Ore Concentrate

Successful Experience:

Bypass System for Secondary Ball Mills – Phase 2 Concentrate Plant, Ehya Sepahan Iron Ore Mines Co.

 Key Contributors:

• Ahmadreza Javadian: Project proposal and strategic oversight.
• Seyed Mehdi Hashemi & Reza Zolfaghari: Design, management, and implementation of optimization measures.
• Yaser Maqsoudi: Human resource coordination and worker training.

 Project Overview:

In Phase 2 of the concentrate plant, a bypass system was designed and implemented for the secondary ball mills. This innovation ensures that if one of the secondary mills (2A or 2B) is shut down—especially during overhaul—the production process remains stable and uninterrupted.

Previously, any downtime in these mills caused significant disruptions and reduced concentrate output. The bypass system now allows feed to be rerouted to the primary ball mills, maintaining continuous production even during mechanical repairs such as liner replacement, gearbox or pinion servicing.

 Implementation Highlights:

• Start Date: Early 2024 (1403 in the Iranian calendar)
• Design Goals: Create an alternative feed path to primary mills during secondary mill downtime.
• Engineering Actions:
  • Installation of feed boxes and rerouting hydrocyclone underflow
  • Replacement of trommel screens on primary mills
  • Pump upgrades (Pump A1 and scavenger concentrate pump)
  • Mass balance optimization for maximum system efficiency

 Results & Impact:

• Production Access Rate:
  • Before (2018–2023): 67%
  • After (2024): 84%
    → Significant reduction in unexpected downtimes and improved process stability.
• Production Capacity:
  • Increased from ~103–104 tons/hour to ~133–134 tons/hour in the first 8 months of 2024
    → A 28% boost in throughput.
• Financial Impact:
  • If applied across all four plants, estimated revenue gain: 54 billion tomans

Strategic Value:

This project showcases the power of preventive design and smart engineering in industrial process optimization. It not only improved production continuity and product quality but also positioned the plant as a benchmark for similar operations in the mining sector.