Significantly improve your insights into ore types and process performance with fast, accurate and reliable mineralogical analyses of your ore or process samples
JKTech provides process improvement solutions based on the mineral characterisation results. This can be performed on all samples across the value chain to significantly improve your insights into ore types and process performance.
We apply mineralogical assessment to the following applications:
- waste and ore characterisation
- material and ore typing
- developing conceptual flowsheets
- routine plant monitoring for process improvement
- precious metal and penalty element deportment
- implications for rheology and dewatering
- assist in tailings design and management
JKTech uses several mineralogical techniques depending on the objectives and cost benefit including optical, hyperspectral imaging, XRD, MLA, QEMSCAN and microprobe.
Routine plant monitoring
JKTech has years of experience in using mineralogical data to both identify problematic ore types as well as define the changes in processing strategies subsequently required to ensure maximum value is achieved by a concentrator when these ore types are processed.
While routine mineralogical analysis of key circuit streams is often undertaken by operations, interpreting mineralogical data can be daunting and the resulting analyses correspondingly superficial. Ultimately, mineralogical data should be translated into meaningful changes in processing strategies that are tailored to the ore types received by a processing plant. But without the ability to interpret the data from a processing perspective, the value of mineralogical analysis can too easily be lost in raw MLA and/or QEMSCAN outputs.
Case studies:
Some outcomes of recent mineralogical studies undertaken by JKTech include:
- Identifying that throughput to a copper flotation plant could be increased without risk of excessive flotation losses. Liberation of copper minerals in the flotation feed was found to be more than adequate for sufficient recovery, meaning that the primary grind could be coarsened considerably.
- Identifying that high lime addition rates were unnecessary in a copper-gold flotation circuit due to the low quantities of non-valuable iron sulphides in the feed. Lower pH levels translated to savings in lime consumption as well as increased copper and gold recovery due improved flotation kinetics at reduced lime addition rates.
- Identifying that problems in achieving target concentrate grades in a gold flotation plant were being exacerbated by the flotation regrind circuit not achieving the ideal regrind target size, as determined by the mineral liberation properties of the valuable minerals.