THE MINING VALUE CHAIN
Mipac delivers control systems, process automation, and operational technology at every stage of the mining value chain: from pit to port.
YEARS IN MINING OT
PROJECTS DELIVERED
PROCESSING PLANTS SUPPORTED
COUNTRIES GLOBALLY
VALUE CHAIN STAGES
Why the value chain matters
From the first blast in the pit to the final shipment at port, each stage of the mining value chain presents its own performance constraints, control challenges, and risk profile. Most operators are expert at their stage, but improvement gaps often sit at the handoff points and in the compounding effects of variability that travels through the circuit.
Mipac has worked across all eight stages, on all commodity types, across 55+ countries. We understand not just individual processes, but how decisions made in the grinding circuit show up in flotation recovery, and how instability in the smelter traces back to feed consistency.
Stage 1 – The Mine
Mining the pit sets the pace and cost base for everything downstream. Every ton moved here has a consequence – on fragmentation, ore grade, transport cost, and ultimately on the recoveries your processing plant can achieve.
The Challenge
Balancing ore quality, fragmentation, and throughput while navigating unpredictable geology and tightening environmental and safety regulations. Missteps in the pit ripple across the entire operation.
Mipac’s Approach
Real-time monitoring, dispatch optimization, and data integration solutions that give mining teams sharper decision-making tools. We help clients embed operational discipline – turning data from the pit into tangible performance gains across the whole circuit.
Ore tracking
Data integration
Real-time monitoring
Dispatch optimization
Stage 2 – CRUSHING & GRINDING
Comminution is typically the highest operating cost in a concentrator. The sweet spot between maximum throughput, optimal particle size, and energy efficiency is narrower than most plants consistently hit, and that gap is recoverable.
Finding the balance between maximum throughput and optimal particle size without grinding away margins in excessive energy use or equipment wear, all while managing the variability of ore hardness and feed grade.
Smart control strategies, real-time performance dashboards, and advanced analytics for comminution circuits. We tune plants for energy efficiency and operational stability, backed by decades of practical experience across SAG mills, ball mills, and crushers.
Projects & Insights
Stage 3 – flotation
Flotation is where you unlock the value in your ore, or leave it behind. Changing ore characteristics, shifting reagent costs, and froth behaviour make this one of the most challenging circuits to operate consistently well.
The Challenge
Managing changing ore characteristics, reagent dosing, and froth stability while chasing recovery targets and concentrate grades – often with limited instrumentation and operator decision support.
Mipac’s Approach
Precise instrumentation, dynamic control systems, and operator decision support to stabilize flotation performance. We work side-by-side with metallurgists to fine-tune circuit responses in real conditions, not just under ideal scenarios.
Projects & Insights
Heap leach control
CIL/CIP circuits
pH & reagent dosing
APC
Real-time visualization
Stage 4 leaching
Leaching operations, whether for gold, copper, or other metals, depend on carefully controlled chemical reactions across variable feed conditions. When the chemistry shifts, recovery follows unless your control system catches it first.
The Challenge
Maintaining optimal residence time, reagent concentration, and temperature across variable feed conditions, while adhering to strict environmental constraints and managing the inevitable swings of real-world operations..
Mipac’s Approach
Advanced leach monitoring, control algorithms, and real-time data visualization that are designed not just for steady-state conditions, but for the shocks and swings that actually occur on site. We don’t just implement. we validate in operation.
Insights
Stage 5 – smelting
Smelters transform concentrates into refined metals through processes that demand precision, resilience, and deep process knowledge. Small stability gains here translate into massive economic wins – and small instabilities become expensive problems fast.
The Challenge
Maintaining stable furnace operations, off-gas treatment, and energy efficiency amid fluctuating feed chemistry and volumes, while managing campaign length, equipment reliability, and regulatory obligations.
Mipac’s Approach
Robust control system designs, off-gas treatment optimization, and advanced process monitoring – helping operations stretch campaigns longer and boost overall recovery. We have delivered smelter control systems for both brownfield modernization and greenfield commissioning.
Furnace control
Off-gas treatment
PCS7 migration
Greenfield delivery
Campaign optimization
Dam integrity monitoring
Automated reporting
Water balance tracking
Alarm Management
ESG compliance
Stage 6 tailing storage facility
Tailings facilities are among the most scrutinised parts of any mining operation. Regulatory and community expectations are rising sharply, and the consequences of inadequate monitoring go far beyond financial loss.
The Challenge
Maintaining real-time visibility over dam integrity, water balances, and seepage risks – often across vast, remote sites with legacy systems, manual inspections, and fragmented data that make early detection difficult.
Mipac’s Approach
Smart instrumentation, automated reporting, and real-time alarm systems integrated into new and existing TSFs – bringing tailings management into the digital age without requiring full capital replacement of existing infrastructure.
PROJECTS
Stage 7 – tankhouse refinery
Tankhouse refineries are where electrochemical processes produce final high-purity metal. Mipac has deeper roots in tankhouse automation than almost any other specialist – and we’ve built the proprietary instrumentation to prove it.
The Challenge
Managing current distribution, bath chemistry, and anode/cathode integrity across hundreds of cells – preventing quality issues and production losses while maintaining throughput and minimising downtime.
Mipac’s Approach
Granular visibility and fine control over critical parameters, backed by proprietary hardware developed specifically for copper refinery operations. Our solutions increase yield, reduce downtime, and extend asset life without disrupting daily production.
Projects & Insights
Shiploading automation
Conveyor Monitoring
Stockyard management
Train loading
Demurrage reduction
Stage 8 – stockpiles, conveyors & port
The shipment is where your operation’s performance is measured by the world. Consistent product quality, optimized loading rates, and minimal demurrage are the final test of everything done upstream.
The Challenge
Achieving consistent product quality, optimizing ship loading rates, and minimizing demurrage costs, while managing the wear and reliability of handling systems and maintaining full traceability across the supply chain.
Mipac’s Approach
Stockyard management, train and ship loading automation, and conveyor health monitoring – systems that move material smarter, safer, and with full traceability. Because every delay at port has a direct cost, and every inconsistency reflects on the operation.
PROJECTS
why mipac
There are control system vendors. There are process consultants. And then there’s Mipac – the engineering firm that combines both, at every stage, with the project record to back it up.
End-to-end value chain coverage
From pit-to-port, Mipac has delivered at every stage. Most competitors have a sweet spot. We have a track record across all eight.
Control + metallurgy combined
Our engineers span control systems and process metallurgy. When the two disciplines are in the same conversation, solutions are better and faster.
Built for brownfield & greenfield
Whether you’re optimising an existing operation or commissioning a new plant, Mipac has a proven delivery framework for both – not a one-size approach
Proprietary hardware & software
CellView®, ShortMeter®, Copper Monitor®, TCard and the MPA platform are Mipac products – built because the industry needed tools that didn’t yet exist.
Proven at global tier-one scale
We’ve worked alongside Glencore, First Quantum Minerals, BHP, Anglo American, and others at their most complex operations – not just smaller sites.
Deep plant engineers, not just project managers
Our people have sat in control rooms, read faceplates, and tuned loops in live operations. That experience changes the quality of every recommendation we make.
Trusted by global mining operations
GET THE DETAILS
A concise overview of how Mipac works, what we’ve delivered, and where we can help; useful if you’re building a business case or evaluating OT partners. We’ll follow up once, at your pace.
ready to talk
No sales team in the middle. When you contact Mipac, you reach the engineers who will actually work on your project. Tell us what you’re dealing with – we’ll tell you honestly if and how we can help.
Tucson
+1 520 326 0062 · sales@mipac.global
Vancouver
Brisbane
+61 7 3212 5600 · sales@mipac.com.au
Perth
+61 8 6424 9900 · sales@mipac.com.au
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