WipWare hosted its sold-out fifth annual Training Seminar from September 16–19, 2014, at the Canadian Ecology Centre in Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park near North Bay, Ontario. Under the theme “Pit-to-Plant,” the event brought together mining professionals from Canada and seven other countries to explore the relationship between blasting, fragmentation measurement, mineral processing, and operational optimization. The seminar drew positive reviews from attendees from Australia, South Africa, Netherlands, UK, Brazil, Chile and the USA.
This year’s seminar featured prominent speakers highlighting the importance of fragmentation data on both the blasting and processing end of operations in addition to WipWare technical staff outlining software features and automated system maintenance. Guest speakers covered a range of topics starting with an in-depth look at various blasting parameters and some exceptions to the Kuz-Ram model by the renowned Dr. Calvin J. Konya, President of Precision Blasting Services and Director of the Academy for Blasting and Explosives Technology.
Dr. Adrian Dance, principal metallurgy consultant at SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. and a leading authority on Mine-to-Mill optimization outlined the justification for increasing drill and blast costs to achieve better fragmentation in terms of cost savings downstream in the milling operations.
Francois Robichaud, metallurgical superintendent at Agnico-Eagle described his experiences using image-based bulk material particle-size-analyzers to evaluate crusher performance and monitor SAG mill feed leading to optimized particle sizes entering their SAG mill resulting in higher throughput and reduced energy costs.
Seminar participants also received hands-on training with WipWare’s WipFrag and Delta software packages, and instruction on installation, use and maintenance of the company’s Momentum, Reflex and Solo automated systems.
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