Geology & GeoMetallurgy

Geology & GeoMetallurgy

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Reference Papers (5 replies)

Helena Russell
8 years ago
Helena Russell 8 years ago

Who can help me with some articles in geostatistics lecture notes on geometallurgy and grade control. Thanks

(unknown)
8 years ago
(unknown) 8 years ago

Codelco, BHP, Geostats and MinnovEX have a couple of good articels to refer to, search under the following author names: 

  • P Carrasco
  • R Preece
  • M Dagbert
  • P Amelunxen

There are a number of other sources out there (many are valuable); however, I would encourage you to first evaluate the the indices you wish to populate. If these can be transformed into additive forms (kWhr/tonne, recoverable metal content etc etc) then this is your first prize. Good luck.

There is quite an absence of any overview papers; although there are plenty of papers that focus on particular sub-issues (such as breakage testing).  I am not sure there are any obvious papers on the specific focus of grade control.

Helena Russell
8 years ago
Helena Russell 8 years ago

Just I've found some paper with Dr.Vann which they are not focus on grade control by geometallorgical aspects. grade control with geostatistic would be one of the important goals of geometallurgy

(unknown)
8 years ago
(unknown) 8 years ago

As far as I am aware, grade control is very important. But it is the other metallurgical properties that are also critical - hardness and mineralogy (i.e. liberation/floatability, etc). It is my understanding that it was the extension of the modelling approaches to incorporate a variety of metallurgical parameters that lead to the 'geometallurgy' concept rather than the classic geostatistical approaches.

Hence the problem of geostatistical modelling becomes one on finding an alternative method of spatial modelling than the single variable model (such as grade). This was one reason at JKMRC we developed 'texture models'. The approach was to represent a point in the ore by mutivariable properties

The texture model approach did not have to be confined to image or mineralogical data but could also include physical properties; yet unfortunately this approach is no longer 'active'. One of the stumbling blocks was that when the first Geomet. project was supported, there wasn't an active Geostats group that was integral to the Project. So I thought there were good inroads in texture modelling but no opportunity for implementation.

I still try to keep this option open, but at this stage it is not on the current 'active' list. I possibly should add I have some exposure to the hyperspectral methods of Corescan, which I also think is a technique that shows great promise - particularly for texture modelling. So my opinion is that inroads in Geomet. should extend beyond just grade control. Now there are other groups who are pursuing various methods, and hopefully they will contribute comments.

Maya Rothman
8 years ago
Maya Rothman 8 years ago

Look at the table of contents for:

"Proceedings The First AusIMM International Geometallurgy Conference 2011". http://www.ausimm.com.au/publications/publication.aspx?ID=12883

Geomet 2012, Santiago, Dec., 2012. http://www.geomet2012.com/images/stories/docs/12gmt_abstractsok.pdf

This will provide names of investigators, areas of investigation, and active organizations. You can follow this up be some targeted searches on internet. There are quite a few of these papers available through internet.

+ I agree with you that mineralogical properties are more critical than grade itself. In a phosphate mill, recovery varies seriously (10-90%) even for equal feed grade (so different mineralogical behavior) .

http://geofaculty.uwyo.edu/yzhang/files/Geosta1.pdf

(unknown)
8 years ago
(unknown) 8 years ago

That mineralogy plays a part in geometallurgy is well-known. And if we look at some historical work we can see this was conjectured as early as 1939 (Gaudin). Perhaps there are earlier references.

Similarly the application of 'texture' models is also well-known. In order to increase the awareness of texture and other advanced mineralogical approaches.

Again this is an attraction of the Corescan hyperspectral data as they use standard image formats. I can read their images easily into software systems such as Matlab. Their are other emerging mineralogical approaches, and as much as I can I encourage them to ensure data is easily accessible.

There are various other groups I am involved in such as 'Data Analytics' where modern data handling approaches (and analysis) are discussed. I believe we (geometallurgists) can learn a lot from their approaches particularly their communication methods.

Now back to the original Title. I have many private discussions with Shahrock, and it seems he wants guidance on a topic for postgraduate study. Regretfully I am not in an immediate position to assist.

However I have suggested to him there needs to be a thorough review of current Geomet. practice; particularly from a Data Analytics viewpoint; rather than looking at subprojects within Geometallurgy.

What I am saying here is that geometallourgy is not a sum of the parts; but the way the parts are combined (integrated) and relevant data is transferred.

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