Abstract
Sheeted vein gold deposits are often characterised by multiple sub-parallel veins and free-milling coarse gold. Inherent mineralisation heterogeneity results in grade and process parameter variability, which increases project risk if not quantified. Measured grade variability is often exacerbated by poorly designed sampling and testwork protocols. Protocols that are optimised within the framework of the Theory of Sampling (TOS) to suit the ore type, together with quality assurance/quality control systems, will reduce variability and provide fit-for-purpose results. Geometallurgy can be broadly split into two key approaches: strategic and tactical (or operational). The strategic approach focuses on the whole orebody and long-term life-of-mine view, whereas tactical geometallurgy relates to a more short- to medium-term view during mining. The geometallurgical approach requires spatially distributed samples within a deposit to support variability modelling. Diverse attributes from core logging, mineralogical/textural determination and small-scale tests are used to measure variability. This contribution presents a case study that emphasises an early-stage strategic geometallurgical programme applied to a gravity recoverable gold (GRG) dominated deposit. It exemplifies how data can be acquired from a well-designed and planned programme to support resource estimation, a pre-feasibility study, trial mining and fast-track to production. A tactical geometallurgical programme is embedded into the mine operation.
Highlights
The prime objective of geometallurgy is to improve the profitability of mines using spatial models of rock properties that have a significant impact on value [1,2,3]
The strategic approach focuses on the whole orebody and long-term life-of-mine view, whereas tactical geometallurgy relates to the short- to medium-term view during mining
The project is relatively small, but shows that the geometallurgical approach is appropriate, where a programme must be tailored to the deposit in question
Summary
The prime objective of geometallurgy is to improve the profitability of mines using spatial models of rock properties that have a significant impact on value [1,2,3] It aims to correlate geology and mineralogy with data from metallurgical testwork and develop a model to predict variability. They saw value in the years of a mining operation and getting into production quickly As a result, they saw value in the geometallurgical approachtotounderstand understandthe SVZ.The. The key driver was to resolve variability within geometallurgical approach key driver was to resolve variability within the the deposit and feed thisthe into the and reduce technical. Two stages of underground development were undertaken as part of the ore characterisation study and PFS programmes In both cases, material across the FW, CZ and HW domains were kept separate for later processing. Three stages of pilot testing were undertaken, ranging from 100 kg sub-samples to full plant processing (Table 8).
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