Everything you need to know before we talk.

Yes. We support OPC-UA, OPC-DA, Modbus TCP, OSIsoft PI, and the most common OEM platforms including Schneider, Siemens, ABB, and Rockwell. By default our application acts as the client. And our expert team is here to assist on the SCADA integration every step of the way.

Not for MPC. The controller runs on your existing instrumentation — mill load, motor power, sump level, and the signals you already have in the historian.

The smart instruments (Rock Analyzer, Ball Counter, Froth Analyzer) add industrial cameras above your existing conveyors or flotation cells. Mounting and cabling is straightforward plant work. All inference runs on edge hardware we supply; there is no cloud connection required during operation.

Smart instruments go live in a matter of days. For MPC, the typical path is:

Week 1: Data integration — tags connected from SCADA or OSIsoft PI.
Week 2–3: Learning the plant via step tests and system identification; MPC running in operator-advice mode.
Week 3–6: Live control — the operator takes full command and Aeterna PROCESSOPT holds the limit.

Most plants reach full closed-loop operation within four to six weeks of project start.

You get 7 days of full-licence access to explore the software. If you also provide 60–90 days of process data, we can simulate and estimate how the controller will behave on your circuit — and what it would improve.

We build an initial process model and simulate how Model Predictive Control would engage on your operation, giving you a clear picture of expected performance before any commitment.

We utilise advanced Moving Horizon Estimation techniques to continuously adapt the process model to potential drift — keeping the controller anchored to what the plant is actually doing, not what it was doing when the model was first built.

For larger geological shifts or step changes in ore type, quarterly model reviews and retraining are included in the service contract at no extra cost.

Aeterna stays on. Performance reviews, model retraining, and tuning are part of the service contract — not sold separately as premium support.

If the targeted throughput and energy improvements are not visible within 90 days of closed-loop operation, we want to know why and we fix it. We measure what we promise.

Advanced Process Control (APC) is the broad category — any control strategy that goes beyond basic PID feedback loops. Model Predictive Control (MPC) is the most widely used form of APC in mineral processing. What distinguishes MPC is its use of a process model to predict how the circuit will respond over a future horizon, and its ability to manage multiple interacting variables simultaneously. Every Aeterna PROCESSOPT installation is an MPC implementation, and therefore an APC system.

A digital twin of a grinding circuit is a first-principles process model that holds mass balance, mill filling, power draw, breakage rates, and classification — calibrated against live measurements every control cycle. Aeterna's twin uses soft sensors to infer variables that aren't directly measured (such as P80 between lab assays) and re-anchors its parameters whenever new data arrives. The MPC controller acts on the twin's predictions, not raw sensor readings, which is why keeping the process model accurate is central to controller performance.

The Rock Analyzer — also known as RockSense — is an intelligent instrument mounted above the SAG feed conveyor. It uses an industrial camera and edge inference to measure the size distribution of incoming ore in real time: P80, top size, and the proportion of critical-size material. This feed characterisation signal goes directly into the digital twin, updating the breakage model before the ore even reaches the mill. The MPC uses it to adjust feed rate and water addition proactively — rather than reacting after mill load has already responded.

Process optimisation in mineral processing means running the circuit continuously at its most productive and efficient operating point — maximum throughput at target grind, minimum energy per tonne, best recovery for the ore type. MPC delivers this by holding the plant against its constraints in real time: where a human operator conservatively backs off from the limit to avoid overload, MPC holds the setpoint at the limit and corrects the moment it drifts. The cumulative effect — more tonnes per hour, every hour — is what produces the 1–3% throughput uplift typically seen in SABC circuits.