Originally posted by brookvill2
Thanks for the clarification Plough, the presenter at the RRS luncheon in Melbourne did not say that the new ore was sulphide, interesting miss on his part.
As a very important Point of note here, (Operational Information) because it is “Fresh Rock” or as it is also known “Primary Ore”, this does not imply it is Sulphides or Refractory Ore, (Fresh Rock/Primary Ore) is a Harder Ore type ie: it is (Not Oxidised from Weathering) this is determined when Laboratory Analysis is performed and can also be seen in Ores of that nature by the Geologists and operational personnel on the job, you can also see it in any Open Cut or Underground as you develop same, the transition as the Ore Body Develops is, Oxide, (Surface), Transitional, then finally Fresh Rock, if it does not state Sulphides/Refractory in Geological/Laboratory reporting then it is not, Fresh Rock is a harder Ore therefore the throughput of most Mills is reduced due to the Power required to grind the Ore to be amenable to Leaching through the CIL circuit. Just a quick basic analysis, 36 years experience in the game, these processing facilities can all be problematic at the commencement of operations and it takes time to get all the equipment up to speed as per design, Grated Mills always cause throughput restrictions with different Ores, the Harder the Ore, (Fresh Rock or hard Laterites) can peg the slots which in this case they were which reduces throughput tonnage, they now seem to have this sorted which will benefit the operations going forward as they now also have some operational parameters that are known, when the Hard Rock is the primary source of Ore then it may be necessary to Crush Finer and or a second re-grind Mill may be required, another method is to blend the Ores for throughput sustainability. That’s it for now but just thought it mat help all to understand the mechanics of Ore treatment.
