Mipac

The problem most processing plants share

Mineral processing and materials handling operations miss their production budgets for predictable reasons. Automation that hasn’t kept pace with the operation. Control loops are running in manual mode because nobody has time to tune them properly. Operators are making decisions without reliable real-time data. Reporting that takes hours instead of minutes, and arrives too late to change anything.

These aren’t edge cases. They’re the everyday reality on most sites, and they compound over time. Declining ore grades make the margin for error smaller. Experienced staff leave and take institutional knowledge with them. Systems that performed at commissioning drift further from optimal with every passing month.

Mipac was built to fix this. Founded in 1997 by control systems engineers who worked at Mount Isa Mines, the company has spent nearly 30 years working exclusively in mineral processing and materials handling, from crushing and grinding through to flotation, leaching, thickening, and final product.

Mipac boasts more than 730 projects across 55 countries, as well as over 100 different operational plants. Every major commodity: base metals, precious metals, iron ore, coal, battery minerals and rare earths.

That depth of specialisation matters because no two processing plants are alike. The problems, however, usually are.

Mipac’s partners

Processing plants run on the decisions made by a small number of people under significant pressure. Mipac’s work touches all of them.

Operations managers need their plant on target and their data working for them, not against them. Mipac turns process data into automated decisions and gives operations teams the visibility to act before a deviation becomes a loss.

Metallurgists and Process engineers need control loops that are actually tuned, operators who understand what the process is doing, and a central source of reliable plant information. Mipac provides the process control depth and data infrastructure that makes that possible — and speaks the technical language to go with it.

Maintenance and Engineering managers need upgrades that go to plan and systems their teams can actually maintain. Mipac’s project delivery track record across complex brownfield environments is built on execution discipline and clean handovers, not optimistic scope definitions.

Control and Automation engineers need a partner with genuine platform depth across the full automation stack. Mipac’s team works across Siemens, Rockwell Automation, Yokogawa, Schneider Electric, AVEVA, ABB and Honeywell, with no preference for one platform over another, and no gaps between disciplines.

Site and General managers need production consistency, risk reduction, and a clear line of sight to what’s happening across the operation. Mipac provides the automation and digital foundation that makes that possible, and the experience to know what actually moves the needle versus what looks good in a presentation.

What makes Mipac different as a mining automation specialist?

One partner across the full stack. Mipac covers every layer of the automation architecture – from field instruments and E&I engineering through to advanced process control and digital solutions. No discipline handover problems. No finger-pointing between vendors. One team that understands how the whole plant fits together.

Control that stays optimised. Getting a system to perform at commissioning is one thing. Keeping it performing as the ore body changes, the team turns over, and the operation evolves is another challenge. Mipac provides ongoing loop tuning, APC implementation, process engineering support, and operator training because sustainable performance requires more than a good initial setup.

Visibility that drives decisions. Through PI/AF configuration, advanced dashboards, and the MPA suite of production deviation management tools, Mipac gives operations and metallurgical teams the real-time process visibility they need to make faster, better-informed decisions and catch problems before they become downtime.

Specialist instrumentation for high-stakes environments. The CellView, Copper Monitor, and Shortmeter product range is purpose-built for tankhouse operations where standard instrumentation doesn’t provide the precision or reliability that electrowinning and SX circuits demand.

Experience that transfers. Nearly 30 years in mineral processing and materials handling means Mipac has encountered and solved most automation and process control problems that exist in this space. That experience doesn’t just inform project delivery. It’s built into the approach: knowledge transfer to client teams, robust documentation, and systems designed to be maintained by the people who inherit them.

Where Mipac operates

Mipac has active project work across Australia and Oceania, North and Central America, Africa, and South America, with growing activity in Europe. Projects range from targeted brownfield upgrades and control system modernisation through to full greenfield automation delivery and Main Automation Contracting (MAC) scopes.

Notable long-term client relationships include Ok Tedi Mining in Papua New Guinea, Glencore across Canada, Australia and Europe, Hudbay Minerals in the US and First Quantum Minerals’ Kansanshi and Cobre Panama operations.

Whether the challenge is a plant struggling to hit its recovery targets, a control system that’s overdue for modernisation, or a greenfield project that needs to be built right from the start, the approach is the same: understand the operation, fix the right things, and make sure the gains last.

Control systems built for processing plant reality

Modern mineral processing and materials handling operations depend on automation that performs under real conditions, not just at commissioning. Mipac’s industrial automation services cover the full control architecture: PLC, SCADA, and DCS design and implementation across Siemens, Rockwell Automation, Yokogawa, Schneider Electric, ABB, and Honeywell platforms, alongside advanced process control, loop tuning, and functional safety engineering.

The company’s experience base covers every unit process and every type of site, from established brownfield operations running ageing infrastructure to complex greenfield builds where the automation architecture is being designed from first principles.

The work doesn’t end at handover. Ongoing support, remote monitoring, and optimisation services ensure that control systems keep performing as the operation changes, because the gap between a commissioned system and an optimised one is where most production losses hide

Process visibility that turns data into faster decisions

Processing plants generate enormous volumes of data. Most of it doesn’t reach the people who need it, in a form they can act on, when it would actually make a difference. Mipac’s data and digital services are built around closing that gap.

PI/AF configuration and PI Vision dashboards give operators and metallurgists a clear, real-time view of what the plant is doing. The MPA suite helps operations teams identify production deviations early, understand their causes, and act on them before a shift becomes a miss. TCard replaces manual shift handover with structured digital task management, so the right information reaches the right people at the right time.

For tankhouse operations, the CellView, Copper Monitor, and Shortmeter instrumentation range provides the continuous, high-precision measurement that electrowinning and SX circuits require to maintain cathode quality and circuit efficiency.

The goal across all touchpoints is the same: faster, better-informed decisions at every level of the operation.