Metallurgical Testing for Pre-concentration: Characterizing Ore and Waste Properties, Esquemas de Engenharia de Minas

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Adrian Dance, PhD, PEng, FAusIMM Principal Consultant – Metallurgy adance@srk.com

Metallurgical Testing Methods to

Evaluate Pre-concentration

What is your ore hiding from you?

Mine

Plant

Dynamic Ore Scheduling Waste ???

Current Mindset – Revisit the Mine-Mill Interface

Mine Plant

ore waste

• different flowsheet
• modified flowsheet (campaign) 100% of feed goes to plant
• same power intensity
• same water intensity
• same tailings storage method

Plant 2

Stockpile Ore ???

Need for Standardised Testing

We are not currently evaluating coarse, waste rejection

Waste not Ore Characterisation

Bulk properties

• hardness, grade vs. size, density

Exploit differences waste vs. mineralised material

• grade deportment by size
• hardness
• specific gravity
• appearance/colour

Technological Convictions for Met Testing

At the start of any study, the following should be considered TRUE

1. heterogeneity of ore/waste boundaries can be estimated and exploited as part of the

mining process (before arriving at the plant)

2. geometallurgical domains will reveal unique properties to be separately scheduled by

the mine and/or processed under different plant conditions

• domains based on economics: cost per tonne vs. revenue (i.e. recovery)

3. pre-concentration methods will be adopted as standard practice to improve feed quality

What Should We Do?

Testwork procedures changed to consider current technology

• technology available to assist decision-based processing

Stop stage-crushing as the first stage of preparation

• XRF logging of contiguous intervals
• primary crush size-by-size analysis (jaw crusher vs. impactor)
• modified comminution tests

Prioritise coarse, dry processing options

• metal deportment vs. particle size (valuable & impurities)
• identify distinct metallurgical domains
  • grade deportment & mineralogy
    • Define geomet domains
    • Generate Opex vs recovery curves for each domain

Testwork Program – Bulk Sample

Develop met domains based on bulk characteristics

THEN evaluate separation/recovery options mineralogy grade hardness specific gravity/ photo Original Samples Low-energy Crush Ore Waste

Scale-up from Lab Testing

Simulate Metal Deportment low-energy breakage screen upgrading monitor reject stream particle sorting Estimate mass split and metal deportment at each stage