The need for an accurate and comprehensive understanding of load behaviour in industrial mills is outlined, and the implications of the availability of techniques for measuring load behaviour in these mills for both design and control is explored. Some research performed on a pilot mill used to investigate the effect of grid liners on autogenous milling is described. Considerable slip between liners and load occurred, with the result that a simple torque model (taking into account the orientation of the load and the slurry pool as measured by conductivity probes passing through the mill shell) was adequate for describing mill power at high mill speeds. The different behaviour of overflow and discharge mills as affected by slurry and load volume was explored. Some work involving the measurement of the axially distributed behaviour of the load in an industrial mill is then described. Liner movement, load orientation (measured with conductivity probes) and load temperature were measured as a function of axial position. The load orientation was found (surprisingly) to be almost independent of axial position but was a strong function of load volume. The axial temperature profile correlated in a logical fashion with other operating conditions. The relevance of these measurements for mill control is explored.