Geometallurgy is a comprehensive integration of geological, mining, metallurgical, environmental, and economic data that optimizes the net present value of a mineral reserve; while reducing operational risks. Therefore, geometallurgy reduces the risks of mining and factory construction, as well as shortening the investment return period.
Geometallurgy is becoming one of the most important and popular topics in the mining world because it bridges the gap between geology and metallurgy by combining mineral processing data and geological data, the resulting model is called a geometallurgical model. Therefore, in the geometallurgical model, metallurgical domains are used instead of geologic domains, according to the diagram below, by combining the reserve model or the geological model with the process model, the mining model, and other models such as the environmental cost model, the economic model of creation and Based on that, the production model is prepared. The production model includes mining and plant planning information that is used to achieve the stated goals.
To make an efficient geometallurgical model, the following 5 activities shoul be done completely:
1- Identifying, extracting, and analyzing a sufficient and proportionate number of samples to obtain clarity and density of data in all mineral reserve blocks
2- Appropriate selection of analysis methods to describe the characteristics and properties of mineral reserve rock units
3- Development of mathematical relationships to estimate important metallurgical parameters based on geological data
4- Development of the metallurgical model of the process including unit operations
5- Validation of the geometallurgical model using actual operational data
By definition, the following can be achieved using geometallurgical tools:
– Identifying and describing the types of mineral deposits and their formation processes
– Analyzing the properties of the minerals that make up a stored mine to achieve optimal processing
– Description and explanation of unit operations required for mineral processing
– Analysis of the influencing factors on the selection of the processing process based on the properties of minerals
– Identifying and describing the needs for designing a special metallurgical operational model and describing its components
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