSD as this was
deemed more representative of the average feed from the underground mine crusher.

The model was based on the data gathered from the crash-stop test of January 23, 2009. The drop
weight test results for January 23, 2009 were compared to other drop weight test results run since the start-
up of the plant in May, 2008 to test for impact grinding index variations in the orebody since start-up of the
plant. It was found, based on comparing the resultant ore breakage functions of the various tests, that the
ore breakage characteristics were reasonably uniform throughout the orebody.

A summary of the comparison of the breakage parameters for the various ore samples at different
times during the initial operating period is presented in the following Table 2:

Table 2 Drop Weight Test Results for Various Samples from the Goldex Orebody
Sample Name A b Axb ta
May 27, 2008 74.9 0.51 38.2 0.30
September 22, 2008 72.9 0.45 32.8 0.21
October 8, 2008 79.4 0.44 34.7 0.19
January 23, 2009 74.6 0.47 35.1 0.32

For improving the throughput of the existing SAG/Ball mill circuit, the following circuit change
options were modelled:

1) Addition of a pre-crusher for the SAG feed

2) Addition of both a pre-crusher and scalping screen ahead of the pre-crusher
3) Addition of a pebble crusher (and replacing slurry grates with pebble grates)

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 For each of the above circuits, various parameter changes were tested such as grate opening
dimensions and grate percent open area, degree of size reduction of the SAG feed and the effect of scalping
the pre-crushing feed.

A summary of the most relevant simulations is presented in the following Table 3:

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 Table 3 - Grinding Circuit Optimization - Simulation Results (Jan 23/09 model predicts Oct 08/08 and Dec 11)

SAG Ball Ball Mill Ball Mill

SAG SAG SAG SAG
SAG New SAG Circuit Mill Power Cyclone
Circuit Power Discharge Grate Slot Discharge
Feed Feed F80 Specific Ball Draw Overflow
Configuration Draw P80 Opening Open Area
(mtph) (mm) Energy Charge (kW) P80
(kW) (microns) (mm) (%)
(kWh/t) (%) (Microns)
Base Case -
Survey January 23, 252 104 2829 774 11.2 12.0 2.9 21.7 2624 91
2009
Model applied to
255 129 2874 987 11.3 15.0 4.4 21.7 2622 96
Oct 8/08 feed
Model applied to
263 42 3016 1020 11.5 14.0 3.7 21.7 2621 100
Dec 11/08 feed
Model applied to
Oct 8/08 feed 290 129 2874 1427 9.9 19.0 6.0 21.7 2619 97
w/19 mm grates
Model applied to
Oct 8/08 feed 352 129 2874 1802 8.3 63.5 7.1 32.1 3599 130
w/Pebble crusher
Model applied to
Oct 8/08 feed
394 38 2874 1222 7.3 15.0 4.4 32.1 3599 130
w/pre-crush and
15 mm grates
Model applied to
Oct 8/08 feed with
391 35 1107 12.0 3.55 25.5 3599 130
pre-crush and
12 mm grates
Model applied to
Oct 8/08 feed with
374 42 2874 1195 7.7 15.0 4.4 32.1 3599 130
pre-crush and
scalping screens

Notes:
l) SAG ball top size 127 mm for all cases 2) SAG ball charge 17.0 to 17.6 for all cases
3) SAG critical speed 78.5 for all cases 4) SAG load 22.8 for all cases
5) Ball mill critical speed 78.0 for all cases

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 These simulations and ore breakage parameter comparisons demonstrated that:

1) The strongest effect on increasing mill circuit throughput is from decreasing the SAG feed size
through the use of pre-crushing in combination with increased grate slot opening.
2) Pebble crushing combined with mill discharge pebble grates has a strong effect on throughput
but not as strong as pre-crushing. The addition of pebble crushing also increases the transfer
size between SAG and Ball mill circuits as well as coarsening the final grind size the most.
3) SAG discharge slurry grate opening size and percent of open grate area also has a strong
influence on the throughput.
4) A maximum throughput of 394 tph was indicated from the simulations by pre-crushing to a
P80 = 38 mm and increasing the SAG slurry grate slot openings to 15 mm and the percent of
open area from 2.9% to 4.4%.
5) A throughput of 391 tph was indicated from the simulations by pre-crushing to a P80 =35 mm
and maintaining the existing new grate openings at 12 mm with a percent of open area of 3.55%
6) Pre-crushing without scalping screen results in higher throughput than pre-crushing with
scalping screen.
7) The ore breakage characteristics for various samples of the Goldex orebody are very consistent.

Engineered Solutions and Selection of Alternative

One of the factors that was taken into consideration to increase plant capacity and performance
was to increase the power available to the mills. Before any measures could be taken, a mechanical
assessment and an electrical assessment had to be done for the SAG and ball mill drive system
components. The goals of these studies were to determine which electrical and mechanical components are
the factors which limit the power draw ability of the SAG mill as well as to evaluate the control system and
find solutions to improve any of its existing shortcomings.

One of the tasks involved in finding the correlation between mill loading and power draw. The
mill manufacturer established that the calculated power draw curve was relatively flat at the high ball
charges at which the mill was operating (17 to 20% ball charge). These findings were confirmed by
comparing the calculated model with the actual operating data. It was concluded from this exercise that a
power draw approaching 3600 kW was achievable with the existing SAG mill subject to the confirmation
of mechanical and electrical design constraints of the mill components.

Upon further analysis, it was concluded that the maximum power for the mill was limited by the
gear-set (pinion/ring gear), rated at 3579 kW under continuous load conditions. To accommodate power
excursions due to operating fluctuations, the power should be limited to a value less than 3,579 kW based
on operating protocols established by AEM.

The SAG mill motor was not the limiting factor. The motor power rating is 3400 kW with a safety
factor of 15% which allows the motor to operate at 3910 kW on a continuous basis without risking
surpassing the Class-F temperature rating of the motor winding insulation.

In addition, it was found that the programmed power reading for the SAG mill drive was over
reported (with respect to the power reference at the mill pinion). Corrections were implemented in order to
be able to control the mill loading closer to the SAG mill power limitation at the pinion.

The three alternatives which were considered from a capital cost and schedule point of view and
met the increased tonnage throughput criteria were:
1) Pre-crushing of the SAG mill feed without a scalping screen.
2) Pre-crushing of the SAG mill feed including a scalping screen ahead of the secondary crusher.
3) Pebble crusher and increased grate openings (replacing slurry grates with pebble grates).

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 These three alternatives were investigated in terms of layout requirements and capital cost. The
pebble crusher was not the favoured option of AEM as it was demonstrated by the simulations that the
most robust option was pre-crushing and therefore the pebble crusher was deemed a higher risk in terms of
probability of achieving the maximum mill circuit throughput. The alternative of pre-crushing with
scalping screen was eliminated by AEM because it was the highest CAPEX of the three options and also
would require more space in a location with limited space.

For the pre-crushing alternative, enlarging the grates is not a preferred option as this has shown in
the initial operating phase of the project that there is a high rate of wear on downstream components if the
grate slot opening for new grates is increased beyond 12 mm. The grates are considered worn-out when the
slots are worn to a 17 mm width. The grates are not all changed at the same time resulting in an average of
new and worn grates in the mill at any one time. This results in an effective or average grate opening size
of 14.5 mm x 28.5 and an effective percent open discharge area of 3.55%. The pre-crushing option using a
pre-crushing P80 = 38 mm and a new slot opening of 12 mm with an average open area of 3.55% was the
preferred solution for the following reasons:

1) This option meets the initial objective of increasing the process plant throughput to 8,000 tpd or
greater (SAG throughput of 360 tph).
2) The tailings pumping capacity was, at times, limited to approximately 360 tph. As of May 2011,
with the addition of a 6th stage pump, the tailings pumping capacity is 400 tph. In early June
2011, the grinding circuit operated at 395 tph for sustained periods.
3) Simplest implementation of all the alternatives and least interruption of plant operation when
being implemented.
4) Meets the criteria of short implementation schedule (commissioned the new system in 8 months
from start of detailed engineering).
5) Did not have to increase the new grate opening dimension greater than a 12 mm width.
6) The pre-crushing option compared to the pebble crushing option would provide a much more
stable and controllable SAG circuit operation. For the pre-crushing option the crushed ore in the
covered stockpile ahead of the process plant would be very uniform in size distribution.

IMPLEMENTATION OF SELECTED CIRCUIT CHANGE

The final design that was selected for implementation was a pre-crushing station between the hoisting
facility and the crushed ore stockpile. The design was based on secondary cone crushing the total ore
hoisted from underground after being primary crushed underground with a primary jaw crusher to nominal
7 inch size. The cone crusher chosen was an 800 HP cone crusher to match the capacity of the mine hoist
system (approximately 600 t/h). The facility was designed to be able to bypass the secondary cone crusher
when metal is detected on the incoming conveyor feeding the secondary crushing plant and during periods
when the cone crusher is stopped and the hoisting continues. This is achieved with a small shuttle conveyor
directly feeding the cone crusher. It is displaced by a pneumatic cylinder when the cone crusher needs to be
bypassed.

The stockpile now is filled with much finer material compared with the operating period before
implementation of secondary crushing. In addition to significantly improving the SAG grinding rate there
is an added benefit of minimizing the segregation in the stockpile which in turn provides a more
uniform/stable feed to the SAG mill. This makes for a much easier control of the SAG power, throughput
and bearing pressure. This allows the SAG to be more easily operated near its maximum allowable limit
when required.

The results of the pre-crushing circuit have been very positive. The circuit consistently pre-crushes the
SAG mill feed to a size distribution which was assumed in the modelling exercise. The modelling runs are
for the most part based on a size distribution of primary crushing based on the October 8, 2008 primary
crushed SAG feed. This basis for primary crushed feed material (hoisted from the mine) was then
estimated for the resulting size distribution after secondary crushing. The resultant SAG feed size

9
distribution (after secondary crushing) was then used for modelling the various scenarios as presented in
Table 3. This size distribution closely agrees with the actual size distribution in 2011 of the SAG mill feed.
The two size distributions are compared in Figure 3 for reference.

2: Predicted Pre-Crush to -3 inches 4: Goldex Actual Feed 2011

Figure 3 Graph of Size Distributions Comparing the Assumed Pre-Crushed Size Distribution
of the Grinding Model with the Actual (in 2011) Pre-Crushed SAG Feed Size Distribution

The Goldex tonnage ramp-up from initial operations to the operation today is presented in Figure 4
below.

Goldex tonnage ramp-up

400 160
SAGMill monthly average (mt/h)

350 140
P80 flotation feed (m)
300 120
250 100
200 mt/h 80
150 flotation feed P80 (m) 60
100 40
50 20
0 0
2008-06
2008-07
2008-07
2008-08
2008-09
2008-10
2008-11
2008-12
2009-01
2009-02
2009-03
2009-04
2009-05
2009-06
2009-07
2009-08
2009-09
2009-10
2009-11
2009-12
2010-01
2010-02
2010-03
2010-04
2010-05
2010-06
2010-07
2010-08
2010-09
2010-10
2010-11
2010-12
2011-01
2011-02
2011-03
2011-04
2011-05
2011-06

Figure 4 Goldex Tonnage Ramp-up

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 The ramp up can be divided into the following operating periods:
1) Initial operation from May 2008 to October 2008.
2) Contractors mobile crushing plant operation from October 2008 to December 2009, progressively
crushing a larger percentage of the SAG feed.
3) Period of permanent pre-crushing of the SAG feed with the addition of the 800 HP cone crusher
from February 2010 to the present.

The initial tonnage rate was in the range of 225 to 260 tph, the period of progressive contract
secondary crushing in the range of 275 to 325 tph and the final period with the permanent pre-crusher in
the range of 355 to 365 tph.

The performance of the grinding circuit today is compared to the circuit as modeled at the study stage
in 2009 and presented in Table 3 below.

Table 3 Comparison of the Actual Grinding Circuit Performance Compared to the Model
Prediction

Circuit SAG Feed SAG Feed SAG Power SAG Grate Ball Mill
Rate (tph) Size P80 (mm) Draw(kW) Slot Opening Cyclone
(mm) Oflow P80
(mm)
Model applied to Oct 391 38 2829 12 130*
8/08 feed w/pre-crush
and 12 mm grates

Actual Pre-crush 365 35 3170 12 140

with grate slot opening
(new) of 12 mm

* Correction of original model for predicting ball mill P80

The final predicted throughput and operating parameters by modelling with JKSimMet in 2009 are
very close to the actual operating conditions experienced in 2011 following one year of operating
experience with the new secondary cone crusher facility. The actual tonnage rate of the SAG mill is 6.5%
less than predicted and the final ball mill P80 is 7% greater than the predicted final P80 of 130.

The measurement of the ore impact grinding index, as indicated by the a x b factor, for the actual
conditions in 2011 was not made. The accuracy of sampling and measurement for this determination is
much greater than the error of prediction of actual conditions. The grinding index variation within the
orebody, although quite stable (based on samples tested in 2008 and 2009) can easily vary by 10%.

Modeling with JKSimMet for the Goldex orebody has been very successful in predicting outcomes
and for use in deciding the design basis for meeting the increased tonnage throughput objectives of the
AEM Goldex project.

Operations of Modified Circuit

Crushing Circuit

The commissioning of the pre-crushing unit was difficult for the first 8 months. The main problems were
associated with chutes and crusher liner wear life. Also, because the crusher is seldom choke-fed, some of
the crusher mechanical components have been subject to failure. Selection of the secondary crusher HP800
was based to match the mine hoisting system capacity but the hoisted ore bin size which feeds the
secondary crusher is considered too small at 150mt for the selected HP800 which has a nominal throughput

11
of 800 tph. Therefore, this crusher is not run fully chocked as designed and this creates mechanical
vibration and component breakage which can deteriorate the equipment integrity on the long term basis.
The operation experiences packing and plugging problems in the bowl liner chamber when fine and/or
humid or is present in sufficient quantities. To date, three (3) high pressure cylinders were damaged
because of excessive vibration occurring with fine/humid ore.

The operating/maintenance group is contemplating a project to screen the cone crusher discharge at 36 mm
and recycle the plus 36 mm to the crusher feed in order to minimize these problems in the long term.

Grinding Circuit

The operation of the grinding circuit is much more stable 10 months after the commissioning of the pre-
crushing unit. The stockpile is now filled with a much finer material so there is an added benefit of
minimizing the segregation in the stockpile which in turn provides a more uniform/stable feed to the SAG
mill. Also, the projection of ore on the internal dome walls is reduced because the angle of repose is
steeper. The critical period from 08h00 to 12h00 from Monday to Friday when the mine stops hoisting for
personnel and material transportation is now much less problematic for particle segregation in the
stockpile. Slab shaped rocks in the dimension range of 300 x 600 mm are no longer present in the SAG
feed chute and the number of plugged chute occurrences has fallen significantly. This makes for a much
easier control of the SAG power, throughput and bearing pressure. Figure 5 illustrates this improvement by
showing a typical hourly average tonnage for December 2010. The standard deviation of the hourly
tonnage in December 2010 is 10 tph compared to 15-25 tph in 2008.

180
(
(m)

160
P80

140
P80
feed

120 Operatingrange
Feed

priortopermanent Operating
100 precrushingofSAG rangewith
Flotation

permanent
feed
80 precrushing
Flotation

60 Operation at 355 tph as per 2011 budget

40 standard deviation reduced by 50%
12 months after HP800 commisionning
20
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Figure 5: SAG Mill Daily Tonnage for December 2010 (mt/d)

OPEX Results

Percent solids in the SAG increased from 70-75 to 78-84% which helps to operate in a less abrasive
environment and thus reduce internal liner wear components such as lifter bars and plates. The
maintenance is now more predictive than reactive because wear rate is relatively constant over time. Steel
ball consumption (5 inches) at the SAG is down from 1,1 to 0,75 kg/mt and rotational speed of SAG is

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sometimes reduced to around 85-95% which was never the case before implementation of pre-crushing
(always at 100% critical speed).

In the fall of 2010, Goldex installed a particle size analyzer on the SAG feed conveyor belt to monitor the
on-line size of ore particles feeding the SAG. This type of equipment is an optical based technology that
combines a powerful high definition camera with specialized software. This technology was developed two
decades ago and is now very robust and functional. After several months of operation, it was decided to
install a second camera unit at the secondary crusher discharge to monitor the performance of the crusher
equipment. The plan of action is to install a third unit at the secondary crusher feed to monitor what is
coming from underground so that the interaction between the mill and mining/engineering departments
would be facilitated when the parameters of the primary jaw crusher are modified such as C.S.S. Also this
would help in optimizing the secondary crusher performance. Presently, the crusher liner supplier is asking
for more accuracy of the particle size distribution for the fresh ore coming from underground in order to
finalize the fourth generation of the bowl liner and mantle configuration. The first and second generations
were EXTRA_COARSE and COARSE respectively while the third is a CUSTOMIZED geometry
developed by the Goldex operating group. Liner life increased from an initial life of 8-10 days to 25 days
by improving the liner configuration. The challenge is to configure and test a fourth generation (REVISED
CUSTOM) which should lead to a life cycle of 28-30 days.

The learning curve could have been shorter had an optical type on-line size distribution analyzer been
installed at the initial plant start-up stage. Information on particle size from the mine would have been
valuable to coordinate with both crusher and liner suppliers and consultants during the initial operating
period.

During the period of November 2008 to January 2010, a mobile crushing station was operated by a local
contractor. The cost of such temporary installation was calculated at 2.80$C/mt. The permanent pre-
crushing system operates presently at 0.80$C/mt which is a yearly saving of 5-6M$C.

CONCLUSIONS

Ore grinding hardness testing protocols and modelling based predictions in the design landscape of
comminution circuits is well established. Data bases with large populations of tested ores and operating
mill conditions have improved these predictive models to a high level of confidence today. As one of these
models, the authors have worked with JKSimMet for over 10 years and have had a very good success rate
at predicting actual operating conditions for mill circuit design and for mill circuit improvement projects.

Pre-crushing of SAG mill feed has an advantage over pebble crushing for increasing grinding circuit
throughput. Pre-crushing has a bigger influence on throughput and results in a finer SAG product size
distribution.

Pre-crushing of the SAG feed stockpile produces a more uniform feed to the SAG mill and reduces
significantly rock size segregation in the stockpile. This results in a more stable and controlled SAG mill
operation. This further permits the SAG to be operated at a higher power, closer to the control limit, if
required.

Pre-crushing should be considered as an option for the design basis for new projects where the rock is
classified in the very hard range. The outcomes are more predictable and power savings can be very
significant.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge the guidance and input from Mark Richardson of Contract Support
Services for the sampling and modelling of the Goldex grinding circuit.

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The authors would also like to thank Agnico-Eagle Mining for their faith in the ability of the BBA and
AEM team to modify and improve the grinding circuit at Goldex.

REFERENCES

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