Excel PB Update
July 2010
There are now separate versions of the Excel PB for users of Excel 2003 and 2007 (the version previously available would not work in the latter). Click here for more details and download instructions.
Results of Sponsor Surveys
July 2010
- Introducing a new meeting schedule that will include holding a series of smaller regional meetings
around the world. This will enable representatives of sponsoring companies to more easily attend a
meeting by reducing the cost and time involved. Further, it will expose the project to a much broader
audience and enhance the prospects for technology transfer.
For details click here. - It was agreed that new companies can continue to join as sponsors of the project. For details click here.
SRM2 Calgary Meeting
May 2010
The 2nd Sponsor Review Meeting was held in Calgary on 29th April with 15 sponsoring companies represented and with 40-odd attendees.
The strong attendance this allowed from company representatives in the region, combined with favorable feedback, encourages us to explore further the notion of holding additional ‘regional’ meetings elsewhere in the world. We will shortly seek feedback from you on this topic.
Starting with a day of 1:1 meetings between sponsoring companies and the researchers, we had the Background Awareness Workshop (BAW) the following day and the Sponsors Review Meeting (SRM) the next. The curiosity for many of seeing snow falling did not distract us from the very fine presentations by the researchers.
Shell kindly provided the venue and the meetings were held at their Calgary Research Centre.
The presentations from both the BAW and SRM are available and you are encouraged to review them. Note that unlike at the September 2009 meetings, videos were not taken of this BAW.
Second Progress Report
April 2010
The Second Progress report is now available.
CCD model update for Thickener Expert 3.0
January 2010
This update corrects a potential mass balancing issue, a consequence of results being reported to three significant figures.
Knowledge Base Update For Thickener Expert 3.0
November 2009
The Knowledge Base included on the Thickener Expert 3.0 CD-ROM (released October 2008) has been updated with new CFD animations, and minor corrections to the text.
As this is a large update, it has been made availabe as an all-in-one download or as four smaller downloads. Further information is listed at the Resources for Sponsors area (sponsors will be prompted for their company password to view this information).
2nd Sponsors Review Meetings April 2010 (Date Change!)
November 2009
The second P266F Sponsors' Meetings will be held in Calgary, Canada on 27-29 April 2010 (Please note the changed location from the "floated" at the recent SRM).
Following the favourable comments and successful format of the program of the recent meetings in Perth, it is intended to use the same format at the SRM2. This will be:
| 1. | Tuesday, 27 April | - | A full day of 1-on-1 meeting times will be available by appointment between sponsors and the project team. | |
| 2. | Wednesday, 28 April | - | The project team will present a Background Awareness Workshop for those Sponsor Representatives wanting a briefing on the project background. | |
| 3. | Thursday, 29 April | - | The 2nd Sponsors' Review Meeting. |
Observant readers will notice that the dates have moved forward a day. By doing this, the time of the SRM won’t encroach on Saturday for teleconferencing participants in Australia / South Africa.
Please note that these dates are in the week before the PASTE 2010 Conference, being held in Toronto from 3-6 May 2010.
Updated CFD animations on Knowledge Base (website version)
July 2009
Of the 13 animations previously on the Knowledge Base, seven have been replaced with up-to-date versions better reflecting current CFD capabilities and a further four animations have been added. All animations related to PB-CFD have been updated. Other revisions made relate to some faulty links and also to problems viewing some symbols in Firefox. These changes were made live on the P266 website in late June, and a patch for Thickener Expert users will be made available in the near future. (see Nov 2009 item above)
Sponsors’ opportunity to input to P266 web-based training resources
April 2009
Sponsors’ input for the following two P266F Technology Transfer objectives for the proposal are sought:
5.1 Thickener Expert
On-going development of the web-based Thickener Expert system:
- Expansion and continued revision of the Knowledge Base, bringing in more videos, images and CFD animations, with emphasis on problem solving.
- Develop video-based on-line resources (that provide brief introductions to thickeners, operating strategies, common thickening problems and other resources available for help. These are to be considered induction rather than training tools, but may direct users to more detailed on-line resources.
Sponsors may click here to view the document.
P266F begins!
January 2009
P266F commenced on 1 January 2009.
We are pleased to welcome back fourteen P266E sponsors (some with new owners). The return of three P266D sponsors is pleasing as is the addition of two new sponsors. We are sad to lose the involvement of Zinifex/Nyrstar/OZ Minerals, who have been continuous supporters (as EZ/Pasminco/Zinifex) from the start of P266, and of Minara Resources. AngloGold Ashanti has also not re-joined. Nevertheless, we are hopeful that we can convince them that the Sunrise Dam exercise can be repeated with the same outstanding results at some of their other sites with similar clay settling problems. AngloGold Ashanti has very kindly agreed to make available the details of that 1:1 study based on its Sunrise Dam project. This can be found via a link on the Home page in the "Gravity thickening in minerals processing" paragraph.
We had hoped that P266F would begin on 1 July 2008. However, we badly underestimated the complexity of gaining commitment from enough sponsors to meet the budget. In hindsight, perhaps life would have been easier if we had asked for a greater contribution per sponsor! Given the turmoil in the minerals world, we have done well and are grateful for the commitment and patience of the continuing sponsors.
We were in discussion with companies in the Canadian Oil Sands industry and had high hopes of two or three joining as sponsors; however, just at the critical time, the oil price collapsed, and decisions are postponed till after major reviews by the companies. We hope for good news in March. There are two or three other companies with some expressed interest, and these will be followed up with a view to resolution in early 2009.
As of January 2009, the sponsor list is a "Who's Who" of Thickener Operators, Equipment and Reagent Suppliers.
| Albian Sands Energy Inc, | |
| Alcoa World Alumina, | |
| Alumina do Norte do Brasil S.A., | |
| Anglo Research, | |
| Bateman Engineering NV, | |
| BHP Billiton Ltd, | |
| Ciba (Australia) Pty Ltd, | |
| Cytec Industries, Inc., | |
| Exxaro Resources Limited, | |
| FL Smidth Minerals Inc, | |
| Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold, | |
| Hatch Associates Pty Ltd, | |
| Metso Minerals Process Technology Asia-Pacific & South America, | |
| Nalco Company, | |
| Norilsk Process Technology Pty Ltd, | |
| Outotec Pty Ltd, | |
| Technological Resources Pty Limited (Rio Tinto), | |
| Teck Cominco Metals Limited, | |
| United Company RUSAL. |
The University of Melbourne was successful in its application to the Australian Research Council for a Linkage Grant to support their part of the research project "Thickener operation optimisation and design for the minerals industry".
The Project "kicked off" with a two part teleconference on 11 and 12 February (depending on where in the world you were). The Minutes are available on the meetings page.
Gray Bailey
P266F Research Director