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Project Studies

Overview

GSL work closely with our clients to deliver high quality metallurgical studies across the Mine Value Chain. We strongly advocate taking a geometallurgical approach to evaluating deposits and understanding the metallurgical performance at an early stage will help to de-risk and monetise any mining project. If you would like to discuss building a bespoke programme of work for your project, please contact us.

Including metallurgical testwork at an early stage provides a range of key benefits:

Provides indicative metallurgical response

  • Concentrate grades and recoveries

Highlights any major red flags before proceeding

  • Super fine grained nature – selectivity difficulties between target and gangue minerals
  • Major impurities in concentrates that will affect marketability
  • High levels of pre-activation – Differential flotation challenging
  • Ore hardness – If ore is hard and fine, power requirements will be very high

Helps you to understand if you need to adapt

  • Should the metallurgy pose a problem, focus should be to resolve the problem(s)
  • To assist in the resource drilling programme direction

If early stage metallurgical testwork is positive:

  • Potential for less intensive metallurgical studies to be required
  • More budget for other activities, or a reduction in project costs overall
  • Potential to fast track the metallurgical studies
  • Potential to make funding easier to obtain, if investors know a saleable product(s) can be made

Should the metallurgy be such a problem that the project is uneconomic better to know as early as possible.

Whilst early stage metallurgical testwork can add some cost upfront, it has the potential to save millions in wasted or misguided efforts. We think this quote sums it up well:

“Its unwise to pay too much, but its worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that’s all. When you pay too little, sometimes you lose everything.”

John Rushkin

Project Studies

Working with mine planning and engineering houses to deliver high quality and insightful testwork we can design or support the following studies:

Our 1,500m2 facility in Cornwall, UK has the capabilities and expertise to conduct lab/bench scale testing through to pilot scale where appropriate. For more information on specific mineral processing testing capabilities and equipment please visit our Laboratory Services and Pilot Scale pages.

Incorporation into Block Models

Conducting detailed testwork on each ore domain / time period to understand the additional metallurgical characteristics of;

  • Ore hardness
  • Recovery
  • Concentrate grade
  • Recovery, concentrate quality and reagent consumption against head grade

Will influence the $/t revenue potential. Once incorporated into the block model, this information will allow the resource geologists to make better decisions what material is ore and waste. Ultimately, you can develop a more realistic NSR for the deposit and inform mine planning, processing plant design and tailings treatment.

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