Who uses HPGR?
The great majority of the 500+ units in operation globally are in the cement sector and are too numerous to identify individually. Since their introduction in the mid-1980s, HPGRs have been widely used in the diamond and iron ore sectors where they are now considered commonplace. In the hard rock sector (typically copper and gold ores), the first application was a full-scale 15-month trial at Cyprus Sierrita
in 1995/96. More recently, HPGR was selected as the preferred technology for the Cerro Verde copper/molybdenum project in Peru (commissioned November 2006) and the Boddington gold/copper project in Western Australia (under construction
at the time of writing). Freeport Indonesia (commissioned November 2006) use two units to pretreat ball mill feed, to generate a finer mill product and consequently enhance flotation performance. Amplats Potgietersrus Division (platinum, South Africa) commissioned a single large unit in November 2007.
