SIMULATION: IES software for mineral processing

[caption id="attachment_1003733200" align="aligncenter" width="450"] IES workshop in Chile Credit: CRC ORE[/caption] AUSTRALIA - The Cooperative Research Centre for Optimizing Resource Extraction (CRC ORE), a non-profit funded by the Australian government and the minerals industry, is educating and cooperating with its participants in the use of its unique solutions. One of those is the Integrated Extraction Simulator (IES), a cloud-based software platform which simulates mineral processing operations. It simulates performance and metallurgical response for all components in the mineral processing stream, from blasting through comminution to flotation and leaching. The cloud architecture underpinning IES enables mass simulations in a matter of hours and positions it as an enterprise system that can be accessed and worked on simultaneously by a team collaborating from anywhere in the world. IES is being used by a growing number of operators worldwide to enhance the value of their operations, including CRC ORE Participants in Chile. This increased demand led to CRC ORE’s IES utilization manager, Dr. Eiman Amini, being invited to South America to conduct workshops on the use of the technology. At the invitation of Teck and Anglo American, Dr. Amini travelled to Chile earlier this year and delivered a learning experience for senior mining and metallurgy staff. Attendees discovered firsthand the new capabilities and exclusive features of IES. The content and delivery of the workshops was designed to ensure operators were confident in the results that IES delivers and their own ability to operate the cloud-based system. Topics covered included general IES use, flowsheet modelling, process optimization and ensuring an understanding of the logic behind the models and methodologies. Dr. Amini said workshop attendees were very receptive and gained insights into the simulator and how it can improve mine site planning and operations. “I believe the Chilean teams at Anglo American and Teck are more than capable of using IES as an effective tool to optimize value chains, with minimum input from CRC ORE,” he said. “In addition to ensuring familiarity with IES, attendees are now capable of using flowsheets developed by CRC ORE to evaluate different scenarios around the comminution circuit.” Anglo American’s principal of process modelling, Miguel Becerra, expressed confidence that he and his team had learned a great deal from the IES workshop and would be able to capitalize on their learning. “I am very happy with our progress in understanding the details behind this advanced modelling development,” Mr. Becerra said. “I’m sure that we now have a lot of good methods established to extract more value from our operation.” For more information on the integrated extraction simulator, visit www.CrcOre.org.au/IES.