High pressure grinding rolls (HPGR) with studded or profiled surfaces are being promoted as new advancements to address the wear problem apparent with the grinding of harder materials. This study examines the performance of studded rolls in comparison with smooth rolls in terms of energy consumption, throughput, product size and slip between the compressed particles and particle bed. The experiments were performed on the CSIRO HPGR with studded roll tyres. The results indicate that the use of studs will increase throughput while wear is expected to be reduced, however, it is at the cost of higher energy consumption and grinding forces.