The Sylvan Ore is located within the Owl Creek/Birkenhead area and consists of a poly-metallic, high-sulfide mix of iron
pyrite, pyrrhotite and altered granite diorite with massive to scattered metals throughout the bulk sample. The refractory
indicators in this material are the high sulfides which require special consideration for Extraction & Recovery.
2. Gold ore processing
Ore
Preparation
• Gold liberation
• Particle size
adjustment to
next processes
• Physical
concentration
and oxidation
pretreatment
Gold
Extraction
• Extraction
of gold from
ore into
solution
and/or
concentrate
Gold
Purification
• Purification
of gold
bearing
solution
Gold
Production
• Recovery of
gold from
solution or
concentrate to
produce a
bulliion bar
8. Fazenda Brasileiro ore
Main ore characteristics
deposit type: “greenstone belt”
mineralogy: fine gold (d95=37 microns),
free or in borders/fractures, associations
with sulphides and quartz
laboratory tests: high recoveries for both
direct cyanidation and flotation, good
recovery in gravity concentration
10. Refractory sulphide ore
Main ore characteristics
deposit type: “greenstone belt”
mineralogy: very fine gold(d95=3 microns),
encapsulated and in borders/fractures,
association with sulphides
laboratory tests: low recoveries in direct
cyanidation and gravity concentration tests,
high recoveries in flotation tests, high
recoveries by cyanidation after bio-oxidation
or pressure oxidation
12. Placer ore
Main ore characteristics
deposit type: “placer”
mineralogy: medium size gold(d95=100 microns),
some physically liberated,
some associated with sulphides
14. Geology
Mineralogy
inferred measured
combined
W1=1 W2= f ( sampling,
equipment, precision)
Behavior
inferred measured
combined
W1=1 W2= f ( sampling,
preliminary testwork)
Process options
inferred measured
combined
W1=1
W2= f ( sampling,
demonstration testwork)
Process routes
Knowledge
building
Contradictions
management and
feedback
1300 variables
600 rules
15. A gold mine in the Amazon
Igarapé Bahia Mine
Largest Brazilian gold mine
10-12 tons of gold/year
Very low cash cost
Located in the Carajas Reserve
Forest reserve area owned by a mining
company - CVRD
Only 0.4% of area occupied by mine activities
Preservation of area and native cultures
16. Aerial view of mine site
Mine
Mill
Infrastructure facilities
22. Summary
Gold is an important resource to economy
Gold ores are found in different types
Processing is highly dependent on
mineralogical characteristics
Process design is a challenging activity
Intelligent systems can be used to design
and operate gold plants
Advanced use of information technology
in mineral industry is a key issue in the
21st century
Editor's Notes
Good Morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm here to present the paper "Process design for gold ores: a diagnostic approach"
The authors are: myself;
Professor Arthur Chaves, from University of São Paulo, Brazil,
and Professor John Meech, from University of British Columbia, Canada
This slide illustrates how the system "builds knowledge", to accomplish the task intended.
The system is designed like a step ladder. Its inferencing goes, step by step, verificating, in each step, the compatibility about the inferred and measured variables.
Or, in other words, knowledge and data.
Each combined variable is therefore the weighted combination of measured and inferred sub-variables, that, in theory, have to be compatible, or have an approximate meaning. Usually, the weight of measured attributes are higher than the inferred.
The system goes therefore inferencing and combining values until the suggestion and automatic drawing of feasible process routes are possible.
Sometimes, when the system finds an incompatibility, like if mineralogy suggests gold is cyanidable and testwork finds it is not. The system then feedbacks the information, asking the user to verify the data in each level. If still the contradiction persists, it goes to the lower level, in a verification of causes and consequences. Ultimately, if the ore behavior is particular, the user has the ability of changing weights, telling the system which information it has to trust more.
To have one idea of the size of the step ladder, it can be said that the process design module itself has around 600 rules and manipulates among 1300 variables and sub-variables.
After the metallurgical evaluation is finished, the next step is the economic evaluation.
. it uses generated flowsheets as input
. estimate costs for each unit operation, using
actual costs and adjustment factors
and applying inflation indexes
. calculate revenues based on gold recoveries and prices,
and finally,
. calculates the economic parameters
. of course, the system assigns a degree of certainty to the economic parameters and indicates the main risk factors