Loesche’s Vertical Roller Mill (VRM) has achieved superior pilot plant comminution outcomes when treating Grange Resources’ Southdown ore. The Southdown magnetite deposit is a competent and abrasive ore from southern Western Australia, situated in an area with poor access to power and water. From the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s it was extensively evaluated using pilot scale conventional autogenous grinding (AG) and ball milling coupled with sequential tailings rejection by magnetic separation. Recent pilot VRM testing has demonstrated several significant advantages over these wet milling circuits and also over dry milling alternatives, such as the use of high pressure grinding rolls (HPGRs) in series. An industrial VRM can accept open-circuit secondary crushed feed, make a single-pass P80 20 μm product, operate dry, remove significant moisture from damp feed, selectively liberate hard minerals and produce an ideally classified final product. VRMs are dust free in operation, the throughput and product size are readily controllable, they are simple to maintain, and they utilise the same hydrostatic breakage mechanism that results in HPGR power efficiency enhanced by a shear breakage component. When treating magnetite ores a grit fraction, which is an internal dry classifier oversize stream, in case of the Southdown project, sized -1 mm +85 μm, is intercepted and extracted for dry magnetic separation. Magnetic grits are returned to the VRM for additional grinding and coarse dry non-magnetic grits are rejected to tailings. The final dry product is also suitable for emerging fine dry magnetic separation that would further reduce water consumption. Another major advantage of the technology is that the comminution and classification systems have a 100-year pedigree, having been developed by Loesche in tandem. Industrial design is achieved with high confidence through Loesche’s extensive testing and operating database. Loesche’s ‘VRM/grit magnetic separation pilot plant’ is a novel and unique facility that has demonstrated, in the Southdown test work, to be up to 41 per cent more energy efficient than pilot AG/Mag/Ball milling. In this paper VRM milling is compared with wet milling and, to a lesser extent, HPGR alternatives in areas such as test work, scaleup, capital expenditure (CAPEX), operating expenditure (OPEX), operability, design and plant layout. Special attention is given to the power and water savings, which are ‘game-changing’ for Southdown.