Yesterday, we present a first rule that guides plant design and surely you noticed that a metallurgist has a huge duty and to reach processing goals, he must work with project geologists. Today, let’s discuss on the second law.
What does the second rule say?
Second rule: Planning for the estimation of the start-up parameters for a new project should begin during process development and testwork and management should be kept aware of this estimate. It should not be left as the last, brief step, before completion of the cash flow study.
One of the key items associated with a feasibility study is a cash flow projection. You and others will spend a very large amount of time in estimating the project’s capital and operating costs. Once these are entered into the cash flow projection, you will find that someone will have to make an estimate of how long it will take the project to come up to full design capacity and to projected recovery.
There should be enough information to carry out such an analysis toward the end of the pre-feasibility study, and very possibly well before. If such an analysis were carried out at this point, and the results indicated a 30-month ramp-up, engineers and management might well wish to hold a long, sincere meeting, and see what could be done to improve the ramp up. The steps (time and dollars) suggested might provide better economics than a 30-month start-up.
Author: @Doug Halbe
Picture copyright: iStock
