Weir Grinding Rolls Offer Eco Benefits for Gold Miner
Mining equipment supplier Weir announced an order for two Enduron high-pressure grinding rolls (HPGRs) on 7 September 2026. The order was placed by Zijin Golden Ridge, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zijin Mining, a China-based diversified mining company, for the Akyem Mine in Ghana.
The order is connected with optimisation work that Zijin Golden Ridge is carrying out at the Akyem Mine, a brownfield open pit gold mining operation. The existing processing circuit includes a conventional SAG/ball mill configuration. An increase in the competency of the ore at the operation (defined as the ore’s resistance to crushing and SAG milling) is leading to operational limitations at the processing circuit.
Weir’s ENDURON HPGRs will process pebbles, which will reduce pebble flows, improve grinding efficiency and boost throughput and recovery. The reduction of processing energy requirements will be accompanied by debottlenecking the comminution circuit.
Debottlenecking the comminution circuit
“With a mine life that extends into the 2040s, Zijin’s decision to install an ENDURON HPGR future-proofs their grinding circuit, delivering energy efficiency, superior handling of hard and variable ore feed and a reduced environmental footprint over a long operational horizon.”
“The benefits ENDURON HPGRs deliver in terms of reduced energy consumption, lower carbon emissions and improved grinding efficiency compared to traditional tumbling mills are well understood, but this project highlights that they also have a vital role to play in circuit debottlenecking and pebble crushing applications,” says Bjorn Dierx, Director HPGR and Process Engineering at Weir.
“As surface deposits deplete and miners encounter a higher proportion of competent ores, they are increasingly installing HPGRs to overcome their processing challenge.”
About Akyem Mine
The Akyem Mine is an open-pit gold mine with a throughput capacity of 8.6 million tonnes of ore per year (Mtpa). The expected mine life extends beyond 2040.
Mining operations at Akyem restarted in April 2025. Akyem produced 5.08 tonnes of gold in 2025 overall.
Gold miner Newmont originally developed the open-cut mine in 2015, before declaring that the asset was non-core in 2024. The mine was acquired from Newmont for US$1bn by Zijin Mining earlier in 2025, including an additional payment of US$100m when the lease for Akyem East Mining was extended in August 2025.
Key facts
- Weir is a global professional services company serving the energy, chemicals and resources sectors, headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland
- Weir offers products in its Mining segment for both Comminution solutions, such as HPGR solutions, cone crushers and screens, as well as Wet Processing and Separation solutions
- Weir also offers a suite of digitalisation products, including Micromine, a digital solution covering the entire mining lifecycle from exploration and modelling to design, planning and production control and a digital mine management solution, Fast2Mine
- Weir also provides buckets, truck beds and other ground engagement tools (GET) for customers in the mining and construction sector via its ESCO subsidiary
Meet Weir’s Partners
Barrick is one of the world’s largest gold producers by output and has traditionally ranked as one of the most valuable gold mining companies by market capitalisation. The company has reoriented to add copper mining as a strategic focus alongside its traditional gold focus. Weir supplied its HPGR solution for a large greenfield copper and gold mine in Pakistan.
Codelco, or the National Copper Corporation of Chile, is a mining heavyweight formed in 1976. Headquartered in Santiago, its operations stretch across seven divisions: Chuquicamata, Ministro Hales, Radomiro Tomic, Gabriela Mistral, Salvador, Andina and El Teniente. It remains one of the largest copper producers in the world.
Teck Resources is a major producer of copper and zinc and boasts an industry-leading copper growth portfolio. In 2025, Teck Resources reached an agreement to merge with Anglo American to form the Anglo Teck group. When approved, the merger will result in the creation of a global critical minerals powerhouse and top five global copper producer.
