Enhancing utilization and yield in mineral processing

As demand for copper, lithium, nickel and other critical minerals grows, mining companies face increasing pressure to extract more value from every tonne of ore. Yet declining ore grades, greater variability in ore characteristics and growing energy and water constraints are making consistent mineral processing performance more difficult to achieve.

For operators, improving productivity means balancing mineral recovery and equipment availability with the need to control energy, water and reagent consumption. Advanced measurement, real-time monitoring and data-driven process optimization can help identify performance losses, respond to changing operating conditions and improve decision-making across the mineral processing flowsheet.

The ability to maintain reliable output directly affects processing costs, productivity and profitability. As ore grades decline, operators may need to process more material to produce the same quantity of metal, making efficient resource utilization and recovery increasingly important.

EY's Top 10 business risks and opportunities for mining and metals in 2026 identified operational complexity as the industry's leading business risk. The findings highlight the challenges mining companies face in maintaining reliable production as orebodies become more complex and ore characteristics more variable.

For processing plants, these pressures reinforce the need to understand where production losses occur, improve equipment utilization and maximize the recovery of valuable minerals from the available feed.

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, copper and gold ore grades have declined by 7.6% and 13.4%, respectively, since 2010. As ore grades fall, operators may need to process more material to produce the same amount of metal, putting greater emphasis on efficient mineral recovery, resource utilization and overall processing performance.

Production variability is a major challenge for mineral processing operations. Changes in the physical, chemical and mineralogical characteristics of incoming ore can make it difficult to maintain stable operating conditions, affecting recovery, throughput, process efficiency and overall plant performance.

Other common challenges include:

• Recovery losses: Caused by inadequate grinding, which can leave valuable minerals locked within the ore and reduce the amount of saleable product recovered
• Process instability: Fluctuations in feed grade, particle size distribution, pH and other operating parameters can affect separation efficiency and recovery
• Equipment bottlenecks: Capacity constraints can restrict throughput and prevent the plant from operating at optimal conditions
• Water constraints: Limited water availability or inefficient water management can affect processing capacity and separation performance
• Unplanned downtime: Equipment failures and maintenance interruptions reduce availability and disrupt production

These factors are interconnected. Changes in ore characteristics can alter grinding performance and mineral liberation, affecting downstream separation. Equipment constraints can also force operators to move away from optimal operating conditions. Monitoring these variables together helps operators understand performance losses across the flowsheet rather than optimizing individual process stages in isolation.

Comminution is a critical stage of mineral processing in which ore is reduced in size through crushing and grinding to liberate valuable minerals from the surrounding rock. The objective is to achieve sufficient mineral liberation for downstream separation while balancing recovery, throughput and energy consumption.

If the particle size is too coarse, valuable minerals may remain locked within the surrounding rock, reducing recovery. However, grinding the ore more finely than necessary can increase energy consumption without delivering a proportional improvement in recovery.

• Insufficient mineral liberation: Valuable minerals can remain trapped within the ore, limiting recovery and reducing the amount of saleable product
• Ore variability: Changes in ore hardness, mineral composition and feed characteristics can affect grinding requirements and make it harder to maintain consistent particle size distribution
• High energy consumption: Crushing and grinding are energy-intensive stages of mineral processing, accounting for around 40% of the energy used by mining operations. Overgrinding only wastes energy and may not result in a significant yield increase to offset the additional energy used
• Throughput limitations: Bottlenecks in crushing and grinding circuits can restrict plant capacity, reduce equipment utilization and affect downstream processing
• Rising energy costs: Increasing pressure to control operating costs is strengthening the need to improve comminution efficiency and reduce energy consumption per tonne processed

Advanced measurement, monitoring and analytics solutions help operators determine the optimal grind size, improve process stability and adapt to changing ore conditions. This can increase mineral recovery, improve throughput, reduce energy and water consumption and lower costs across downstream mineral processing operations.

After crushing and grinding, separation processes help recover valuable minerals from the prepared ore. Their efficiency directly influences mineral recovery, concentrate quality and the amount of saleable product produced.

The appropriate separation method depends on the ore's mineralogy, the properties of the target minerals and the desired product.

1. Froth flotation: Ground ore is mixed with water, air and reagents that help selected mineral particles attach to air bubbles. The mineral-rich bubbles rise to the surface, forming a froth that can be collected as concentrate, while much of the unwanted material remains in the slurry
2. Leaching: A hydrometallurgical process in which selected metals are dissolved from crushed or ground ore into a solution for subsequent recovery. Its application depends on the mineral being processed and the chemistry of the ore

Separation performance depends on maintaining suitable operating conditions as feed characteristics change. In froth flotation, particle size, reagent dosage, pH, air flow and froth stability can all influence recovery and concentrate quality. Leaching performance depends on factors such as solution chemistry, temperature, contact time and the characteristics of the ore.

Monitoring these variables helps operators identify process deviations and make informed adjustments to maintain stable operation. The objective is to maximize the recovery of valuable minerals while meeting concentrate quality requirements and controlling reagent, water and operating costs.

Water is becoming an increasingly important constraint in mineral processing. Water availability, operating costs, regulatory requirements and the need to improve resource efficiency are placing greater pressure on mining companies to recover and reuse water throughout the processing plant.

Thickening, dewatering and tailings management influence both water consumption and operational performance.

• Water scarcity: Limited water availability in mining regions can constrain production and increase competition for resources
• Rising water costs: Water supply and treatment costs can increase operating expenditure per tonne processed
• Tailings storage risks: Poorly managed tailings facilities can threaten safety, environmental performance and a mine's social licence to operate
• Water recovery targets: Reducing freshwater consumption and increasing water reuse are important operational and sustainability priorities
• Thickener and dewatering performance: Inefficient solids separation can reduce water recovery, increase operating costs and complicate tailings management

Tailings are the fine-grained materials remaining after valuable minerals have been recovered from ore. Tailings storage facilities (TSFs) must be managed to address safety, environmental performance and long-term stability. The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM)'s Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) provides a framework for the safe and responsible management of tailings.

Dewatering technologies can support water recovery by separating water from tailings so that it can potentially be reused in the processing plant.

• Conventional thickening: Concentrates solids in a slurry, allowing clarified water to be recovered for reuse
• Paste thickening: Produces a higher-solids-content tailings stream, reducing the volume of water retained in the material
• Tailings filtration: Uses filtration, often following thickening, to remove additional water and produce a filter cake that may be suitable for dry-stack disposal, subject to site-specific conditions

Tailings dewatering technologies can significantly reduce water consumption and improve water recovery in mineral processing operations. In these systems, tailings slurry is pumped to the tailings storage facility (TSF), where solids settle and water is recovered for reuse. The slurry can then be further thickened in a paste thickener to increase solids density.

Paste tailings processes typically produce tailings with around 70% solids content, enabling substantial water recycling, compared to conventional thickening processes, which typically produce around 40% solids. The effectiveness of these processes depends on variables such as slurry density, solids concentration, particle size and moisture content. Continuous measurement and monitoring of these parameters can help operators maintain stable thickener and dewatering performance, improve water recovery and respond to changing feed conditions.

As water availability becomes a greater operational constraint, greater visibility into thickening, dewatering and tailings handling will become increasingly important for improving resource efficiency and maintaining reliable mineral processing performance.

Mining companies are adopting new technologies and operating approaches to improve equipment utilization, increase mineral recovery, reduce energy consumption and address sustainability challenges. Five key trends are shaping the future of mineral processing.

Comminution is one of the most energy-intensive stages of mineral processing. Technologies such as Coarse Particle Flotation (CPF) and Coarse Particle Recovery (CPR) aim to recover valuable minerals at larger particle sizes, potentially reducing the amount of crushing and grinding required.

By enabling separation at coarser particle sizes, these technologies may reduce energy demand and ease constraints on grinding circuit capacity. However, their suitability depends on ore characteristics, mineral liberation requirements and downstream separation performance.

Mineral processing plants have traditionally relied on process measurements and operator adjustments to maintain stable operating conditions. Digitalization, advanced analytics and AI-assisted optimization are enabling more responsive, data-driven process control.

GlobalData's 2025 Mine-Site Technology Adoption Survey found that 15% of surveyed miners were already noticing AI's impact on their operations, up from 8% in the previous year's survey. Another 45% expected AI to affect their operations within the next one to five years.

Advanced instrumentation can provide continuous measurements of process variables and, where supported, additional information about ore characteristics and equipment performance. Combined with real-time analytics, these insights help operators respond to changing feed conditions, maintain throughput and optimize recovery and equipment utilization.

Predictive maintenance and digital twins are creating new opportunities to improve equipment availability and plant utilization. Digital twins provide virtual representations of processing equipment or entire plants, which can be used to analyze operating conditions, evaluate scenarios and identify potential inefficiencies.

When combined with equipment condition monitoring, real-time data and analytics, predictive maintenance can help identify developing faults before they lead to unplanned downtime. The potential benefits include improved reliability, more targeted maintenance and reduced maintenance costs.

McKinsey research cited by IIoT World has reported that predictive maintenance can reduce maintenance costs by 18–25% and unplanned downtime by up to 50%. These figures should be understood as reported potential outcomes rather than guaranteed results for every mining operation.

Water scarcity in mining regions, including parts of South America and Australia, is increasing the focus on water recovery and reuse. The International Energy Agency reports that more than 50% of global copper and lithium production is concentrated in areas with high water stress. This makes efficient water use an important consideration for maintaining reliable operations and improving resource efficiency.

Digital monitoring systems and specialized instrumentation can provide greater visibility into tailings storage facility (TSF) performance and tailings handling processes. Monitoring critical parameters can help operators identify deviations earlier, improve operational decisions and support safer tailings management. Better process visibility can also help optimize water recovery and provide data to support environmental performance monitoring and reporting.

Improved process visibility underpins many of these developments. Accurate, reliable measurements across the mineral processing flowsheet help operators understand changing conditions, identify performance losses and make more informed operating decisions.

For example, monitoring and optimizing flotation conditions can help operators manage the dosage of reagents such as xanthates and pH modifiers while balancing mineral recovery and concentrate quality. In thickening operations, accurate measurement of process conditions can support optimized flocculant dosing, improve water recovery, reduce solids carryover into clarified-water overflows and help maintain stable operation.

As ore grades decline and sustainability expectations increase, mineral processing plants are likely to rely increasingly on advanced measurement, digitalization, automation and AI-assisted optimization. By improving visibility across the flowsheet, these technologies can help operators balance utilization, recovery, energy and water consumption, and operating costs to support more productive and sustainable mining operations.

Mineral processing covers interconnected processes including comminution, flotation, mineral recovery and tailings management. The section below explains key concepts and answers common questions about improving mineral processing performance.