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1.

-Mineral Processing Laboratory (an overview):


Mineral processing, also known as mineral dressing or ore dressing, is the process of separating
commercially valuable minerals from their ores.
Unit Operations:
A mineral processing lab can consist of three sections:
1. Comminution particle size reduction.
2. Concentration by taking advantage of physical and surface chemical properties.
3. Dewatering solid/liquid separation.
Comminution:
Comminution is particle size reduction of materials. Comminution may be carried out on either
dry materials or slurries. Crushing and grinding are the two primary comminution processes.
Crushing is normally carried out on "run-of-mine"ore, while grinding (normally carried out after
crushing) may be conducted on dry or slurried material.
1. Crushing:
A crusher is a machine designed to reduce large rocks into smaller rocks, gravel, or rock dust.
Crushers may be used to reduce the size, or change the form, of waste materials so they can be
more easily disposed of or recycled or to reduce the size of a solid mix of raw materials (as in
rock ore), so that pieces of different composition can be differentiated.
Crushing is the process of transferring a force amplified by mechanical advantage through a
material made of molecules that bond together more strongly, and resist deformation more, than
those in the material being crushed do.
Crushing devices hold material between two parallel or tangent solid surfaces, and apply
sufficient force to bring the surfaces together to generate enough energy within the material
being crushed so that its molecules separate from (fracturing), or change alignment in relation to
(deformation), each other.
Jaw Crusher:
A jaw or toggle crusher consists of a set of vertical jaws, one jaw being fixed and the other being
moved back and forth relative to it by a cam or pitman mechanism. The jaws are farther apart at
the top than at the bottom, forming a tapered chute so that the material is crushed progressively
smaller and smaller as it travels downward until it is small enough to escape from the bottom
opening. The movement of the jaw can be quite small, since complete crushing is not performed
in one stroke. The inertia required to crush the material is provided by a weighted flywheel that
moves a shaft creating an eccentric motion that causes the closing of the gap.

Jaw Crusher
Single and double toggle jaw crushers are constructed of heavy duty fabricated plate frames with
reinforcing ribs throughout. The crushers components are of high strength design to accept high
power draw. Manganese steel is used for both fixed and movable jaw faces. Heavy flywheels
allow crushing peaks on tough materials. Double Toggle jaw crushers may feature hydraulic
toggle adjusting mechanisms.

Hammer Crusher:
The hammer crusher is one of the main equipment for intermediate and fine crushing the brittle
materials with less than intermediate such as limestone coal and other used in metallurgy,
building material, chemical and water - power industry, with a feature of big crushing ratio and
even product graininess.

Hammer Crusher
2. Grinding
In this process stage, the crushed material can be further disintegrated in a cylinder mill, which is
a cylindrical container built to varying length-to-diameter ratios, mounted with the axis
substantially horizontal, and partially filled with grinding bodies (e.g., flint stones, iron or steel
balls) that are caused to tumble, under the influence of gravity, by revolving the container.

Ball mill:
A ball mill, a type of grinder is a cylindrical device used in grinding (or mixing) materials like
ores, chemicals, ceramic raw materials and paints. Ball mills rotate around a horizontal axis,
partially filled with the material to be ground plus the grinding medium. Different materials are
used as media, including ceramic balls, flint pebbles and stainless steel balls. An internal
cascading effect reduces the material to a fine powder.

Ball
mill
Ball mills are used extensively in the Mechanical alloying process[1] in which they are not only
used for grinding but for cold welding as well, with the purpose of producing alloys from
powders.
The ball mill is a key piece of equipment for grinding crushed materials, and it is widely used in
production lines for powders such as including cement, silicates, refractory material, fertilizer,
glass ceramics, etc. as well as for ore dressing of both ferrous non-ferrous metals. The ball mill
can grind various ores and other materials either wet or dry. There are two kinds of ball mill,
grate type and overfall type due to different ways of discharging material. There are many types
of grinding media suitable for use in a ball mill, each material having its own specific properties
and advantages. Key properties of grinding media are size, density, hardness, and composition.
Rod mill:
Rod mills are very similar to ball mills, except they use long rods for grinding media. The rods
grind the ore by tumbling within the mill, similar to the grinding balls in a ball mill. To prevent
the conditions leading to rod charge tangling, the length to diameter ratio is maintained at 1.4 to
1.6. Rod mills accept feed up to about 50 mm (2 in.) and produce a product in the size range of
3000 to 270 mm (4 to 35 mesh). Grinding action is by line contact between the rods extending
the length of the mill. Rods tumble and spin in roughly parallel alignment simulating a series of

roll crushers. This results in preferential grinding of coarse material and minimizes production of
slimes.

Rod mill
Rod mills normally carry 35 to 65% rod charge by volume. The limits on charge level are (1)
keeping the feed end trunnion open so that feed will get into the mill, and (2) keeping the rod
charge low so rods will not work their way into discharge openings where they can cause rod
tangling.
Concentration:
Concentration involves the separation of valuable minerals from the other raw materials received
from the grinding mill. In large-scale operations this is accomplished by taking advantage of the
different properties of the minerals to be separated. These properties can be color (optical
sorting), density (gravity separation), magnetic or electric (magnetic and electrostatic
separation), and physicochemical (flotation separation).
1. Gravity and dense medium separation:
Historically the earliest method used, particles can be separated based on their specific gravity.
Air is the main fluid medium used for the process.

Gravity separation methods fall into three broad categories: dense-medium separation, in which
the particles are immersed in a bath containing a medium of intermediate density, so that some
particles float and others sink; separation in vertical currents, such that advantage is taken of
differing rates of settlement, as typified by jigging; and separation in streaming currents, or 'thin
film sizing' as for example on a shaking table or spiral separator. A flat, rectangular surface that
can be tilted and shaken about the long axis and has horizontal riffles for imposing restraint in
removing minerals from classified sand. Also known as shaking table.

Shaking table

Gravity concentration on inclined planes is carried out on shaking tables, which can be smoothed
or grooved and which are vibrated back and forth at right angles to the flow of water. As the pulp
flows down the incline, the ground material is stratified into heavy and light layers in the water;
in addition, under the influence of the vibration, the particles are separated in the impact
direction. Shaking tables are often used for concentrating finely grained ores of tin, tungsten,
niobium, and tantalum.
1. Flotation separation:
Flotation is the most widely used method for the concentration of fine-grained minerals. It takes
advantage of the different physicochemical surface properties of mineralsin particular, their
wettability, which can be a natural property or one artificially changed by chemical reagents.
By altering the hydrophobic (water-repelling) or hydrophilic (water-attracting) conditions of
their surfaces, mineral particles suspended in water can be induced to adhere to air bubbles

passing through a flotation cell or to remain in the pulp. The air bubbles pass to the upper surface
of the pulp and form a froth, which, together with the attached hydrophobic minerals, can be
removed. The tailings, containing the hydrophilic minerals, can be removed from the bottom of
the cell.

Flotation separation
Flotation makes possible the processing of complex intergrown ores containing copper, lead,
zinc, and pyrite into separate concentrates and tailingsan impossible task with gravity,
magnetic, or electric separation methods. In the past, these metals were recoverable only with
expensive metallurgical processes.
3. Magnetic separation:
Minerals such as ilmenite and magnetite are naturally magnetic, and so can be separated from
non-magnetic particles using strong magnets. There are a number of different processes that can
be used. These include High Gradient Magnetic Separation (HGMS), High Intensity Magnetic
Separator (HIMS) and Low Intensity Magnetic Separator (LIMS). The HIMS and HGMS are
differentiated as the HGMS separators are a batch process while the HIMS are a continuous
process. These two processes are typically used for paramagnetic particles while the LIMS are
used for ferromagnetic particles.
Magnetic separation is based on the differing degrees of attraction exerted on various minerals
by magnetic fields. Success requires that the feed particles fall within a special size spectrum
(0.1 to 1 millimetre). With good results, strongly magnetic minerals such as magnetite,
franklinite, and pyrrhotite can be removed from gangue minerals by low-intensity magnetic

separators. High-intensity devices can separate oxide iron ores such as limonite and siderite as
well as iron-bearing manganese, titanium, and tungsten ores and iron-bearing silicates.
Dewatering:
Dewatering is an important process in mineral processing. The purpose of dewatering is to
remove water contained in particles. This is done for a number of reasons, specifically, to enable
ore handling and concentrates to be transported easily, allow further processing to occur and to
dispose of the gangue. The water removed from dewatering can be recycled through a mineral
processing plant. The main processes that are used in dewatering include dewatering screens,
sedimentation, filtering, and thermal drying. These processes increase in difficulty and cost as
the particle size decreases.
Filtration:
Filtration is the separation of a suspension into a solid filter cake and a liquid filtrate by passing
it through a permeable filtering material. Important factors in this process are the properties of
the suspension (e.g., size distribution, concentration), the properties of the filtering materials
(e.g., the width and shape of pores), and the forces applied to the suspension. Filtration is carried
out in gravity filters (screens, dewatering bins), in centrifugal filters (screen centrifuges), in
vacuum filters (drum cell filters, disk filters), or in pressure filters (filter presses). Such devices
make it possible to produce filter cakes containing 8 to 15 percent moisture.
Thickening:
In the process of thickening (also called sedimentation), the solids in a suspension settle under
the influence of gravity in a tank and form a thick pulp. This pulp, and the clear liquid at the top
of the tank, can be removed continuously or intermittently. In comparison with filtration,
thickening offers the advantage of low operation costs; on the other hand, it has the disadvantage
of leaving a higher moisture content in the pulp. For this reason, the dewatering of pulps
containing fine particles often involves a combination of thickening and filtration. The
thickening of finely grained pulps is often aided by the use of flocculating agents.
Drying
The removal of water from solid materials by thermal drying plays a significant role in modern
mineral processing. A great number of dryer types are available. Convection dryers, employing a
flow of hot combustion gases to remove moisture from a pulp stream, are the most common. To
this type belong rotary drum, conveyor, and fluidized-bed dryers.

2. METALLURGICAL ACCOUNTING AND SAMPLING


Purpose of metallurgical accounting: To determine distribution of the various products of a mill,
and the values contained in them. Metallurgical accounting is also used to control the operations
since the values of recovery and grade indicate process efficiency. An efficient and representative
sampling system is what ensures good accounting and control system. Sampling is is the process
of generating a small amount of a material from the bulk material such that the small amount has
properties that accurately represent those of the bulk material.
Weighing and sampling of ore is done when the ore is in its most finely divided. Ideally,
weighing and sampling should be carried out before material is subject to losses e.g. Run-ofmine ore entering the primary crusher NOT after the material has been milled (at least for
accurate weighing). For run-of mine sample to be of accurate analysis, at least 5% of the total
weight of the ore must be taken as a sample, otherwise the results will be affected by segregation
and variations in moisture content.
The percentage moisture in samples is determined using the following equation:
moisture=

wet weightdry weight


w et weight

* 100

The drying temperature should not be so high that there will be a breakdown of minerals either
physically or mechanically e.g. sulphides are not dried above 105 C.
In practice sampling is done more effectively when material has been reduced to the smallest size
and will be in motion at a point of free fall discharge e.g end of a conveyor belt. A sample cutter
that moves continuously across the stream at a uniform speed, is employed to generate a sample
that represents the entire free-falling stream.
Gy devised a sampling method to calculate the size of a sample that ensures a satisfactory degree
of accuracy. The method is based on the understanding that sampling depends on probability
such that the more the samples taken then the more accurate will be the analysis.
Gys basic equation:
ML
K d3
= 2
LM

Where:

M is the minimum weight of sample required (g), L is the gross weight of the material to be
sampled (g), C is the sampling constant for the material to be sampled (g cm -3), d is the
dimension of the largest pieces in the material to be sampled (cm), and is the measure of the
statistical error committed by sampling. Generally, M <<<< L, so Gys equation approximates to:
M=

K d3
2

During sampling with a collecting device that moves through the material as it falls from a
conveyor, it is important that:
1.
2.
3.
4.

The face of the collecting device is at right angle to the stream


The cutter covers the whole stream
The cutter moves at constant speed
The cutter is large enough to allow the sample to exit

Sampling is done in two stages whereby a primary sampling device passes material to a
conveyor that will move the material to another location for crushing and further sample
division.

Determining mass of sample when using a linear cutter


A schematic diagram of a linear cutter is shown in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2. Linear traversing sampler.


Operations depend on cutter opening, stroke length and cutter speed.

Correct cutter opening sizes ensure that there will be no blockages. Wider cutter openings allow
for greater stroke speeds. The stroke length has to cover the width of the whole stream to be
sampled.
The amount of sample, M, cut by a linear cutter is given by the following equation:

The amount of sample can be expressed in terms of volume, V i.e.

Example 2.1
Dolomite was carried to the bunkers of a blast fumace at the rate of 200 t/h using a 75 cm wide
rubber conveyor belt. The rate of travel of the belt was 61 m/min. The size analysis of dolomite
indicated 95 % smaller than 7 cm. The dolomite was sampled as it entered the bunkers using a
linear traversing sampler capable of traversing at the rate of 60 cm/s and making 20 cuts per
hour. Estimate the mass of sample collected in 10 minutes.
Solution

Feed rate of stream = 200 t/h


Cutter opening = 3 x (0.07) = 0.21m
Cutter speed = (0.6 x 60 x 60) / 20 = 108 m/h
Therefore M/ h = (200x0.21)/ 108 = 0.388t = 388kg
In 10 minutes M = 388/60 x 10 = 64.8 kgs.

The following sample division methods are available:


1. Coning and quartering: Involves pouring material into a conical heap that is then flattened,
divided into four equal segments, and discarding two opposite quarters: to remain with two
opposite quarters that are combined and further coned and quartered if still too large, until the
required sample size is obtained.
2. Table Sampling: Involves feeding material onto an inclined plane with a series of holes that
cause material to leak and be discarded. Material that reaches the end of the plane is the
sample.

3. The jones riffle: Involves feeding two opposite trays through a V-shaped box with chutes. The
material in one tray is discarded and the material in the other tray is treated as the sample for
assaying. However, the process can be repeated until the required sample size is required.

4. Online analysis: Uses X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis of flowing slurry systems enabling
quick detection of quality variations.
5. On-stream ash analysis: Online monitoring of coal ash content by X-ray irradiation of flowing
streams, leading to absorption and reflection of the radiation. The variation in absorption
coefficient with atomic number leads to ash determination.

Rotary Arc Cutter


The rotary type of cutters (Figure 2.4) allows samples to be collected or passed through as
indicated in the segments. For unbiased sampling, the edge of the cutters equals the radius of the
circle forming the arc. The effective radius, R, swept out by the cutter at any point, in terms of
the distance d from the center of rotation of the cutter to the stream to be sampled along the
centerline is given by:

where is the angle between the radius of the cutter and the centerline of the solids stream.
The cutter opening changes as the cutter moves through the stream, then by simple geometry, the
effective cutter opening, dcutter, at any point is approximately given by:

Figure 2.4. Continuous rotary arc sampler.

If

is the rotational speed (rpm) of the cutter then the cutter speed, Scutter, parallel to the

solid
stream, can be given by:

Use of statistical tools in sampling


An accurate measurement is the one with the difference between the measured value and the true
value that falls within an acceptable margin. When the true value of the assay is unknown then
the confidence we have in the accuracy of the measured value is also unknown. To increase our
confidence in the measured value, we use the statistical theory.

A random error (or variation) on average, over a period of time, tend to zero whereas integrated
systematic errors result in a net positive or negative value (Figure 2.5).

Figure 2.5. Random and systematic errors


The bias is the difference between the true value and the average of a number of experimental
values and hence is the same as the systematic error. The variance between repeated samples is a
measure of precision or reproducibility. The difference between the mean of a series of repeat
samples and the true value is a measure of accuracy (Figure 2.6).

Figure 2.6. Precision and accuracy


Precision does not necessarily imply accuracy. Accuracy is tested by calibration procedures and
precision is tested by repeating tests. If there is no bias in the sampling regime, the precision will
be the same as the accuracy. Normal test results show that assays differ from sample to sample.
For unbiased sampling procedures, these assay differences are not due to any procedural errors.
Rather, the term "random variations" more suitably describes the variability between primary
sample increments within each sampling campaign.
Random variations are an intrinsic characteristic of a random process whereas a systematic error
or bias is a statistically significant difference between a measurement, or the mean of a series of
measurements, and the unknown true value (Figure 2.5). Applied statistics plays an important
role in defining the difference between random variations and systematic errors and in
quantifying both.
The most important parameter for a population is its average value. In sampling and weighing
the arithmetic mean and the weighted mean are most often used. Other measures for the average
value of a series of measurements are the harmonic mean, and the geometric mean. Mode and
median are measures of the central value of a distribution. The mode forms the peak of the
frequency distribution, while the median divides the total number of measurements into two

equal sets of data. If the frequency distribution is symmetrical, then its mean, mode and median
coincide as shown in Figures 2.7 and 2.8.

Figure 2.7. Normal distribution.

Figure 2.8. Asymmetric distribution.

The Arithmetic Average

x of a discrete set is defined as:

x =

1
( x + x + x +...+ x n)
N 1 2 3

x =

1
N

xi
i=1

x M

The weighted average

x M =

1
N

Mi

of a discrete set is defined as

M i xi
i=1

i=1

The weighted percentage is calculated, either from the total number of particles in each series, or
by multiplying each incremental percentage with the mass in each corresponding increment, and
by dividing the sum of all products by the total mass for each series. However, the small error
that is introduced by calculating the arithmetic mean rather than the weighted average is well
within the precision of this sampling regime. Due to random variations in the mass of each
primary increment the weighted average is a better estimate of v, the unknown true value, than
the arithmetic mean.
x

The Median,

It is the value of a characteristic that splits the probability distribution into two sets of equal
proportion or frequency.
The mode,

^x

It is the value of a characteristic where the probability reaches global or local maximum (i.e. the
most probable result). A probability distribution may have several modes.

The double poisson distribution


Basic dispersion parameters
Consider a binary mixture of quartz and hematite particles with approximately 10% hematite.
Samples are taken and the number of hematite particles is counted to obtain the percentage of
hematite in the sample. Table 2.1 gives the result often samples. For a binomial sampling unit the
range is (maximum value - minimum value) = 12.6 - 5.7 = 6.9%.

Table 2.1. Sampling with a binomial population

If each series of measurements is placed in ascending order, then the range is numerically equal
to xn x1 so that the range does not include information in increments x 2, x3.,xn-1. For a series
of three or more measurements the range becomes progressively less efficient as a measure for
variability as indicated in Figure. 2.7. For two samples, the range is the only measure for
precision but this is not sufficient to estimate the precision of a measurement process. The
precision of a measurement process requires the mean of absolute values of a set of ranges
calculated from a series of four or more simultaneous duplicates.

The easiest way to measure the dispersion of values xi is to compare them to their arithmetic
x . Because the
average x , which can be done by measuring all these differences x i average of all these differences equals zero it is convenient to work with square of the
differences (xi - x )2. Thus, we can define the experimental estimate of the sample variances
as follows:
2

s=

1
2
x i x )

(
N i=1

In practice we use the variance for calculation because only the variance has additive properties.
In practice the square root of the averages of all the squared differences (i.e. the variance) is
defined as the experimental estimate, s of the true standard deviation .

1
2
=
( xi x )

N i=1
It is important to note that standard deviations cannot be added; only variances can be added. The
variance, and its derived parameters such as the standard deviation and the coefficient of
variation, is the most important measures for variability between test results. The standard
deviation is the square root of the variance. The coefficient of variation (CV) is a measure of
precision and is numerically equal to:

Variance values from a sampling procedure with a binary mixture of mineral particles are given
in Table 2.2. The physical appearance of a sample that consists of fifty primary increments of 5
kg each is similar to that of a sample containing five increments of 50 kg, or to that of 250 kg of
a bulk solid. However, the difference in intrinsic precision (as indicated by the variance) may be
dramatic, particularly if the variability within the sampling unit is high. In practical applications
of sampling bulk solids we compromise by collecting and measuring unknown parameters on
gross samples, and by reporting x, the sample mean as the best estimate for v, the unknown true
value. If all increments are contained in a single gross sample, we have no information to
estimate the precision of this sampling regime. If we want to know more about the precision of
samples, systems and procedures, it is essential that duplicate or replicate measurements be
made, from time to time, to determine the coefficient of variation for each step in the chain of
measurement procedures.

Table 2.2. Variance values from the sampling example with a mixture of quartz and hematite

Other convenient measures for precision are confidence intervals (CI) and confidence ranges
(CR). 95 % confidence intervals and 95 % confidence ranges may be used, although if concern
over sampling precision is high, then 99% or 99.9% confidence limits must be considered. That
is, if we repeat a particular experiment 100 times, then 95 times out of 100 the results would fall
within a certain bound about the mean and this bound is the 95 % confidence interval. Similarly,
confidence limits of 99 % and 99.9 % mean that 99 times out of 100, or 999 times out of 1000
measurements would fall within a specified or known range. In the draft Australian Standard,
DR00223, for estimating the sampling precision in sampling of particulate materials, a
confidence interval of 68% is chosen.
Fortunately, we don't need to repeat a measurement one-hundred times if we want to determine
its 95% confidence interval, either for individual measurements or for their mean. Applied
statistics provides techniques for the calculation of confidence intervals from a limited number of
experiments. The variance between increments, or between measurements, is the essential
parameter.

The most reliable estimate of


estimate for

is var(x), the variance of the sample. The reliability of this

can be improved by collecting, preparing and measuring more primary

increments, or by repeating a series of limited experiments on the same sampling unit. The 95 %
confidence interval for a normal distribution is equal to 1.96

from the distribution mean. In

practice, we often use the factor 2 instead of 1.96, to simplify calculations and precision
statements. The 68 % confidence interval is equal to 0.99 , for infinite degrees of freedom
and if the number of replicate results exceeds 8 then a factor of 1.0 is an acceptable
approximation.
Application of Gys Method - Mineral Particles Differing in Size
The Gys formula can be written as:

Where:
dmax is the dimension of the largest particle
Mmin minimum mass of sample required
2 variance allowable sampling error in an assay (equals standard deviation for a normal
distribution)
K sampling constant (kg/m3)\
dmax is taken as the screen aperture through which 90-95% of the material passes. Since the
probability of events when 95 out of 100 assays would be within the true assay value is
represented by 2, 2 is the acceptable probability value of the sample. K is a function of
material characteristics:
K = PsPDPL.m

See
2.3

Table

PL is related to the largest particle size dmax and to the liberation size dL of the mineral in the
sample space. Table 2.3 is used to determine P L. In practice, PL is rarely below 1.0 and if the
liberation size is not known, it is safe to assume that PL is 1.0.
Table 2.3. Liberation factor as a function of largest particle size and liberation size.

The total variance of a sample


statistical error of the assay,
2

T = S + A

is the sum statistical errors during sampling,


2

, i.e. T = S + A

and the

The standard deviation, p, of mineral particles in an infinite lot where the mineral has been
mixed with gangue and the particles are large enough to be counted is determined using the
formula:

Where:

Example 2.2
Regular samples were required of the feed to a copper processing plant, having a copper content
of about 9%. The confidence level of estimation was required to be 0.1 % Cu at 2 standard
deviation. The liberation size of the Cu mineral (chalcocite) in the ore was determined to be 75
m. The top size of the ore from the sampler was 2.5 cm. Determine the minimum mass of
sample required to represent the ore. Given; the density of chalcocite is 5600 kg/m 3 and the
density of the gangue is 2500 kg/m3.

Example 2.3
A composite sample of galena and quartz was to be sampled such that the assay would be within
0.20% of the true assay, of say 5.5 %, with a probability of 0.99, ie. the sample assay would be
5.5 % 0.20 %, 99 times out of 100 . Given that the densities of galena and quartz were 7400
kg/m3 and 2600 kg/m3 respectively and the average particle size was 12.5 mm with a mass of
3.07g, determine the size of the sample that would represent the composite. Use Table 2.4 for
your answer.
Table 2.4. Probability P vs deviation X, relative to unit standard deviation.

Peculiarities about the Sampling of Precious Metals


They can be divided into three categories: Financial, Theoretical and Practical.
Financial Peculiarities
The sampling is very challenging yet small amounts of material can involve very large amounts
of money. Due to the financial implications, the achievement of sampling precision and accuracy
is very critical.
Theoretical Peculiarities
Precious metals are economic at very low levels and their sampling therefore involves traces.
Practical Peculiarities

Practically, there are a lot of difficulties involved in sampling precious metals. Gold is a classic
example of a mineral that is not very easy to sample, for the following reasons:
1. The gold content of a sample and the gold content of the surrounding ore can be very
different.
2. The gold content of a tiny analytical subsample and the gold content of the sample from
which it was selected can also be very different.
3. The density of gold is enormous (
= 19.3), promoting strong segregation
Au

phenomenon as soon as gold is liberated.


4. Gold nuggets do not commune very well, therefore gold smears and easily coats sampling
equipment.
The above problems increase as the grade of ore decreases, as gold deposits become marginal
and as the distribution of gold in rocks becomes erratic.

Practical Examples:
1. Determination of sample weight to be collected:
Method 1: Using allocated variance, S2FE Applies when the metal is liberated
We assume that the weight ML of the lot is larger than MS by several orders of magnitude.
1. The first step is to calculate the allotted variance S2FE:
2. We then calculate the constant factor of constitution of heterogeinty IHL:
0.8 3
d
IHL = aL
; aL = element content and d is the largest particles of element
3. Calculation of minimum sample weight, Ms, using the formula:
M s=

I HL
2

s FE

Method 2: Using sampling constant, C Applies when metal is not liberated


C=

1 a max
density of metal x density of gangue
1
2 S FE aL
density of gangue ( amax ) +density of gold (1a max )

amax = maximum grade

aL = expected average grade at the same size as amax


then IHL = Cd3;
therefore
M s=

I HL
s 2FE

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