IAC introduced the concept of optimizing a plant performance including water use minimization at every point in time based on the various control points of a plant. A given plant may have multiple control points that become a limiting factor to the amount of feed that can be sustained. A plant that is designed to run at 250 TPH at a given feed gradation may be limited to 125 TPH with heavy clays, 205 TPH with excess fines or 180 TPH with heavy 40/70. Modeling the effect of each control point allows for the optimal sustained feed rate to be identified for a given area of the mine or mine blend ratio. IAC introduced a multi-step process to achieve an understanding of the various control points and the impact or change each introduces to a sustained operation. The six steps are: 1) characterization of each type of optimization. This would include water related processes such as filtering, settling and spill managemt. 2) Operate the plant and gather data compared to original design. 3) Model impact of operational parameters like feed gradation on control points. 4) Develop Operational SOP's around control point optimization. 5) Measure and report results and progress at all levels of the organization. 6) Approve capital expenditures around advanced control, retrofit, design modifications, etc., targeted toward specific control point optimization.

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