FLS comminution for South American copper concentrator: SAG circuit notes for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
FLS has secured an order to supply core comminution equipment for a greenfield copper concentrator in South America, centred on a 1600 x 2400 TSU gyratory crusher and two Raptor 900 cone crushers. The grinding circuit will use two 34‑ft diameter x 24‑ft long dual‑pinion SAG mills and two 24‑ft diameter mills, giving a high‑throughput, fully FLS-supplied front end. The package signals continued preference for large SAG-based circuits in new copper projects, with implications for power demand, liner wear strategies and maintenance planning.
Technical Brief
- TSU gyratory crusher sizing (1,600 mm x 2,400 mm) sets primary feed envelope and dump pocket geometry.
- Raptor 900 secondary cones imply high-power, medium-fine crushing ahead of SAG feed, affecting F80 control.
- Dual-pinion drives on both 34‑ft SAG mills distribute torque, easing girth gear alignment and maintenance.
- Matching supplier for crusher, cones and mills simplifies spares strategy and liner/consumables standardisation.
- Fully FLS comminution front end enables single OEM process guarantees on throughput and grind size.
- Greenfield status allows plant layout to optimise crusher–stockpile–mill transfer, minimising transfer points and dust.
- Common OEM control philosophy across crusher and mill drives can streamline advanced process control integration.
Our Take
FLS also recently secured a DKK 235 million process equipment package for the Black Volta gold project in Ghana, signalling that the company is increasingly winning full comminution and concentrator scopes across both copper and gold in emerging markets.
In our database of 368 Mining stories, copper projects like this South America concentrator tend to feature larger SAG mill installations than gold plants, so the 34 ft dual-pinion configuration suggests a mid-to-upper tier throughput design rather than a small satellite operation.
Deploying a 1,600 x 2,400 mm TSU gyratory crusher with multiple 24 ft class mills indicates the copper plant is being engineered for high primary crushing capacity, which typically aligns with low- to medium-grade ore bodies where economies of scale are critical to project economics.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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