Three walk-throughs. All of them labelled scenarios.
Orebex has no customer results yet, so this page does not pretend to. Each scenario describes a hypothetical circuit, what the agent would do at each autonomy level, and the metric table the pilot would fill in. When a design partner signs, the first real case study replaces the first scenario.
Illustrative scenario: Line 1 · SAG and ball circuit, rougher bank 2 · copper porphyry blend, one shift, one approval gate
Seeing recovery drift on a copper rougher bank before the assay does
A hypothetical copper concentrator rougher bank with twelve cells, existing froth cameras on some cells and an online XRF on the concentrate and tailings streams. Today froth is read on a walk-past and grade and recovery are confirmed from the lab hours later.
What the agent would do
- Shadow mode. Frothix fuses camera, XRF and particle-size reads into a live grade, recovery and froth-condition estimate per cell and compares it with the assays as they land.
- Assist mode. Frothix flags froth collapse and recovery drift as they start; Floatex proposes air, level and reagent moves ranked on the twin; the shift metallurgist approves each one.
- Bounded autonomy. air and level trims execute inside the envelope; every reagent-scheme change stays with the metallurgist.
| Metric | How | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Prediction accuracy | grade and recovery against assay, per shift | to be measured |
| Recovery | points against the signed baseline | to be measured |
| Concentrate grade | % metal against the specification | to be measured |
| Early warnings | froth collapses and upsets flagged before the assay confirmed them | to be measured |
No result is claimed. The metric table is what the pilot would record.
Holding P80 on a SAG circuit as the blend hardens
A hypothetical SAG and ball milling circuit with mill load and power telemetry, a particle-size analyzer on the cyclone overflow and a fixed feed-rate curve. Today the mill holds its curve while ore hardness swings hour to hour.
What the agent would do
- Shadow mode. Grindex estimates ore hardness from load and power signatures, predicts P80 and energy per tonne, and compares with the analyzer and the energy meter.
- Assist mode. Grindex proposes feed-rate, water and cyclone moves ranked on the twin for liberation and kilowatt-hours; the metallurgist approves.
- Bounded autonomy. feed and water move inside declared limits; the energy and P80 effect of every move is logged.
| Metric | How | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Energy per tonne | kWh per tonne, before and during | to be measured |
| P80 stability | deviation from target per shift | to be measured |
| Throughput | tonnes per hour inside the plan | to be measured |
| Over-grind and under-liberation events | per shift | to be measured |
No result is claimed. The metric table is what the pilot would record.
Dosing collector and frother against the live froth, not last shift's assay
A hypothetical nickel sulphide cleaner bank with a fixed reagent scheme, depressant chemistry and a tight concentrate specification. Today dosing is set from experience and corrected hours later when the assay comes back.
What the agent would do
- Shadow mode. Floatex models reagent response per cell from Frothix reads and assays and predicts the grade and recovery effect of the standing scheme.
- Assist mode. Floatex proposes collector, frother and depressant dose changes ranked on the twin with the grade constraint enforced; the chief metallurgist approves each.
- Bounded autonomy. air and level trims execute inside the envelope; dose changes remain supervised until the ore type is characterised.
| Metric | How | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Reagent per tonne | by reagent, before and during | to be measured |
| Recovery | points against the baseline | to be measured |
| Concentrate grade | % against the specification, off-spec events | to be measured |
| Approval cycle time | minutes from recommendation to decision | to be measured |
No result is claimed. The metric table is what the pilot would record.
The reference scenario, step by step
Every Orebex run is an ordered, inspectable sequence. This is run_4b9e27 on Line 1 · SAG and ball circuit, rougher bank 2 · copper porphyry blend. Scenario completes in 10 steps with one approval gate. P80 held at 148 µm as the blend hardened, froth stability recovered on rougher bank 2 after an air trim, a collector-dose change was approved by the shift metallurgist, predicted recovery held inside the plan, lot C-20931 released with full genealogy.
-
01
ingest.shift
SUCCEEDED
0.7 s
Concentrator Orchestrator · Pulled the shift plan from the concentrator MES: copper porphyry blend B-14, P80 target 150 µm, concentrate grade at or above 25% Cu, recovery target per the geometallurgy model, energy and water budgets. Locked the operating envelope for the blend.
-
02
twin.simulate
SUCCEEDED
58 s
Concentrator Twin · Simulated 32 candidate grind, air and reagent schemes on the as-run twin for the hardening blend, ranked on predicted recovery, concentrate grade, kWh per tonne and water per tonne. Two candidates breached the thickener bed limit and were discarded.
-
03
grind.setpoint
SUCCEEDED
3 m 40 s
Crush-and-Grind · SAG-1 feed trimmed 3% and cyclone water raised as load and power signatures read a harder feed. P80 from the particle-size analyzer held at 148 µm against the 150 µm target; mill power stayed inside the energy budget.
-
04
froth.read
SUCCEEDED
continuous
Grade-and-Froth · Twelve froth cameras and the online XRF on rougher bank 2 fused at the edge. Froth stability on cells 3 and 4 fell as the blend hardened; predicted recovery drifted 0.4 points below plan. Early warning published to the control agents.
-
05
approve.human
APPROVAL
1 m 12 s
Concentrator Orchestrator · Scheme #7 raises collector dose 6% on rougher bank 2, above the standing reagent scheme. Reagent-scheme changes stay supervised on this blend, so the step was held for the shift metallurgist and approved at 07:19:44.
-
06
float.dose
SUCCEEDED
2 m 05 s
Float-and-Reagent · Approved collector dose applied with an air trim of 4% down on cells 3 and 4 inside the envelope. Froth stability recovered within eight minutes; predicted recovery returned to plan with concentrate grade read at 25.6% Cu.
-
07
classify.cyclone
SUCCEEDED
42 s
Separate-and-Classify · One cyclone brought online in cluster 1 as feed density rose with the hardness change, holding overflow size and circulating load inside the plan.
-
08
dewater.thickener
SUCCEEDED
continuous
Thicken-and-Dewater · Tailings thickener TH-2 flocculant dose trimmed as bed pressure rose; underflow density held and overflow clarity stayed inside the water-recovery target.
-
09
optimise.targets
SUCCEEDED
18 s
Throughput-and-Recovery · Whole-plant targets recomputed for the hardened blend: feed rate, P80, air and reagent targets handed to the control agents with recovery, grade, energy and water inside the budget. The losing candidates and their scores are in the run record.
-
10
lot.release
SUCCEEDED
1 m 30 s
Quality-and-Conformance · Concentrate lot C-20931 released: genealogy written (blend, grind record, reagent and air moves, froth and grade reads, approvals, dewatering record, assays as they land) and dispositioned against the concentrate spec with cited evidence for the metallurgist's sign-off.
The agent shows its work
Every tool invocation, argument and result is written to an append-only, human-readable log, and every reasoning step is expandable. Nothing about a run is hidden from the plant.
- 07:00:02mes.read_plan({ line: "L1", blend: "B-14", shift: "day" })
- 07:00:02ok envelope locked · P80 150 µm · grade ≥ 25% Cu · energy and water budgets
- 07:00:03twin.simulate({ candidates: 32, horizon: "1 shift" })
- 07:01:01ok best scheme #7 · recovery on plan · 2 candidates discarded (thickener bed)
- 07:01:02policy.evaluate({ scheme: 7, autonomy: "L2+" })
- 07:01:02ok 8 writes permitted · collector_dose requires human approval
- 07:01:03mill.set_feed({ tag: "SAG1.FEED_TPH", delta: "-3%" })
- 07:04:43ok P80 148 µm · power inside budget · hardness index up
- 07:04:44froth.read_bank({ bank: "R2", cams: 12, xrf: true })
- 07:18:30froth stability falling · R2 cells 3, 4 · predicted recovery −0.4 pt
- 07:18:31approval.request({ action: "collector_dose", bank: "R2", delta: "+6%" })
- 07:19:44ok approved by shift metallurgist · logged
- 07:19:45reagent.set_dose({ bank: "R2", scheme: 7 })
- 07:19:46air.set_rate({ cells: [3, 4], delta: "-4%", within: "envelope" })
- 07:27:50ok froth stability recovered · grade 25.6% Cu · recovery back on plan
- 07:27:51cyclone.set_count({ cluster: "CL-1", online: "+1" })
- 07:28:33ok overflow size held · circulating load inside plan
- 07:28:34flocculant.set_dose({ thickener: "TH-2", delta: "-2%" })
- 07:40:10ok bed pressure steady · overflow clear · water recovery on target
- 07:40:11cuopt.solve_targets({ line: "L1", objective: "recovery, grade, energy, water" })
- 07:40:29ok targets handed to 4 agents · all inside budget
- 07:40:30mes.log_lot({ lot: "C-20931", genealogy: "full" })
- 07:42:00ok scenario complete · 10 steps · lot released
Reasoning trace
Plan, thought, action, observation, exactly as the orchestrator would record it.
GoalRun the day shift on line 1 inside the plan for blend B-14: P8…
Run the day shift on line 1 inside the plan for blend B-14: P80 at 150 µm, concentrate grade at or above 25% Cu, recovery maximised, energy and water inside budget.
PlanSimulate grind, air and reagent schemes on the twin first. Lea…
Simulate grind, air and reagent schemes on the twin first. Lead with the grind so the liberation size is right before flotation sees it, then read the froth, then dose. Hold any reagent-scheme change for a human.
ThoughtThe blend is hardening. Holding feed rate would coarsen P80 an…
The blend is hardening. Holding feed rate would coarsen P80 and under-liberate; the twin predicts a 3% feed trim with more cyclone water holds P80 at the cost of a little throughput, and that protecting liberation is worth more than the tonnes.
Actiontwin.simulate(candidates=32) returns scheme #7: SAG-1 feed dow…
twin.simulate(candidates=32) returns scheme #7: SAG-1 feed down 3%, cyclone water up, collector dose up 6% on rougher bank 2, air down 4% on cells 3 and 4.
ObservationScheme #7 predicts recovery on plan, grade 25.5% Cu and energy…
Scheme #7 predicts recovery on plan, grade 25.5% Cu and energy inside budget. Two candidates with higher predicted recovery pushed the tailings thickener past its bed limit and were discarded.
ActionExecute scheme #7: eight bounded writes permitted on grind, ai…
Execute scheme #7: eight bounded writes permitted on grind, air, cyclones and dewatering; the collector-dose write routed to the shift metallurgist.
ObservationFroth stability fell on cells 3 and 4 at 07:18:30 with predict…
Froth stability fell on cells 3 and 4 at 07:18:30 with predicted recovery 0.4 points under plan. The approved dose and the air trim recovered it within eight minutes; grade read 25.6% Cu.
OutcomeScenario complete. P80 held, grade on spec, recovery on plan, …
Scenario complete. P80 held, grade on spec, recovery on plan, lot C-20931 released with full genealogy.
Four levels, set per agent and per tag
A concentrator does not go from manual to unattended in one step. Orebex makes the level explicit, auditable and reversible at any time. The first release runs shadow mode, then assist mode, then bounded autonomy on low-risk grinding and flotation loops. Reagent-scheme changes stay supervised until the ore type is characterised.
| Level | What the agent does | What the human does | Where it sits in a pilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| L1 · Shadow | Reads froth, analyzer, particle, mill, flotation, dewatering, robot and MES signals; predicts and recommends; writes nothing | Runs the circuit as today; compares predictions to assays and metallurgist outcomes | Shadow mode, baseline measured first |
| L2 · Assist | Proposes grind, reagent, air, froth and dewatering moves with evidence, confidence, envelope and rollback path | Approves each action in the review console | Assist mode, the remainder of a 90 to 120 day pilot |
| L3 · Bounded | Executes pre-approved low-risk grinding and flotation loop moves: feed, water, air, level, flocculant, cyclones online, inside APC, DCS and envelope limits | Approves reagent-scheme changes and lot release | Graduated autonomy, after audited accuracy and ROI |
| L4 · Constrained auto-control | Supervised reagent-scheme adaptation for characterised ore types, across circuits and sites | Sets the envelope; reviews the shift record and the evaluation results | Planned; after golden-dataset evaluation, twin validation and metallurgist sign-off |
Straight answers
The questions processing managers, metallurgists and sustainability leads ask in the first meeting.
Yes, but only within an explicit tag allow-list with per-tag rate and magnitude limits, inside the operating envelope for the blend, and only at the autonomy level your plant has set. Design partners start in shadow mode, where Orebex writes nothing. Reagent-scheme changes stay supervised by a named metallurgist until the ore type is characterised.
Control returns to the APC or DCS last known-good state. Orebex is a supervisory layer on top of the control systems and interlocks you already run, never a replacement for them, so an outage degrades the circuit to its current way of running, not to a stop. The edge is designed to run fail-safe through a network outage.
Advisory recommendations start from the twin and the shift plan in the first weeks. Froth, grade, recovery and grind-response prediction improve as circuit history and assay-labelled outcomes accumulate per ore type. The compute plan sizes training at 2,000 to 8,000 GPU-hours per commodity model family once partner data exists, a design target.
Only if you choose cloud training. Ore-body data, geometallurgy models, reagent schemes, process models and recovery records are isolated per tenant and never used to train another customer's models. A fully on-prem deployment at the plant edge is available for remote and IP-sensitive sites, and federated learning across sites is planned and waits on data-rights agreements.
You are, the same as with any control strategy, which is why every write is policy-checked, bounded, logged and reversible, and why anything above your risk threshold waits for a named approver. The audit log records the request, the evidence, the envelope applied and the human decision.
A paid pilot of 90 to 120 days on one grinding or flotation circuit, scoped to a single wedge with a success metric written into the order form: recovery gain, energy per tonne saved, water reduction or reagent per tonne. The first weeks baseline recovery, energy and water in shadow mode from your own assays and meters.
Make the first scenario real
Start with one grinding or flotation circuit and one measurable baseline. A paid pilot on froth-vision recovery control, grind-size energy or reagent dosing shows the number before you commit further.