Advanced Process Control (APC)
Predictive control that stabilises circuits and boosts recovery
Optimise your plant for stability, efficiency and profitability with Mipac’s APC expertise
When your plant relies on manual adjustments, efficiency slips away. Variability creeps in, recovery suffers, and operators are left firefighting. Advanced Process Control changes the dynamic. Predictive models and real-time optimisation stabilise circuits and push performance closer to its limits, without compromising safety. The result is a plant that runs harder, smarter, and more profitably.
Mipac offers a complete APC capability, from readiness assessment to advanced AI-driven control strategies, tailored for mineral processing plants.
Maximise performance
Our advanced solutions are designed to unlock the full potential of your concentrator. From crushing and grinding to flotation and beyond, APC delivers measurable improvements at every stage of the process.
We combine your team’s best practices with Mipac’s 28+ years of expertise to create a collaborative approach that delivers results quickly. Integration is seamless, and we prioritise the health of your equipment because when your process runs efficiently, wear is reduced, and maintenance intervals are extended.
Improve energy efficiency
APC doesn’t just optimise performance. It helps you operate more sustainably. By continuously monitoring process conditions and adjusting control strategies, APC reduces unnecessary energy consumption.
For example, in SAG mill control, APC systems can optimise mill speed based on real-time load conditions, preventing energy waste and extending liner life. Automatic control ensures your plant runs at peak efficiency without compromising reliability.
Increase process stability
Variability is inevitable in mineral processing. Changes in ore characteristics or equipment conditions can disrupt operations. APC compensates for these changes automatically, maintaining a consistent, stable process.
By analysing multiple signals and making real-time adjustments, APC significantly reduces process variability. According to McKinsey & Company, optimising APC systems in minerals processing can deliver throughput increases of up to 15%, yield improvements of up to 5%, and energy consumption reductions of up to 10%.
Improve operator efficiency and decision-making
With APC automating complex control tasks, operators spend less time on manual interventions and more time on strategic oversight. Real-time insights and predictive control improve confidence in decision-making and reduce human error.
Our APC capabilites
APC readiness
Before implementing APC, your plant must meet key infrastructure and control benchmarks. Our APC Readiness Audit identifies gaps and builds a roadmap for success.
Why it matters:
APC deployment without readiness leads to poor results. We ensure your site is prepared for a smooth transition.
What we deliver:
- Instrumentation and historian review
- Control loop performance analysis
- Digital maturity assessment
- Recommendations for infrastructure and logic improvements
What does an APC Readiness Audit actually look like on site? Mipac’s Optimisation Team Lead, Drew Clements, walks through the process and explains why the most important findings rarely show up in the data.
Not sure if your plant is APC ready?
APC design and implementation
We design and deploy APC solutions that integrate seamlessly with your existing control systems.
Why it matters:
A well-designed APC system ensures seamless integration with your existing control environment, delivering measurable improvements in stability, throughput, and efficiency without disrupting operations..
Our approach includes:
- Multivariable control strategy development
- Model Predictive Control (MPC) configuration
- Integration with DCS and historian systems
- Operator training and knowledge transfer: We build a training pathway alongside the technical implementation, including documentation and e-learning in the language of the people running the facility. When the project champion moves on, the knowledge stays with the site.
- Operator engagement and SCADA visibility: APC only delivers sustained value when operators trust and understand what it is doing. We integrate APC decision logic into the SCADA environment operators work in daily, making control actions visible and reducing the risk of the system being overridden or switched off.
Advanced Regulatory Control (ARC)
ARC enhances traditional PID control strategies with advanced techniques like cascade, feed-forward, and override control. It’s a cost-effective way to improve stability before moving to full APC.
Why it matters:
ARC enhances traditional PID control strategies, providing a cost-effective way to improve process stability and performance before moving to full APC.
Applications:
- Grinding circuits
- Flotation cells
- Thickening and leaching systems
Multivariable Predictive Control (MPC)
Complex mineral processing circuits often involve multiple interacting variables and controlling them individually can lead to inefficiencies and instability. Multivariable Predictive Control (MPC) solves this challenge by using dynamic models to predict future process behaviour and optimise multiple variables simultaneously.
Why it matters:
MPC anticipates process changes and optimises multiple variables simultaneously, enabling plants to push throughput and recovery while maintaining stability and equipment health
Our approach delivers:
- Predictive control that anticipates changes before they occur
- Coordination of multiple loops for optimal plant performance
- Constraint handling to keep operations within safe and economic limits
AI & Machine Learning
We combine AI and ML with APC to enable adaptive, self-learning control strategies.
Why it matters:
AI and ML bring adaptability and intelligence to APC, allowing systems to learn from changing conditions and continuously optimise performance for maximum economic benefit.
Capabilities include:
- Predictive maintenance and anomaly detection
- Dynamic optimisation under changing ore conditions
- Integration with digital twins and remote operations
Why choose Mipac for your APC journey
- Mineral processing specialists
Decades of experience across concentrators, smelters, and refineries.
- Proven methodology
Structured approach from readiness to implementation.
- Vendor-agnostic recommendations
Mipac integrates across all major APC platforms. Our recommendations are based on fit for your application, ore type, and operational capability, not commercial relationship.
- Technology leadership
Expertise in MPC, AI, and ML for process control.
- End-to-end support
From audit to deployment and ongoing optimisation.
If you want to see how we can assist your plant to get ready for APC, or have APC plans to implement, contact us and we’ll set up a call with an APC specialist today.
Ready to take the next step?
Whether you’re assessing readiness, planning an APC implementation, or trying to get more from a system that isn’t delivering, the right starting point is the same: an honest picture of where your site stands.
a practical self-assessment covering instrumentation, control loop performance, data infrastructure, and stakeholder readiness.
Or contact our team to arrange a call with an APC specialist.
Did you know?
What is Advanced Process Control (APC) in mineral processing?
Why is APC important for mineral processing plants?
What is APC readiness and why does it matter?
How does Advanced Regulatory Control (ARC) differ from APC?
What is Model Predictive Control (MPC) and where is it used?
How do AI and Machine Learning improve APC?
Read more of our articles on Advanced Process Control
APC Readiness in Mineral Processing: What actually stops it from working
APC readiness in mineral processing goes well beyond selecting the right software. Mipac's Optimisation Team Lead Drew Clements draws on…
How to get your plant APC ready: a proven Readiness Audit framework
Is your plant APC ready? Advanced Process Control can boost throughput and stability - but only if your site is…
9 questions to ask yourself before you start your APC journey
As a Process Manager, you know that advanced process control (APC) has the potential to dramatically improve your mine operations…
Mipac are global leaders in operational technology, control systems and engineering services.
We go beyond the expected solutions to deliver:
With 3 decades of experience, our team of engineers, project managers, and solutions developers has worked on more than 720 projects across 110 client operations.
- Advanced Process Control
- Industrial Automation inc Main Automation Contracting
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- Bulk Materials Handling
- Commissioning and Support
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