Case Study: Fresnillo increases silver recovery with Minitab

Fresnillo boosts silver recovery 2% and adds $2M monthly revenue with Minitab

Fresnillo Plc, the world's largest primary silver producer, sought to increase the silver recovery rate at its Saucito mine without compromising the quality of the final product. The challenge was to boost production of a non-controllable raw material. With the help of Minitab and its Statistical Software, a project team used data analysis to identify the root causes of variation in their recovery process.

Using Minitab's tools for Design of Experiments, regression analysis, and response optimization, the team identified optimal settings for key reagents and implemented a new automated control model. The solution designed with Minitab increased the silver recovery rate by 2%, reduced below-grade silver by 68%, and cut reagent consumption by 12%. These improvements added over $2 million to the mine's monthly revenue.

Fresnillo