Process Mineralogy 2017

Petrolab are proud sponsors of Process Mineralogy 2017 in Cape Town next week and have the privilege of presenting two papers at the conference. The first presentation is on the optimization of automated mineralogy for operational mine-site applications. Automated mineralogy systems have been around for over 20 years now but this presentation looks at the next paradigm shift in the application of this technology into operational contexts. Effectively using automated mineralogy on mine-sites has had to overcome three substantial hurdles. This has been (i) the presence of a sufficiently ruggedized system for mine-site deployment; (ii) the turnaround times, dependent on slow sample preparation, slow data acquisition and slow data interpretation, and (iii) the complexity of the systems that have often required (expensive) off-site specialists for implementation and running. Our paper explores solutions to these challenges and presents different case studies that it could be applied to (including one case study where it is being applied). The full abstract is below.

 

Optimising Automated Mineralogy for Operational Mine Site Applications.

Strongman, J*., Brough, C*., Fletcher, J*., Garside, R*., Prinsloo, A’. & Tordoff, B”.

*Petrolab Limited, C Edwards Offices, Gweal Pawl, Redruth, Cornwall, TR15 3AE
‘FQML Kansanshi Mining Pld, Solwezi, Zambia
“Zeiss Natural Resources Lab, 509 Coldhams Lane, Cambridge, CB1 3JS
Corresponding Author: james@petrolab.co.uk

Abstract

Automated mineralogy has been around for over 20 years driven by the development of QEMSCAN and MLA systems. These tools have the ability to provide valuable mineralogical metrics including grainsize, liberation and association statistics. The central challenge with these tools has been applying them in operational contexts with their often long turnaround times, complexity and single point data sets of intricate systems. Operational mineralogy is the next stage in the development of automated mineralogy with on-site analysis, faster turnarounds and streamlined mineralogical trend analysis monitoring the health and quality of the feed and process plant. However, in order for operational mineralogy to be a viable mine-site option several factors need to be optimised including sample preparation, sample analysis and data interpretation. In this paper the optimisation of sample analysis is reviewed and, in particular, different case studies that it can be applied to.

 

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The second follows on from the successful and very interesting Sustainable Minerals conference in Falmouth last year. Petrolab are collaborating with Zeiss Microscopy, SRK (UK) Consulting and Geochemic Limited to further explore mineral liberation in mine waste – this time focusing on combining the use of Zeiss Mineralogic 2D liberation with Versa micro-CT 3D liberation to better understand stereological bias. The mine waste is taken from the Hannukainen IOCG deposit in Finland which contains some high-sulfide PAF waste material. An extended version of this talk will be presented as part of a full-day Micro-CT workshop organised by Zeiss prior to the conference.

 

2D-3D liberation comparisons in HCT testwork for the Hannukainen IOCG Deposit, Finland.

Brough, C*., Graham, S’., Andrew, M’., Barnes, A”., Bowell, R”’., Warrender, R”’., Ward, L^., Strongman, J*., Fletcher, J*.

*Petrolab Limited, C Edwards Offices, Gweal Pawl, Redruth, Cornwall, TR15 3AE
‘Zeiss Natural Resources Lab, 509 Coldhams Lane, Cambridge, CB1 3JS
”Geochemic Ltd, Abergavenny, Wales
”’SRK Consulting, 5^th Floor, Churchill House, 17 Churchill Way, Cardiff, CF10 2HH
^University of Leicester, Department of Geology, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH
Corresponding Author: chris@petrolab.co.uk

Abstract

The Hannukainen Iron Ore-Copper-Gold (IOCG) deposit is located in northern Finland approximately 25 km northeast of the town of Kolari. The deposit consists of the main Hannukainen deposit and its northern extension, the Kuervitikko deposit. Geochemical assessment of high sulfur potentially acid-forming (PAF) waste rock has included kinetic humidity cell tests (HCT) lasting over 200 weeks. The onset of acid generation exhibits a considerable lag time which is hypothesized to be caused by the coarse crystallinity of sulfide minerals and a subsequent relatively low oxidation rate. Sulfide grain size, crystallinity and liberation are fundamental parameters controlling the quality of HCT leachate and the balance between them can be complex. In order to understand the relative importance of these textural controls on acid generation during the HCT testwork, pre-leach material was subject to detailed quantitative 2D Zeiss Mineralogic and 3D micro-CT liberation analysis. The results assess the stereological bias of 2D liberation analysis in HCT testwork along with the pyrite-pyrrhotite distinction in micro-CT analysis.

 

 

If you are going to be at the conference we would be delighted to talk about either of the above papers. We’ll be at the conference all week and you can also find us on booth 10 of the exhibition.

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