Sampling – A key tool in modern process mineralogy

Abstract

The powerful modern toolbox of hybrid Process Mineralogy for flowsheet development uses best practice sampling as one of its tools. In this paper, the three key components of best practice sampling are reviewed with case studies. These three components are:1.Minimum sample mass.2.Rules of unbiassed sampled extraction.3.The safety line.These excellent models and rules are not commonly taught in undergraduate programmes. In this review paper, which is intended as an introductory reference for those practitioners in Process Mineralogy who have not had exposure to the sampling models, simple and practical explanations are presented for reference. It is shown that finer particle size distributions lead to smaller minimum sample mass requirements.While sampling theory allows us to estimate the error involved obtaining a mass of sample for mineralogical analysis it is also useful to account for errors in the process mineralogy measurements themselves. Examples of the confidence intervals on liberation measurements made on high- and low-grade samples are provided to illustrate the importance of sample size—specifically measuring sufficient numbers of particles—in these analyses.