Current Status and Future Trends in the Automation of Mineral and Metal Processing

Abstract A review of the current status and future trends in the automation and control of mineral and metal processing is presented in this paper. The presentation is based partly on a larger study by the IFAC Technical Committee on Mining, Mineral and Metal Processing (MMM), which prepared a contemplative stance on the MMM industry. The purpose of the study is to present a brief overview of the control techniques or methods used in this industry, to give typical applications of such techniques, and to discuss supportive technologies that form a critical part of the implementation of such techniques. It also aims to identify techniques, applications and supportive technologies that are actively used or which are emerging as potential winners in the future. Evaluation of publications on IFAC MMM events during the last 20 years also shows some trends in the application of a number of process control methods in the MM industry. One aim of this paper is to review the success of the translation of theoretically based developments into practice.