Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 325–334

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Minerals Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng

Optimisation of the secondary ball mill using an on-line ball and pulp load sensor –
The Sensomag
Pratish Keshav a,⇑, Bernard de Haas b, Benoit Clermont b, Aubrey Mainza c, Michael Moys d
a
Waterval UG2 Concentrator, Anglo Platinum, South Africa
b
Magotteaux, Belgium
c
University of Cape Town, South Africa
d
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The ball load and pulp load have a significant influence on the ball mill product size and production
Available online 6 January 2011 capacity. To improve the circuit performance at industrial scale these variables must be tweaked to levels
where the plant can get grind and capacity benefits. In most grinding circuits the influence of these vari-
Keywords: ables are not quantified because it is difficult to obtain precise measurements of the pulp load for an
Precious metal ores industrial scale mill and the conventional method of obtaining ball load measurements that involves
Comminution crash stops is not attractive. A comprehensive investigation was performed on an industrial scale mill
Grinding
to quantify the effects of both ball and pulp load. A wide range of ball and pulp loads were tested and
Liberation
the findings are reported in this paper. The Sensomag, a sensor developed by Magotteaux, was used to
obtain ball and pulp load measurements during the experimental work.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Ball mills are used for primary and secondary grinding stages in
most comminution circuits around the world (Wills and
Napier-Munn, 2006). For the flotation process to be effective, the
milled product should be fine enough to ensure good liberation
of the valuable minerals to be recovered. A good understanding
of the factors that influence the performance of the mill is required
in order to maximise the degree of liberation of the valuable min-
erals presented to the flotation process, whilst operating the mill as
efficiently as possible in terms of energy consumption and wear.
In this project, the ball and pulp load were varied on an indus-
trial scale to see the effects on the ball mill product size and pro-
duction capacity at Anglo Platinum’s Waterval UG2 Concentrator
in Rustenburg, South Africa. The SensomagÒ, a sensor developed
by Magotteaux, was used to obtain ball and pulp load measure-
ments during the experimental work.
Sensors have been used in grinding applications to obtain infor-
mation for control and optimisation in different types of mills. Sen-
sors based on acoustic emission monitoring techniques (Pax et al.,
2003), vibration (Campbell et al., 2003) and strain gauges embed-
ded in lifters (Tano et al., 2005) have been used to monitor charge
properties such as toe and charge angle for AG/SAG mills and ball
mills. Tano et al. (2005) also indicated that sensors which provide
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +27 15 418 2088.
E-mail address: pkeshav@angloplat.com (P. Keshav).
information such as the mill load, charge position or slurry proper-
ties add great value to the control of the grinding process. In their
work they embedded a strain gauge sensor in a lifter and were able
to relate the signal obtained from the sensor to charge properties
such as the toe and charge angle for the grinding charge. Moys
and Montini (1987) used conductivity measurements in the con-
trol of grinding mills. Most of the sensors that have been shown
to be successful in industry are either based on the techniques
above or adaptations of technologies that can give similar types
of information.
1.1. Waterval UG2 Concentrator
Waterval UG2 Concentrator was designed to treat 400 ktpm of
UG2 ore (a predominantly chromite reef with PGM value) from
the various shafts at Anglo Platinum’s Rustenburg Platinum Mine
(RPM). The plant is set up in a mill – float – mill – float (MF2) cir-
cuit with primary and secondary milling stages prior to primary
and secondary rougher flotation respectively. The tests for this pro-
ject were carried out on the secondary ball mill. The ball mill has a
diameter of 7.32 m and length of 9.45 m (EGL) and has an overflow
configuration.
The secondary milling circuit is split into two parallel streams
using a set of cyclones. The cyclone overflow, containing a less
coarse silicate rich fraction, is sent to the IsaMill circuit to undergo
mainstream inert grinding (MIG), and the cyclone underflow, con-
taining the coarser chromite rich fraction, is sent to the secondary

0892-6875/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mineng.2010.10.011
326 P. Keshav et al. / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 325–334

mill, which was the test subject for this article. The secondary mill 0° Dry Head =
discharge is combined with the IsaMill circuit final product stream Ball Head – Pulp Head

in the secondary mill discharge sump, which is then pumped to the +

secondary rougher flotation cells, as illustrated in Fig. 1. There is a Head or shoulder angles
mill dilution water line feeding directly into the feed hopper of the -

secondary mill that can be used to adjust the in-mill density as

required. 90° 270°
The IsaMill circuit was a recent modification to the secondary Pool angle =
milling circuit. As a result, the amount of material treated in the Ball Foot – Pulp Foot
secondary mill has substantially decreased from the original de- -
sign. This provides an opportunity for some optimisation to be Foot or toe angles
+
done around the mill, and the Sensomag unit was used as an inves- Total angles =
tigative tool in this project. 180°
Head – Foot angles

Fig. 2. Illustration of angles that can be obtained from the Sensomag.

1.2. Description of the SensomagÒ

The Sensomag has been developed by Magotteaux to continu-

ously measure both ball load and pulp slurry positions inside an
operating mill. The Sensomag is installed on the shell of the mill.
The main data is provided in terms of toe and shoulder angles
for both steel and pulp. Other derived angles can also be computed
from this data, as illustrated in Fig. 2.
The principal element of the Sensomag is a standard beam,
made of special wear resistant polyurethane, installed inside the
mill, and containing sensors, which perform direct measurements
of ball and slurry presence. Fig. 3 shows examples of the internal
sensor of the Sensomag unit installed in the mill. The external part
of the installation on the shell is illustrated in Fig. 4. Ferromagnetic
balls are detected by a digital proximity sensor. The inductive
proximity sensor is based on a magnetic coil which generates a
magnetic field. Any metallic object entering the sensor’s magnetic
field causes an amplitude variation in the field itself. This ampli-
tude variation is then detected by electronics in the sensor. The
range of this inductive sensor depends on the magnetic coil diam-
eter. In this application the proximity range is limited from within
a few millimetres to a few centimetres. The slurry is detected when
it comes into contact with a double metallic electrode conductive
system. The ball and slurry proximity detection is performed on
a section of the rotating mill shell, at every revolution. Those raw
signals are sent through a wireless link to a central unit where they
are processed. The four angles are then computed and made avail-
able on-line to the customer supervision system via a standard OPC Fig. 3. Examples of polyurethane sensor beams for the Sensomag within a mill.
link or 4–20 mA electrical signals. There is no complex interpreta-
tion of any indirect signal of any kind such as noise, shell vibrations optimise equipment usage, which could lead to an increase in
or mill power drawn. The knowledge of ball load and pulp slurry grind quality and throughput, as well as energy and media costs
positions inside a running mill provide a unique opportunity to reduction (Kolacz, 1997, and Si et al., 2008).

Fig. 1. Waterval UG2 Concentrator secondary milling circuit.

 P. Keshav et al. / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 325–334
Fig. 4. Example of the Sensomag installation on the mill shell.
In an industrial ball mill treating very abrasive ore which is rich
in chromite, such as UG2, the maintenance schedule requires the
replacement of the resin beam every 3 months. The batteries, sup-
plying the complete system with energy, are also changed on the
same time basis, although they can last longer. These interventions
are scheduled to fit in with scheduled mill stoppages to avoid extra
mill downtime.
2. Experimental methodology
2.1. Project variables
The main variables for this test work were in-mill % solids and
ball filling degree. Test work was carried out over a range of con-
trolled conditions for the % solids and ball filling degree, both of
which have been shown to have a significant influence on mill
performance (Austin et al., 1984; Prasher, 1987, and Frances and
Laguerie, 1998). Table 1 shows the detailed test schedule with
the ranges of % solids and ball filling degrees covered in the study.
A total of 15 surveys were performed. For each survey samples
were taken for particle sizing as well as % solids analysis in order to
try and gauge the performance of the mill at the various operating
conditions. The secondary ball mill at Waterval UG2 Concentrator
is normally operated at 30% ball filling and between 68% and 72%
in-mill solids. In this study ball filling degrees of 25%, 30% and
33% and in-mill % solids of 65%, 68%, 72% and 75% were targeted
– which resulted in 12 surveys. The other three surveys were all
performed at 30% ball filling, but at 75%, 65% and 68% in-mill % sol-
ids targets. Surveys 1 and 2 were performed prior to the relining of
the secondary mill shell lifter bars. Survey 15 was carried out as a
check after the 33% filling condition surveys. The values for % solids
327
described above are by mass. A solids SG of 3.4 for UG2 ore treated
at Waterval UG2 Concentrator was used to estimate the % solids by
volume and the pulp density in Table 1. It should be noted that the
term % solids referred to elsewhere in this article is by mass.
Residence time distribution (RTD) tests were also performed on
seven of the surveys, as shown in Table 1. Around 250 kg of fine
salt was added to the cyclone underflow stream and samples of
the mill discharge collected at regular intervals. This was done
with the objective of trying to understand the flow patterns and
characteristics within the mill at different operating conditions.
Detailed analysis of the results from these tests will be reported
elsewhere.
Pulp chemistry samples were also taken of the mill feed and
discharge. These were analysed for pH, conductivity (mV) and tem-
perature. This was done to evaluate the effect of different mill
operating conditions on the pulp chemistry – which has a signifi-
cant influence on the performance of the flotation separation pro-
cess downstream.
2.2. Sampling procedure
Fig. 5 summarises the sampling points around the mill for the
surveys. During the test work samples were cut from the cyclone
underflow (mill feed) and the secondary mill discharge. Samples
were collected at regular intervals over a period of at least an hour.
Also, samples were taken in triplicate for better statistical confi-
dence in the results obtained. Manual cuts using a pelican type
sample cutter were taken of the cyclone underflow to obtain the
sample for particle sizing and % solids analysis. The flow rate of
the cyclone underflow was a critical measurement to take in order
to quantify the slurry flow rate through the system. This measure-
ment was performed with large plastic bags, a mass scale and a vi-
deo camera for timing. The entire flow from a particular cyclone
was captured in a plastic bag, and the sampling process was re-
corded with a video camera. The mass of the filled bag was then
measured with the scale. The time taken for that mass to be col-
lected was obtained from the video frames captured by the camera.
The procedure was repeated for each cyclone in the cluster and
these were added up to get the total mass flow into the secondary
mill for each survey. The inlet water flow rate was read off from the
plant SCADA system as there is a flow meter on the line. The flow
was controlled by the control room operator manipulating the po-
sition of the inlet water valve. The mill discharge sample was cut
using custom made sample cutter installed at a position below
the trommel screen but just above the mill discharge sump. The
cutter was positioned in such a way that the sample was not con-
taminated even if the sump level was very high, as illustrated in
Fig. 6.
2.3. Sampler design and verification
The design of the secondary mill discharge sump and the circuit
configuration, which allows the IsaMill product and the secondary
mill discharge to combine in the secondary mill discharge sump,
presented a challenge to collect a representative sample of the mill
discharge. Space was very limited underneath the trommel screen
and conditions were very harsh and aggressive for any conven-
tional sampling method to be employed. As a result, a custom sam-
ple cutter, illustrated in Fig. 6, was designed and installed within
the sump. The installation consisted of a simple sampling trough
that passed the sample into a sloped pipe, which allowed the sam-
ple to gravitate out to the collection point.
Due to the distance of the sampler trough from the beginning of
the trommel screen, there were some concerns as to whether the
sample collected would be representative and unbiased. A verifica-
tion survey was performed to check if a representative sample
328 P. Keshav et al. / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 325–334

Table 1
Target conditions for the various surveys.

Survey no. Date Target ball filling (%) Desired inlet H2O flow Target in-mill % solids Target in-mill % solids Target in-mill % solids RTD
(m3/hr) (by mass) (by volume) (by pulp density – Kg/L)
Survey 1 27-August-09 30 0 75% 47% 2.12 Yes
Survey 2 27-August-09 30 75 65% 35% 1.83 No
Survey 3 17-September-09 30 0 75% 47% 2.12 Yes
Survey 4 17-September-09 30 25 72% 43% 2.02 Yes
Survey 5 18-September-09 30 45 68% 38% 1.90 No
Survey 6 18-September-09 30 75 65% 35% 1.83 No
Survey 7 14-October-09 25 0 75% 47% 2.12 Yes
Survey 8 14-October-09 25 25 72% 43% 2.02 No
Survey 9 15-October-09 25 45 68% 38% 1.90 No
Survey 10 15-October-09 25 75 65% 35% 1.83 Yes
Survey 11 04-November-09 33 45 68% 38% 1.90 No
Survey 12 04-November-09 33 75 65% 35% 1.83 Yes
Survey 13 05-November-09 33 25 72% 43% 2.02 Yes
Survey 14 05-November-09 33 0 75% 47% 2.12 No
Survey 15 27-November-09 30 45 68% 38% 1.90 No

MANUAL
MEASUREMENT
ISAMILL INSTRUMENT
SEC MILLING CIRCUIT MEASUREMENT
CIRCUIT FEED
S – size
CYCLONE D – density
F – flow rate
MILL SUMP
DILUTION SECONDARY ROUGHER FLOTATION
WATER
S F

D
F

MILL INLET
WATER S FINAL TAILS
SECONDARY MILL
D

SEC MILL DISCHARGE SUMP

Fig. 5. Sampling points across the secondary mill.

Fig. 6. Illustration of the secondary mill discharge sampler.

 P. Keshav et al. / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 325–334 329

could be taken using the custom made sample cutter. This was 08-Jul-09 09-Jul-09
done through by-passing the IsaMill circuit and feeding the whole 2.50
primary rougher tail stream to the secondary mill circuit. In this 2.40

Pulp density (kg/L)

case the primary rougher tail fed the cyclone and the cyclone 2.30
underflow reported to the secondary mill. The overflow is sent di- 2.20
rectly to the discharge sump. For this configuration, a survey 2.10
around the discharge sump could be performed because the cy- 2.00
clone overflow, as well as the secondary rougher feed, could be 1.90
1.80
sampled, mass balanced and compared to the sample from the sec-
1.70
ondary ball mill discharge sample cutter. In addition to the % solids
1.60
and size distributions data collected from each stream, PGMs and
1.50
Cr2O3 assays for selected size fractions were obtained. The stream 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
flow rates obtained from process control instruments on the plant measurement
and data from samples, such as size distributions and % solids, was
used in the mass balance performed using JKSimMetÒ. The results Fig. 9. Mill discharge sampler consistency test results for slurry SG.
from this balance are shown in Fig. 7. The experimental or mea-
sured data ties up very closely to the balanced data, as shown by
the particle size distribution curves. The assays were then used formed to assess the operation and accuracy of the custom made
to further tighten the mass balance, and the resulting parity chart, secondary mill discharge sample cutter, it was observed that the
comparing the measured and balanced data, is shown in Fig. 8. The sample collected from this cutter did not seem to have any form
points lie very close to the 45° parity line – indicating that the of bias, and can be assumed accurate and representative.
measured and balanced values are very similar. From the tests per- Another type of test was performed to measure the consistency
of the secondary mill discharge sample cutter. For this test a num-
ber of samples were taken in succession over a period of time and
100 for each sample the pulp density measurement was taken. Fig. 9
shows that the pulp density measurements obtained from all the
80
samples collected. The pulp density measurements obtained ap-
pear to be consistent for the entire period of sampling, with the rel-
cum % passing

ative standard deviation for the two test periods being 0.43% and
60
1.11% respectively.

40
3. Results and interpretation

20
3.1. Results

0 A total of 15 tests were performed at three target ball filling de-

10 100 1000
grees and four different target in-mill % solids. Table 2 shows the
size (um)
target and actual experimental variables for all tests performed
mill discharge (experimental) mill discharge (balanced)
cyclone O/F (experimental) cyclone O/F (balanced) in this project.
rougher feed (experimental) rougher feed (balanced) It can be seen that the actual filling degree calculated from the
Sensomag angles and model were generally close to the targeted
Fig. 7. Particle size distribution curves for the experimental and balanced data from
the sampler verification survey. filling degree. Surveys 1 through to 6 were all performed at ball fill-
ing degrees of 30%. It must be noted that surveys 1 and 2 were per-
formed when the mill was operated with a worn liner, while
1000
surveys 3–6 were under the new liner. For survey 15 the target ball
filling was 30%, but the calculated filling from the Sensomag was
Solids (tph)
around 28%, which makes it a separate operational condition.
4E (Pt, Pd, Au, Rh) (gpt) The general cyclone underflow density % solids were around
100
Cr2O3 (%) 76% for the tests performed in this project. However, survey 5
linear was lower than the rest of the surveys due to upstream distur-
bances. The measured in-mill % solids were also generally quite
close to the targeted values. The exception is however survey 9,
balanced

where the measured was around 75% compared to a target of

10
68%. This was a result of the majority of the inlet water by-passing
the mill feed line due to a leaking manual valve after the flow
meter. The effect of the lower than expected cyclone underflow
1
density for survey 5 meant that the measured in-mill density
was 65% instead of the targeted 68%. The general stability during
the surveys was quite good, as supported by the fairly low relative
standard deviations for the measured % solids for the mill feed and
0.1
discharge streams.
0.1 1 10 100 1000 The general difficulty in measuring the flow rate of a stream as
large as the cyclone underflow is evident in some of the high rela-
measured
tive standard deviations observed for the flow measurements in
Fig. 8. Parity chart showing the measured against the balanced values for the mass Table 2. Samples were taken for time intervals of around 1 s, thus
balance around the discharge sump. the expected error in the measurements are significant. However,
330 P. Keshav et al. / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 325–334

Table 2
Project targeted and achieved parameters for the various surveys.

Survey No. Target ball Sensomag Cyclone Target in-mill % Actual in-mill % Cyclone U/F Residence
filling degree filling degree U/F % solids solids solids time
Flow rate RSD
% % Avg. Avg. tph min
1 30 29.14 75.0% 75% 73.0% 386.1 5.5% 28.14
2 30 29.49 75.1% 65% 65.4% 422.2 10.0%
3 30 29.85 76.6% 75% 75.1% 451.0 0.2% 30.77
4 30 30.23 75.9% 72% 73.4% 443.4 4.5% 27.14
5 30 30.16 71.0% 68% 65.0% 449.0 3.5%
6 30 30.16 77.9% 65% 63.5% 464.5 4.3%
7 25 24.50 74.7% 75% 75.6% 441.8 1.0% 29.45
8 25 24.65 76.1% 72% 71.4% 435.9 2.0%
9 25 24.64 75.4% 68% 74.5% 456.0 0.5%
10 25 24.86 74.7% 65% 67.3% 408.1 12.5% 25.40
11 33 32.90 76.3% 68% 67.7% 436.4 1.1%
12 33 32.77 76.1% 65% 65.1% 457.6 9.6% 22.47
13 33 32.88 76.8% 72% 72.1% 409.2 5.5% 27.61
14 33 32.87 76.6% 75% 75.6% 420.2 3.3%
15 30 27.91 68%

the results do indicate that in general, the flow into the mill from
the cyclone underflow was around 440 tph of slurry. The residence
time measured varied between about 22.5 and 30 min, depending
on the operating conditions.
The grind data was initially assessed in terms on reduction ra-
tios and sieve (or screen) efficiencies for selected size classes.
The size classes of interest in this investigation were the plus
106 lm, the sub 75 lm and the sub 38 lm fractions. The defini-
tions of reduction ratio and screen efficiency as used in this article
are given in Eqs. (1) and (2), respectively.
%Pdischarge
Reduction ratio ¼
%Pfeed
The term %P represents the cumulative percentage passing a
certain screen size of either the feed or discharge stream. The
reduction ratio, Eq. (1), calculates the amount of material less than
a particular size in the product stream relative to the amount in the
feed stream.
Fig. 10 shows the reduction ratios for the various surveys. The
result for each survey is that as obtained from the composite sam-
ple collected, as described in the sampling procedure. The reduc-
tion ratio of the sub 106 lm fraction is between 3 and 4. The sub
75 lm fraction reduction ratio of 4–6 was achieved. The sub
38 lm material has a reduction ratio between 5 and 8. More partic-
ularly, surveys 1–4 and 11–15 have the more favourable reduction
ratios. The differences between the surveys are however not that
10
reduction ratio (%Pdisch /%Pfeed )
pronounced as one would expect for ball mills used in secondary
or tertiary application duties. The differences between the highest
and lowest results are around 1 for the reduction ratios.
3.2. Effect of the liner on mill performance (pre and post relining
surveys)
In order to quantify the effect of liner profile surveys 1 and 2 were
compared with surveys 4 and 5, where the latter surveys were
performed after a mill shell relining. Both sets of surveys were per-
formed at around 30% ball filling degree. Surveys 1 and 4 and surveys
2 and 5 were performed at around 73% and 65% solids respectively.
ð1Þ
Fig. 11 shows the ball and pulp positions plotted against % sol-
ids for the old and new liner. Fig. 12 shows a schematic of ball and
pulp position for the old and new liners.
With regards to the balls in the charge the following observa-
tions were drawn:
– The balls are lifted 2° higher with the new liner indicating that
the liner has an influence on the ball lift.
– At the toe of the load, there is also a 2° difference in the ball
angles.
– Assessing the total ball angle shows that the ball load is more
expanded with the new liner and more compact with the worn
liner. The ball load appears to be more expanded as the density
increases. The results appear to be consistent but further tests
should be performed to assess if these differences are statisti-
cally significant and how this impacts on mill performance.

sub 106µm With regards to the pulp in the charge the following observa-
9
sub 75µm
8 tions were drawn:
sub 38µm
7
6
– At the shoulder (head), the pulp is lifted slightly higher with the
worn liner.
5
– At the toe, the difference between the old and new liner is larger
4
than 2°. The pulp appears to be more compact with a worn liner.
3 This difference could perhaps be explained by a more compact
2 ball load that captures and drags the pulp with it.
1 – In general, the pulp is more compact and slightly more lifted
0 with a worn liner. The pulp tends to be even more compact as
the density increases.
y1
ey 2
ey 3
ey 4
ey 5
ey 6
ey 7
ey 8
ey 9

0
1
2
3
4
5
ey 1
ey 1
ey 1
ey 1
ey 1
ey 1
e
Surv
Surv
Surv
Surv
Surv
Surv
Surv
Surv
Surv
Surv
Surv
Surv
Surv
Surv
Surv

As the secondary mill is fed by the underflow of a cyclone, the

mill feed rate is controlled by the primary rougher. It was not pos-
Fig. 10. Reduction ratios at three size classes across the secondary mill. sible to standardise the feed rate to the secondary mill during the
 P. Keshav et al. / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 325–334 331

302.0 Ball Head Angle 309.4 Pulp Head Angle

309.0
301.0
308.6
300.0
308.2

299.0
% solids % solids
307.8
64% 66% 68% 70% 72% 74% 64% 66% 68% 70% 72% 74%

Ball Head (Old) Ball Head (New) Pulp Head (Old) Pulp Head (New)

131.0 Ball Toe Angle 102.0 Pulp Toe Angle

101.0
130.0
100.0
129.0 99.0
98.0
128.0
97.0
% solids % solids
127.0 96.0
64% 66% 68% 70% 72% 74% 64% 66% 68% 70% 72% 74%

Ball Toe (Old) Ball Toe (New) Pulp Toe (Old) Pulp Toe (New)

Fig. 11. Sensomag angles for the old and new liner surveys.

Fig. 13 shows the mill performance in terms of power draw and

the reduction ratio of the % sub 75 lm size for a new and worn
liner. The following observations were made:

– A mill equipped with a worn liner absorbs more power. This

power draw decreases as the in-mill density increases.
– A worn liner appeared to produce a higher reduction ratio of the
% sub 75 lm than a new liner.

Ball position (new liner) Pulp position (new liner) Generally, a worn liner leads to a more compact ball load which
Ball position (old liner) Pulp position (old liner) improves the quality of ball/pulp mixing contact. This leads to a
better grind at a cost of a slightly higher power draw. On the other
Fig. 12. Ball and slurry position comparison between new and old liners.
hand, a new liner appeared to have a more expanded ball load,
leading to poorer ball/pulp contacts and reduced power draw.

test period. During the first survey, performed at high density, the
mill feed rate was unusually low. For the purposes of this article
the analysis of liner effect on mill performances will not take ton-
nage into account and only power draw and reduction ratio are
considered. The tonnage information will be incorporated after
the circuit simulations are completed, which are not a subject of
this paper.
3.3. Effect of density at various ball filling degrees
Fig. 14 shows the ball and pulp angles for tests performed at
various in-mill % solids for different filling degrees. The following
observations were drawn with regard to the effect of density on
the ball position:

9.3 Mill Power (MW) 5.5 Red Ratio (75µm)

9.2 5.0

9.1 4.5

9.0 4.0

% solids % solids
8.9 3.5
64% 66% 68% 70% 72% 74% 64% 66% 68% 70% 72% 74%

Mill Power (Old) Mill Power (New) RRatio 75µ (Old) RRatio 75µ (New)

Fig. 13. Mill power draw and reduction ratio on 75 lm comparison for the old and new liner surveys.
332 P. Keshav et al. / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 325–334

– The ball head angle does not appear to be influenced by the pulp
density. Only a slight decrease was observed in the head angle
as the density increases. However, the mill filling degree
appears to have an influence on the ball head angle. The ball
head angle appears to be larger at higher ball filling degrees.
– Unlike the ball head angle, the ball toe angle appears to be influ-
enced by the in-mill pulp density. It can be seen that when the
in-mill density increases the ball foot angle decreases. This
could be due to the ball expansion at the toe of the load which
Ball position (FD = 25%) Pulp position (FD = 25%)
was observed with increase in the slurry density.
Ball position (FD = 30%) Pulp position (FD = 30%)
– Generally, the increasing density has an expanding effect on the
Ball position (FD = 33%) Pulp position (FD = 33%)
ball load, mainly at the toe. This behaviour occurs at every ball
filling degree. Fig. 15. Ball and slurry positions for various filling degrees.

The following observations were drawn with regard to the ef-

fect of density on the pulp position:
– The pulp head angle decreases as the density increases. As the
density increases, the pulp becomes more sticky, but also hea-
vier. In this case, the ratio between the forces in presence (adhe-
sion, cohesion and gravity) seems to be in favour of cohesion
and gravity. Thus, instead of expanding due to high adhesion
forces, the heavy pulp seems to contract due to cohesion and
gravitational forces in this instance.
– At the toe, the pulp angle variations are very small (overflow
discharge). There is a slight increase in the pulp foot angle with
density, at some ball filling values and some slight compaction
of pulp volume.
– Generally, the pulp volume gets more compact as density
increases. The total pulp angle decreases with increasing den-
sity. This compaction occurs mainly at the shoulder of the pulp
volume.
The effect of in-mill density and filling degree on the relative
position of ball and pulp head and toe positions is shown in Figs. 14
and 15.
– At the shoulder, the pulp appears to be lifted a few degrees
higher than the balls. The dry ball head angle is always negative.
The difference between pulp and balls at the shoulder decreases
as the ball filling and pulp density increase.
– At the toe, the pool angle appears to decrease as the in-mill den-
sity and ball filling degree increases. Although the pulp level
remains almost constant the ball load appears to expand (ball
foot angle decreasing) which reduces the pool.
– Generally, the difference between the total pulp and ball angle
decreases as the in-mill density and filling increase. This could
lead to better mixing between balls and slurry and therefore
improved mill performances.
The effect of in-mill density on the mill performance at various
filling degrees is given in Fig. 16.
– The power draw appears to decrease with increase in the in-mill
density. It is mainly due to the weight of the pool which
increases with density. The mill power increases with the ball
filling which is mainly due to the weight of steel media.

307 Ball Head 313 Pulp Head

Angle Angle
305 311
303
309
301
307
299
305
297
295 303
% solids % solids
293 301
60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 60% 65% 70% 75% 80%

25% FD 30% FD 33% FD 25% FD 30% FD 33% FD

135 Ball Toe 99.0 Pulp Toe

Angle Angle
133
98.5
131
129 98.0
127
97.5
125
% solids % solids
123 97.0
60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 60% 65% 70% 75% 80%

25% FD 30% FD 33% FD 25% FD 30% FD 33% FD

Fig. 14. Sensomag angles for different mill % solids and filling degree surveys.
 P. Keshav et al. / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 325–334 333

0 Dry Head 40 Pulp Pool

Angle Angle
-2
35
-4
30
-6
25
-8
% solids % solids
-10 20
60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 60% 65% 70% 75% 80%

25% FD 30% FD 33% FD 25% FD 30% FD 33% FD

11 Mill Power (MW) 5.2 RRatio (75µm)

10 5.0
4.8
9
4.6
8
4.4
7 4.2
% solids % solids
6 4.0
60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 60% 65% 70% 75% 80%

25% FD 30% FD 33% FD 25% FD 30% FD 33% FD

Fig. 16. Mill performance comparisons for various densities and ball filling degrees.

– Increasing the in-mill density appeared to give a slight increase
in the reduction ratio of sub 75 lm. The data tends to indicate
that the optimum in-mill density was not reached for this ore
type at the three ball fillings tested. The reduction ratio also
increases with the ball filling, as expected.
From this work it can be concluded that there are two possibil-
ities of improving the reduction ratio: either by increasing ball fill-
ing at the cost of increased power draw or by increasing pulp
density at reduced power draw. Therefore, mill performance opti-
misation should first be done by increasing pulp density which has
no cost associated with it. If the grind target cannot be reached
only then should the ball filling be increased.
3.4. Mill performance linked to the Sensomag data
Analyses of mill performance of usually challenging and differ-
ent methods have been applied by various authors (Fuerstenau and

60 kWh/T -75µ 60 kWh/T -75µ

55 55

50 50

45 45
Ball Toe angle Pulp Head angle
40 40
123 125 127 129 131 133 135 301 303 305 307 309 311 313

25% FD 30% FD 33% FD 25% FD 30% FD 33% FD

60 kWh/T -75µ 60 kWh/T -75µ

55 55

50 50

45 45
Pulp Pool angle Dry Head an gle
40 40
20 25 30 35 40 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0

25% FD 30% FD 33% FD 25% FD 30% FD 33% FD

Fig. 17. Graphs showing the link between the Sensomag data and milling performance.
334 P. Keshav et al. / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 325–334
Abouzeid, 2002). The analysis performed in this section attempts
to evaluate the relationship between mill performances (kWh/t
75 lm material generated) and the Sensomag ball and pulp an-
gles. The parameter kWh/t (75lm) can be defined by Eq. (2).
The idea is to initiate the construction of operation rules based
on the Sensomag data – which takes into account ball filling degree
and pulp level. Although a detailed analysis has been performed,
only a small section of results have been presented in Fig. 17.
kWh Mill power
¼ ð2Þ
tð75 lmÞ Solids feed rate ð%Pdischarge  %Pfeed
75 Þ
75
– At the toe, in an overflow mill, the most significant angle is the
ball angle. With decreasing ball foot angles, at a constant filling
degree, the performance increases as indicated by a lower spe-
cific energy (kWh/t). There is a better mix between balls and
pulp. The pool volume decreases due to balls entering into the
pulp.
– At the shoulder, the pulp head angle is the most significant. As
this angle decreases, the performance increases.
– Globally, the grinding performance increases as the ball angles
and pulp angles are getting closer to each other. More specifi-
cally, in the case of an overflow mill, at constant ball filling,
the mill performance increases as the pulp volume becomes
more compact (mainly at the shoulder) and as the ball load
expands (mainly at the toe).
– At constant ball filling degree, this mill’s performance increases
as the pool angle and dry ball angle go toward zero. To recap,
the dry head angle is the difference between the ball head
and pulp head angles, and the pool angle is the difference
between the ball foot and pulp foot angles.
– In the case of an improving mix of balls and pulp linked to a ball
filling degree increase, the performances deteriorate because of
high power (kW) cost, even though the reduction ratio seemed
greatest for the highest filling degree.
4. Conclusions
A total of 15 surveys were performed around the Waterval UG2
Concentrator secondary ball mill, at three different ball filling de-
grees and four in-mill density levels as part of optimisation studies.
The filling degree and pulp level were measured using an on-line
sensor called ‘‘Sensomag’’, developed by Magotteaux. All the sur-
veys performed at various ball filling degrees show consistent
trends in terms of performance optimisation:
– The milling performance is linked to the quantity and quality of
the ball/pulp interactions.
– To improve these interactions, several actions can be taken:
 The ball filling can be increased. These extra balls will take
position where previously there was only pulp. This leads
to a reduction of the pool and dry head volume. The associ-
ated cost is an increase of mill power draw.
 The pulp density can be increased, leading to ball load
expansion. This also leads to a reduction of the pool and
dry head volume. In this case, the mill absorbed power is
also drastically reduced.
– In terms of pulp density, no optimum was reached. One can
expect the milling performances to deteriorate at high density
(somewhere above 75% solids), but this high value was not
tested in the surveys performed due to limitations on current
achievable cyclone underflow density.
– Increasing the pulp density has an unexpected consequence at
the pulp shoulder: the pulp head angle decreases as density
increases. This might be explained by gravity and cohesion
forces which increase (more than adhesion forces) with pulp
density.
The milling performances are linked to the quantity but also the
quality of ball and pulp interactions. The load expansion gives a
direct image of the quantity of contact. The quality of contact is
linked to the compactness of the load. Further studies will be
required to correlate the ball load compactness with the mill
operating and Sensomag parameters.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express the appreciation to Anglo
Platinum, Magotteaux, University of Witwatersrand, and University
of Cape Town for supporting this work. In addition the authors
acknowledge the valuable contributions of the following people
who worked very hard to ensure that this project succeeded:
Anglo Platinum: Executive and Senior Management (Process) for
permission to publish data, Neville Plint, Dirk Crafford, Braam Dur-
ant, Phillip Steyn, Piet van Niekerk, Louis Hollamby, Jeff Matsetela,
Magali van den Bosch, Peter Dawson, Gift Nhlabathi, Thabang
Mathipa, Mfundo Khumalo, Boitumelo Masilo, Neo Molusi and
the operational team at Waterval UG2 Concentrator.
Magotteaux: Mauritz van den Heever, Eduard Kleynhans and Jo-
han Dahner.
WITS University: Mulenga Bwalya, Augustine Makokha and
Francois Katubilwa.
UCT: Andre van der Westhuizen and Jason Waters.
Anglo American Research: Wayne van Drunick
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