High
Pressure
Grinding
Rolls
A
brief
non-technical
explana8on
H.P.G.R.
Andinas
Volcan
Gold
Project
PFS
February
2011
of
the
reasons
HPGR
is
included
in
What
is
the
HPGR?
HPGR
or
high
pressure
grinding
rolls
are
a
way
of
crushing
rock,
generally
for
the
ner
crushing
aIer
coarse
conven8onal
crushing
Typically
rock
crushing
in
gold
mines
is
done
by
jaw
and
cone
type
crushers,
but
HPGR
crushers,
which
have
been
used
for
many
years
in
diamond,
base
metal
and
industrial
mineral
opera8ons,
are
now
in
use
in
the
gold
mining
sector
An
HPGR
crusher
crushes
the
rock
between
two
rota8ng
rollers
which
are
forced
together
by
very
high
hydraulic
pressure.
The
rock
is
compressed
and
shaNers
and
the
only
wear
on
the
machine
is
on
the
wear
resistant
and
armoured
rolls.
The
rock
itself
coats
the
rolls
providing
an
autogenous
wear
surface
to
protect
the
rolls.
What
are
the
Advantages
of
HPGR?
HPGR
produces
more
ne
material
at
a
given
crush
size
than
in
conven8onal
crushers
At
higher
pressures
HPGR
creates
micro-fractures
in
the
crushed
rock
par8cles
Greater
nes
in
a
crushed
product
and
micro
fractures
allow
process
solu8ons
to
come
into
contact
with
more
surface
area
of
the
mineral
being
processed
and
thus
help
metal
recovery
HPGR
crushers,
compared
to
conven8onal
cone
crushers,
generate
less
noise
and
dust
HPGR
crushing
typically
consumes
approximately
20%
less
power
per
tonne
than
conven8onal
crushing
plants
producing
the
same
product.
For
the
Volcan
Project,
the
HPGR
oers
opera8onal
exibility
more
dicult
to
achieve
with
conven8onal
crushing
circuits
The
Numbers
for
Volcan
Project
Testwork
in
2009
conducted
at
McLelland
Laboratories
on
conven8onal
and
HPGR
crushed
material
showed
gold
recovery
improvements
of
5%
to
7%
on
Volcan
ore
Testwork
for
the
current
Volcan
PFS
in
2010
conducted
at
lower
roll
pressures
showed
only
modest
improvements
in
gold
recovery
so
further
tes8ng
will
be
conducted
at
higher
pressures.
(Recovery
benets
of
HPGR
are
not
included
in
the
current
{February
2011}
Prefeasibility
Study)
The
es8mated
capital
cost
of
the
third
stage
system
of
crushing,
the
HPGR
stage,
is
$19.5
million.
The
comparable
number
for
conven8onal
crushing
is
$17.1
million
The
opera8ng
cost
es8mate
for
the
third
stage
of
crushing
at
Volcan,
based
on
power
and
wear
data,
suggest
that
the
incremental
cost
for
HPGR
will
be
$0.10/t
lower
than
conven8onal
crushing,
implying
a
reduc8on
in
cost
of
$2.0
million
a
year
If
recovery
improvements
are
conrmed
using
HPGR
by
rever8ng
to
the
higher
roll
pressure
the
benet
to
the
project
can
amount
to
$16.5
million
per
year
Flexibility
Using
HPGR
at
Volcan
The
mine
plan
at
Volcan
contemplates
campaigning
selec8vely
mined
higher
grades
from
the
pit
through
the
same
system
as
lower
grades
but
storing
crushed
product
in
separate
stockpiles.
Run-of-mine
higher
grade
ore
will
be
stored
at
the
primary
crusher
apron
in
rela8vely
small
stockpiles
for
campaigning
through
the
system
During
planned
periods
when
more
higher
grade
ore
is
encountered,
ideally
more
of
the
beNer
grade
is
sent
to
the
mill
to
op8mize
recovery
rather
than
to
the
heap
leach.
The
mill
is
intended
for
higher
grade
direct
feed
and
swept
nes
from
the
lower
grade
leach
feed
The
roll
pressure
for
low
grade
can
be
reduced
resul8ng
in
less
low
grade
nes
to
the
mill
and
more
capacity
for
beNer
grade
ore,
as
it
becomes
available
Fines
content
in
the
pad
can
thus
be
controlled
to
assure
heap
stability
and
percola8on
rates
without
expensive
agglomera8on
with
cement
Remote
ore
control
based
on
pit
blasthole
assay
samples
and
mine
planning
will
determine
the
best
economic
use
of
the
mill
capacity
5
HPGR
Technology
In
Use
HPGR
technology
has
two
principle
providers
Polysius
and
KhD
who
have
approximately
60
and
40
units
in
opera8on
around
the
world,
respec8vely
HPGR
technology
was
pioneered
on
a
large
scale
in
the
gold
sector
at
the
Boddington
mine
in
WA
(Newmont,
4
large
HPGRs,
2009)
In
the
gold
sector
a
number
of
companies
have,
or
are
now
looking
to
incorporate
HPGR
into
new
development
including
Barrick,
Kinross,
Goldcorp
(Peasquito),
Goldelds
(Tarkwa),
and
Freeport
Indonesia.
Newcrest
Mining
(Australia)
has
ordered
an
HPGR
for
the
Cadia
East
Expansion
Large
HPGRs
have
also
been
installed
at
Cerro
Verde
(4
ea,
Cu,
Peru),
Spinifer
Ridge
(3
ea,
moly,
WA)
and
Ruby
Creek
(2
ea,
moly,
BC)
to
name
a
few
other
hard
rock
applica8ons
During
engineering,
Andina
visited
two
HPGR
plants,
one
in
California
(cement)
and
another
at
an
iron
ore
mine
some
200-km
from
Volcan
at
the
Los
Colorados
Mine
near
Vallanar,
Chile
Los
Colorados
has
been
using
HPGR
equipment
since
the
early
1990s
and
enjoys
availability
in
the
high
90%
range
on
units
producing
over
2000
tons/hr
of
crushed
product
with
equipment
similar
in
size
to
that
contemplated
for
Volcan
6