Application of geometallurgical modelling to mine planning in a copper-gold mining operation for improving ore quality and mineral processing efficiency
| Autor: | C. Musingwini, C. Beaumont |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Mine planning
Gold mining business.industry media_common.quotation_subject Metals and Alloys chemistry.chemical_element total copper Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology geometallurgical modelling Copper Mining engineering chemistry Materials Chemistry oxidation ratio Environmental science Quality (business) business gangue acid consumption Mineral processing weathering domains acid-soluble copper media_common |
| Zdroj: | Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Volume: 119, Issue: 3, Pages: 243-252, Published: MAR 2019 |
| ISSN: | 2411-9717 2225-6253 |
| DOI: | 10.17159/2411-9717/2019/v119n3a3 |
| Popis: | Kansanshi mine, located in northwestern Zambia, uses conventional open-pit mining to produce primarily copper, with gold as a by-product. The ore is extracted from a deposit with highly complex mineralogical suites that are difficult to process, sometimes leading to poor recoveries. The mine was using an ore classification system called 'Mat-Type', which classified various ore types into 22 different quality categories, ranging from poor to good quality. Ore with poor recovery was classified as 'poor quality' ore and directed to long-term stockpiles. Due to a lack of proper integration between the technical and functional areas forming the mine value chain, Mat-Type unintentionally misclassified ore. A geometallurgical analysis was therefore undertaken to review Mat-Type and a new geometallurgical ore classification system, called 'OXMAT ', was developed to replace Mat-Type. When implemented, OXMAT eliminated nine of the 22 ore categories and the remaining 13 ore categories could now be more accurately and consistently defined, leading to a significant change in the quantity of ore being mined. OXMAT demonstrated that within a defined test volume of the geological model, waste tonnes could be reduced by 19% while ore tonnes could be increased by 17%. This paper therefore demonstrates the value created through integrated geometallurgical modelling. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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