Circuit Design and Mass Balance
The balance sheet that fixes every number downstream, run from the mine's own sample before any steel is cut.
How it runs
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Sample log
Log the sample: where it came from, how it was taken, how much of it there is. A balance from an unrepresentative sample is worse than no balance.
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Crushability testing
Crushability and abrasion index on the submitted rock, plus the 200 kg particle-size distribution.
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Flow sheet and balance
Build the flow sheet: every stream, every cut point, every circulating load.
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Machine sizing and steel list
Size the machines against the balance and list the steelwork that carries them.
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Freeze the revision
Issue, date and lock the revision. Changes after this point are revisions, not conversations.
What is in it
- Sampling method agreed before testing, so the result is defensible in a board paper
- Capacity stated as a range with the rock condition it is valid for
- Product cut points tested against the actual feed curve, not an assumed one
- Installed power and starting loads the mine can design its supply around
Deliverables
- Mass balance sheet: tonnes and size at every node
- Steelwork drawing set with a frozen revision
- Wear prediction by liner location for the first 12 months
- Six-month spares list per machine, by drawing number
- Installed power schedule for the mine's electrical design
What the mine provides
200 kg of representative rock, UCS and abrasion index if the mine already has them, the target product list and cut points, any site constraints (headroom, ground bearing, available power), and where the plant has to sit on the site plan.
How it is signed off
The balance is issued as the design basis, signed and dated. Every later change carries a revision number, which is what keeps the steelwork and the commissioning sheet talking about the same plant.
Before a drawing is issued, the plant has to be described as a set of numbers that add up: tonnes in, tonnes out, at every node. That is the mass balance, and it is the document everything else is built from.
We run it from the sample, not from a catalogue. A 200 kg particle-size distribution sets the feed curve; UCS and abrasion index set the power draw and the wear rate. If the sample is not representative, the number is not worth issuing, and we will say so rather than guess.
The balance is issued as the design basis and it is the client’s to keep. When the product list changes six months later, it is a revision with a date — not a phone call and a new guess.
Send the rock, not the wish list.
A 200 kg sample and the product list you want to sell is enough for us to price a circuit. Without the sample we will tell you so rather than guess.