On March 12, 2019, WipWare Technical Specialist Marty Wanner arrived at Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine gold mine in Nunavut, Canada, to commission a Solo Online Conveyor Particle Size Analysis System. The visit included verifying the existing installation, confirming system connectivity, calibrating particle size measurements against sieve analysis data, and providing technical training to mine personnel.
Located approximately 25 kilometres north of Rankin Inlet in Nunavut’s Kivalliq Region, Meliadine was preparing to enter commercial gold production when WipWare visited in March 2019.
The Solo system had been installed by the Meliadine team before WipWare’s arrival. Following a review of the control room configuration and equipment installation, Marty confirmed system connectivity and proceeded with calibration.
To calibrate the Solo system, a belt-cut sample was collected for sieve analysis. The resulting particle size distribution was compared with the measurements produced by Solo.
Because optical particle size analysis measures material visible on the conveyor surface, differences can occur between these measurements and traditional sieve analysis of a bulk sample. Calibration helps account for these differences, including the influence of fines that may not be visible to the camera.
Using the comparative results, Marty successfully calibrated the Solo system to the material and operating conditions at Meliadine.
Following calibration, WipWare provided a training session covering the Solo system’s calibration process and the features of WipFrag software, including its application to blast fragmentation analysis.
The visit concluded with the Solo system successfully commissioned and personnel familiarized with its operation.
WipWare thanks the Meliadine team for their assistance and cooperation throughout the commissioning process.
For WipWare’s current generation of automated conveyor monitoring technology, explore the Solo Conveyor Analysis System, designed to continuously measure particle size distribution and other material characteristics to support process monitoring and optimization.
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