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MINING SERVICES | Process IQ
PROCESS IQ Completing a turnaround in Liberia and expanding into Burkina Faso
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Driving out hidden inefficiencies in minerals processing plants
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MINING SERVICES | Process IQ
Process IQ was formed by Pieter Strobos and Daniel van der Spuy after the South African duo emigrated to Australia in 2000 and 2006 respectively. The directors of the company have been involved in the mining industry for the vast majority of their professional careers, crossing paths at Mintek South Africa before they decided to set up a process control and instrumentation service company based in Perth in 2011. Process IQ has achieved triple-digit growth annually since then and is now well-known and respected in the mining industry.
‘technology exhaustion’ from the hail of silver bullets out there,” says Strobos. “Process IQ fulfil the role of ‘technology integrator’, assessing many different technologies and applying appropriate solutions for mining companies. “Since the personnel at Process IQ are proficient in a wide variety of technologies, we can provide efficient support services to mines, particularly remote operations. “The majority of the measurement techniques we supply are unique. For example: fast online measurement of cyanide (Cynoprobe), carbon concentration, dissolved oxygen and pH in CIP gold plants and elemental analyses (like Ni, Cu, C and sulphur with Blue Cube MQi) and particle size measurement in flotation plants.
A large degree of Process IQ’s clients stretch back over 17 years to when Strobos first
“We also assist in introducing unique and
settled in Australia. The firm’s business
improved measurement control techniques
director tells RGN how Process IQ has
in SAG and Ball milling circuits.”
developed into a client–focused mining technology and service business that
An example of one of the company’s most
understands minerals processing and is
recent products is MillSlicer. “Vibration
continually sourcing the best technologies
technology is used to analyse the impact on
that can be applied to the mining industry to
the mill shell, and from that we can provide
solve problems.
the operators with a visual presentation of what’s going on inside their mills as well as
Process IQ is unique in that it not only uses
five additional signals that has never before
traditional technology but is at the forefront
been used in mills.
of developing and applying emerging technology related to Industry 4.0 in the
“This can have a substantial economic impact
mining industry.
on mines as it has a direct influence on throughput and liner wear of mills.”
“Some mining companies often suffer from
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MINING SERVICES | Process IQ
In fact, Strobos reveals that some clients
companies, for instance to optimise grinding
have reported throughput improvements
circuits.
of between 10-20% after combining this technology with their advanced
“Through our remote monitoring capability,
control algorithms. This is a significant
we can provide expert data analyses and
operational improvement that could make
support services to mining clients anywhere
a huge difference to a company’s financial
in the world in real time.
performance. “Many suppliers of cloud-based systems start MillSlicer was developed by the firm’s US
their presentations with ‘imagine’ while we
partner, Digital Control Lab, and Process IQ is actually do solve real-life problems for the registered as distributor of the technology in
mining industry,” says Strobos.
Australia, South East Asia, Russia and Africa. Process IQ currently services many gold, base “We have skills that cover the full spectrum of metal, battery mineral, mineral sands as well automation and optimisation, including basic as iron ore mines, working with brownfields and specialised instrumentation through to
and greenfields sites.
advanced control systems and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platforms with
As a first step, Process IQ will typically visit
artificial intelligence (AI) for monitoring and
an existing plant to conduct a detailed review
optimisation.
of the operation. This may include a gap analyses on the existing instrumentation
“In Perth we have experts in every aspect
and control infrastructure, talking to site
of minerals processing - from design
personnel, collecting data and identifying
through to operations and support. Process
opportunities to improve throughput,
IQ collaborate with other METS (Mining,
recovery and efficiency.
Equipment, Technology and Services)
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“For study managers of greenfields projects,
processing plant is a significant expense for
we advise thinking about ‘The Digital Mine’
a miner, through losses of valuable metals in
early on - typically before the detailed
the tails or inefficient or sub-optimal use of
feasibility study (DFS) phase. Process IQ can
equipment, power or reagents.
assist by specifying the Basis of Design at this early stage to ensure the process and control
The problem is that these types of losses
system design of new mines are future-
don’t appear on quarterly or annual financial
proof.”
statements, therefore it is often difficult to account for internally and can easily be
Several factors can affect the safety and
ignored. However, it is just as important for
performance of metallurgical processing
productivity to audit these types of losses as
plants, including mineralogy, feed grade, the
the more obvious ones.
age of equipment and instrumentation, level of process control, skill level of operators and Through the application of digital remote managers – as well as their ability to harness
data analytics, Process IQ can solve process
data and turn it into useful information to
problems even before the client becomes
drive decisions.
aware of it.
It is Process IQ’s role to evaluate these key
The manual handling of data is a big problem
performance indicators and provide cost-
in the mining industry, according to Strobos,
effective solutions to inefficiencies or unsafe
with platforms such as IoT and AI forming
work practices.
part of a natural solution to the manual data problem.
Mining companies need a social license to operate, and part of this is being sustainable
This is another key area of business for
- namely being good stewards of the earth’s
Process IQ, which is a vital consideration
natural resources. An inefficient mine or
amongst metallurgical mills and plants. In
MINING SERVICES | Process IQ
“Some mining companies can often suffer from ‘technology exhaustion’ from the hail of silver bullets out there. Process IQ can assist by fulfilling the role of ‘technology integrator’ Pieter Strobos, business director
ResourceGlobal GlobalNetwork Network Resource many cases, plant operators continue to
efficiencies and reduce errors and downtime
persist with manual measurements and
on equipment.”
laborious filling in of manual log sheets to record data. These are often shelved and
Strobos believes that the biggest novel
seldom looked at. This information could
development made by Process IQ is the
be valuable if it were automated, digitised,
IoT platform and the application of AI. The
analysed and used in process control.
business director hopes that the company can lead the process of digitisation in the
Process IQ is spearheading the transition
mining sector, which is currently lagging
towards digitisation of data in the mineral
behind advanced manufacturing and other
processing industry through its automated
industries in terms of automation and
analysers, IoT platform and application of
machine learning.
machine learning. The mining industry is faced with several “One example is working with a client to get
unique challenges such as unpredictable
their data directly from the lab into our cloud- feed materials, which make automation based platform where it can be integrated
challenging. To some extent, mineral
with other plant data for viewing, analyses
processing absorbs a lot of the natural
and optimisation.”
variability, making it easier for downstream processing.
In support of its digitised data handling services, Process IQ offers a wide range of
However, a lot of technology has been
measurement devices to help operators
developed over recent years that can now
augment other information such as in-field
also be applied in mining to handle this
status and availability of equipment.
variability through online measurement and machine learning.
“The use of cloud-based services enables us to cross traditional boundaries and
Finally, Strobos has a simple message for
access information from sources such
any METS companies: “Partner with us in
as design drawings, asset management,
your digital transformation journey to help
process control, part procurement and
improve mining.”
availability, operators shift information, etc. This information can greatly enhance
a j
Published by Anderson Murray Media Ltd
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