Metallurgy & Mineral Processing

Froth flotation is a very important mineral concentration process that is used to recover a vast array of different minerals containing valuable commodities such as copper, lead, zinc, nickel, molybdenum, tungsten, silver, gold, phosphate and potash. In the flotation process, ore is ground to a size sufficient to adequately liberate...

Evaluation of mining projects generally start with an initial scoping-level study, and if justified, proceeds to more detailed prefeasibility and feasibility evaluations. A scoping-level study is generally conducted to the +/-50% level of accuracy, with flowsheet development and processing assumptions based on limited testwork. A prefeasibility-level study is typically conducted...

Since 2010, SRK has been working with Philex Mining Corporation on their Silangan project, located on Mindanao Island in the Philippines. For this copper-gold project, SRK was requested to investigate block caving as the mining method; a particular challenge considering this is a high rainfall area. However, Philex personnel are...

Copper sulfide represents the main source of produced copper. The three main types of copper sulfide deposits are high grade massive and disseminated copper-porphyritic and copper-bearing sandstone. Unlike the copper sulfide deposits presented by massive ores, copper-porphyritic deposits contain only 5-10% of the ore minerals, mainly represented by chalcopyrite, pyrite,...

The mining industry continues to practice using ‘operational silos’ where different parts of an organisation work in isolation to achieve goals that only affect themselves. While this may keep costs from getting out of hand for their narrow segment of the mining process chain, it can have devastating effects on...

Processing plants are designed according to metallurgical tests performed on composite samples and the range of recoveries is explored by testing composites for variability. Nevertheless, the day-to-day activities of a mining operation are more dynamic than ever and every project has its range of ore variability. Mill performance changes may...

Designing a leach circuit should consider both ore-specific factors as well as factors involving the interaction between the ore and process equipment. Achieving the optimum leach performance involves combining operating parameters, such as grind size, residence time, chemical conditions (reagent addition levels, temperature, etc.), most of which interact with each...