Minerals Engineering, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp.

245-254, 1999

Pergamon
0892--6875(99)00002--3

PROCESS

1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd

All rights reserved
0892--6875/99/$ - see front matter

DESIGN FOR GOLD ORES: A DIAGNOSTIC

APPROACH

V.M. TORRES ~, A.P. CHAVES* and J.A. MEECH*

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, P.O. Box 9, 33030-970, Santa Luzia/MG, Brazil
E-mail: Vanessa@Torres.net
t Escola Polittcnica da Universidade de Sao Paulo, S~o Paulo, Brazil
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
(Received 15 September 1998; accepted 6 December 1998)

ABSTRACT
Much careful work and thought are needed from the time an ore is discovered until a
marketable product is produced Most often, incomplete or imprecise information on the
deposit must be used to decide to continue or not with the development and
implementation of a project. This paper presents a diagnostic methodology to deal with
gold projects at the preliminary stages. We have developed "IntelliGold"---an expert
system for gold process design. A knowledge base on gold mineralogy and processing is
used to provide the user with feasibility information on a given gold ore. Decision-makers
can have a preliminary, yet reliable view of the mineral processing project, based on lab
results supported by mineralogical characteristics, operational issues and economic
analysis. 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Keywords
Gold ores; mineral processing; expert systems

INTRODUCTION
Gold mining projects are a rare opportunity in the mineral industry. They need relatively small investment
and can yield high profitability and fast return on investment when compared to other mineral projects [1].
The evolution of a gold mining project is a dynamic process. To expand or maintain gold production,
continuous development of new deposits and fast implementation of new mining sites are needed. After the
rapid growth in gold production in the 1980's, due to the significant gold price rise that occurred in the late
1970's, the industry in the current decade is faced with mining low grade and/or complex ores. Exhaustion
of high grade and free-milling gold reserves is generally followed by attempts to exploit deposits with low
grade and/or complex mineralogy [2]. Therefore, it is relevant to attempt to optimise the development
process beginning with geological exploration and ending with production and commercialisation, in order
to reduce the risk of making a poor decision.
From the time of discovery until the first bar is poured, careful work and thought is needed.
Multidisciplinary input from the fields of geology, engineering (mining, chemical, metallurgical, mechanical,
electrical and civil), architecture, business administration, sociology and biology are required over many
years until the project is ready to start-up.
Presented at Minerals Engineering '98, Edinburgh, Scotland, S e p t e m b e r 1998

245

246

v.M. Tortes et

al.

Process design is one of the major issues There is clearly a need for a consistent approach to deal with the
paradoxical problem of making a profit despite increasing complexity and decreasing or stagnant gold prices.
Plant design for a gold ore should consider aspects of ore genesis, mineralogical characteristics and ore
behaviour in each of the available metallurgical processes. Other factors include the selected mining method,
impact of the project on the environment as well as economics. The uncertainty of the work to be conducted
makes the environment ideal to apply Artificial Intelligence tools such as Expert Systems, Fuzzy Logic and
Neural Networks [3].

GOLD PROJECT DEVELOPMENT: IMPRECISION, RISK AND DECISION MAKING

The success of the new mine depends on many factors. Among these, a key issue is the answer to a simple
question, "is it a 'good project'?" The answer unfortunately is far from simple, especially during the
preliminary stages. The search for an answer is called "feasibility study". From the start of development
until the decision is made to implement the mine, most of the work involves an interactive process of
gathering information and evaluating the feasibility of each stage. However, as resources are often limited,
development is performed in gradual stages. These stages consist of:
geological assessment
mineralogical assessment
ore behaviour assessment
process and flowsheet selection
equipment selection and sizing
economic analysis
In the preliminary stages, the available information may be sufficient to classify the project as a bad one,
but is almost never extensive enough to ensure the project will be profitable. The boundary between a poor
prospect and a good one is fuzzy: the prospect can be clearly poor (e.g. there is no gold in the ore, grade
is too low, etc), possibly poor, possibly good and clearly good. Figure 1 illustrates this fuzzy concept as
it applies to the evolution of the decision as more information becomes known.

Fig. 1 Uncertainty of project development.

Technical feasibility with a maximum degree of precision is only possible when the detailed engineering
is finished. However, as the project progresses from stage to stage, an increasing investment is needed, and
difficult decisions are required to move between the stages. Table 1 illustrates the characteristics of the
development stages of a gold project.

Process design for gold ores

247

T A B L E 1 Development stages of mineral projects

Phase of
development

Preliminary
evaluation
Conceptual project

Accumulated cost
(% total capital
cost)
negligible
0,6 to 1%

Basic engineering

~ 10%

Detailed engineering

- 100%

Information available

very uncertain,
"order of magnitude" evaluation
uncertain, yet sufficient to
outline the main
characteristics
reliable geological and
metallurgical data, basic layout
and equipment sizing
final geological and
metallurgical reports, detailed
layout and equipment
specification

Error in capital
cost estimation
(estimated - actual)
from +40 to -20%
from +20 to -12%

from +15 to -10%

from + 7 to -5%

T H E USE OF DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS FOR GOLD PROCESS PLANT DESIGN

The need to evaluate potential gold resources in a timely fashion with increased accuracy has resulted in
the development of diagnostic methodologies for gold ore testing at many laboratories. These methodologies
often use standard tests and optimisation procedures for cyanidation, flotation, gravity recovery and various
leaching methods [4]. Optimisation refers to an attempt to establish the "best" conditions to use with an ore.
Because of this effort together with the continued evolution of new processes for refractory ores, gold
processing can be considered as a separate, organised subject within the field of mineral processing. Good
textbooks are available [5,6] and many papers are published each year describing technology enhancements
and potential breakthroughs.
Since process design is one step in the evaluation of a gold project, we have decided to integrate the
relevant tests performed at each stage with important data such as geology, mineralogy, economics and
environmental issues. Our plans are to build a system for use by multidisciplinary teams beginning with the
discovery of a new prospect.

EXPERT SYSTEM FOR GOLD ORES

A comprehensive expert system for gold ores, "IntelliGold", is being developed as a tool for project
development teams to use at both the preliminary evaluation and conceptual project stages. The system
integrates information and knowledge from geology, mineralogy, processing and economics in an organised
way. The two main features of the system are:
an inference system able to recommend processing options for a specific ore and to estimate costs
and revenue even when the data are uncertain. The system establishes the main risk factors
contained in each recommendation to point out areas for continued research and testing. By using
this tool, the development team can be directed towards solutions that are more likely to increase
profitability and decrease risk of failure. Furthermore the system can be used to simulate different
scenarios that the project may experience during its development or operation (such as changes in
gold price, ore grade or discovery of new reserves);

248

V.M. Torreset al.

a hypertext document containing information about the state-of-the-art on gold processing as well
as case studies for different ores and flowsheets of existing plants, in order to provide an easy and
direct access to the information and related references.

The system is aimed at professionals involved in gold project development: geologists, research engineers,
project engineers and mineral economists. It can provide feedback to each area individually, as well as to
assist the overall team when working together in a workshop. It can also help to evaluate acquisition of
prospects or partnerships and joint ventures. Finally, the system can help to train new professionals in gold
processing.
From ore and deposit characteristics collected during preliminary geological investigations, decision rules
are applied to choose potential processing options for the ore. Then the unit operations to be used in these
flowsheets are assembled and sized. With the process routes defined, cost and revenue calculations are
performed using existing models or historical data. These options are then classified according to their
potential return and associated risk. At the same time, the user can access the hypertext document to view
information about the chosen processes, or to retrieve information on existing mines that use similar
processes. The user makes the decision on process options to investigate further, abandon or hold, or
implement the project. Figure 2 illustrates the system stages.

Project start
I Decision rules,
fuzzy sets

41.
Process routes
indication

l
I Fiowsheet I
alternatives

Hypertextwith
literature review and
case studies

I.
Cost and

revenues
calculation

Continue investigation
Do research
Gather more data

I Mining method

l u~r input

Ranking of alternatives
Alternative NPV/IRR D.C. Maindsk factors

S
MAKING

hold

%,,

Implement

, project

Fig.2 System structure as perceived by the user.

Comdale/X was chosen as the main AI development tool for the system. The approach used by this software
defines the main variables as "keyword triplets"-----characterised by three parts: object, attribute and data
type. The triplets are grouped into classes, which can then be organised into a hierarchical structure. Triplet
variables can be either logical, numerical, string or fuzzy. Fuzzy triplets use fuzzy logic to transform
numerical measurements into a facet called the degree of belief which varies from 0 (false) to 100 (true).
Comdale/X uses "rules" in a format IF-AND-OR-THEN-ELSE to perform its inferencing [7].
IntelliGold has been developed as a series of modules, such that when one module is finished, the system
is naturally expanded as new modules are developed and added. This approach allows future application
to deal with other ores, such as copper, iron and zinc.

Process design for gold ores

249

The steps in the system are as follows:

analysis of preliminary geological and/or assay information

(updating is allowed as new data comes in)
prediction of mineralogical analysis of the deposit
identification and verification of the ore zones
metallurgical performance testwork and diagnostic-leaching studies
selection of basic flowsheets for the ore type and characteristics
development of unit operations within each flowsheet option selected
sizing of equipment
determination of revenue, capital and operating costs for each flowsheet
determination of Internal Rate of Return and Net Present Value for each option
establishment of risk issues within each option that require further work

All stages can be carried out even when data are absent within a particular stage. In this case, the system
assumes results based on knowledge from the previous stage. For example, if testwork has not yet been
done to determine metallurgical performance, this data are inferred from mineralogical analyses performed
in the previous stage, albeit at significantly reduced reliability. As data flows into the system during the
design phase, over time the degree of confidence (or belief) in the conclusions are improved. Similarly the
number of options presented will decrease to focus on one or two main flowsheet options.

K N O W L E D G E B U I L D I N G IN T H E SYSTEM
To provide a flowsheet based on ore mineralogical and metallurgical data, the system links information and
knowledge, in a similar way to human-reasoning. Information is represented by variables (or triplets), and
knowledge is represented by rules. The system uses around 1300 triplets and 600 rules to accomplish this
task.
For a gold ore, different classes of information can be identified:
information on the deposit and geology;
information on the ore mineralogy;
information on the behaviour of the ore in standard testing;
information on the response of the ore for the selected processes;
the combination of the processes into a flowsheet or process route.
Ultimately, it is the behaviour of the ore that defines which processes can be used. Obviously the ideal goal
in the development of a gold project is to have complete information on the processing of the ore, with all
process variables and scale-up factors determined. However, to achieve this, it is important, from the
beginning of the development, to infer, approximate, or even guess, the ore processing based on geology,

mineralogy, or behaviour in preliminary testwork.

The rules in the knowledge base for suggesting unit operations and selecting process routes aim to correlate
aspects of geology, mineralogy and behaviour of the ore with the many processes usually applied for gold
ores.
The rules that links several aspects in each class are structured into layers, since many geology premises
can indicate mineralogical characteristics of the ore, which in turn can infer process behaviour, which then
defines the processes to be tested. As more information is generated in each class, more accurate predictions
can be made about the behaviour of each class. As testing progresses through ore behaviour and process
variable determination, the system should be able to ultimately determine if the prospect is p o o r or good
with a reasonable degree of belief. Figure 3 represents the knowledge-accumulation process.

V.M. Torres et al.

250

Process routes

combined

WI=/

~X. W2=f ( sampling'

~,demonslrationtestwork)
measured

nferred
"':::::::"

" ................"::: ....... ,,.o~j

::":"::"::......... .::.....f.~,""::::"

"~" W'-I /
::::"
~/
"~:":":: ,e inferred

Process

combined
~N~ W2=f(sampling,
~mliminarytestwork)
measured

....::::::::~<'~[ Behavior <

combined

W1=1/
~
J" ,c~ inferred

Contradictions

management
and feedback

~N~ W2=f ( sampling,

~quipment.precision)
measured

-~

~"~.~

Mineralogy l<

I
Fig.3 Knowledge accumulation.

I N F E R E N C E AND F E E D B A C K
As can be seen in Figure 3, each variable is a combination of inference and interpretation of experimental
data. The system works from geology upward to process route selection accumulating and weighting the
information at each level.
The weights used to combine inferred and measured triplets (variables) are derived from the conditions
under which the analysis and tests are made, as well as the sampling quality. In this process, the following
situations can occur:
There is only an inferred certainty for a triplet: in this case, the combined certainty will be the
average of the inferred (which is different from 50) and the default measured (which is 50), and
so, the confidence in the inferred value will be diminished since there is no measure to verify it;
There is only a m e a s u r e d certainty for a triplet: in the same way, the confidence will be
diminished because of a lack of reason for the measurement. However, the amortisation degree will
be low if the weight of the measurement is high such as a good analysis on a representative
sample;
The certainty of the m e a s u r e d and inferred triplets are either both true or false: the combined
certainty will lie between the measured and inferred triplets, depending on the weights applied;

The certainty of m e a s u r e d and inferred triplets is discordan---one m a y be true and other m a y

be false: the combined certainty will tend toward the one with the higher weight. In this case, the
system alerts the user about the incompatibility of data, which may be caused by incorrect data

Process design for gold ores

251

(non-representative sampling, analysis error, incorrect classification) or an unusual deposit or ore.

The system allows the user to review the data that are generating the difference. If the
incompatibility still exists after this review, the user can change the weights applied to the two
derivations.
The management of incompatible information is one way that the system can feedback input or generated
variables. Another source of feedback comes from the economic analysis, which follows the flowsheet
design stage.
Geology to mineralogy inference
The inference of mineralogy is based on the characteristics of most common gold deposits. The first step
was to choose the classification method. The classification of Marsden [5] was used for ore types while, for
deposit types, that proposed by Paterson [8] was chosen.
Classification of deposit types is driven by the genesis of the deposit, i.e., geological issues. On the other
hand, classification of ore types is driven by mixed geological and mineralogical characteristics of the ore
and, in the particular case of the "free-milling" class, the ore behaviour during cyanidation is determinant.
In other words, deposit type relates to terminology used by field geologists while ore type is the terminology
used by petrographic geologists (or mineralogists).
A review of the literature on gold deposits and projects was performed in order to derive common
characteristics of ores from a given ore type or deposit type, resulting in typical ores for each classification.
Of course, there are deposit types in which a variety of ore types can occur, and in this case, several options
are given by the system, but with low degrees of certainty.
The inferred mineralogy is combined with the experimental observations using the weighting process
described previously.
Mineralogy to behaviour inference
The inference of ore behaviour aims to provide a correlation between mineralogical variables and ore
metallurgy. This approach is very consistent since the objective of every ore processing and metallurgical
plant is essentially to modify physical and chemical properties of the minerals contained in the ore and,
ultimately, the selective destruction of minerals to extract the valuable elements.
The system uses rules to instantiate the inferred behaviour triplets. These rules were derived from interviews
with experts, author's experience and literature review.
An important issue is the interpretation of data from metallurgical testwork. IntelliGold interprets the
numerical results into linguistic expressions that characterise process behaviour using fuzzy sets and rules.
The system provides forms and interpretation rules for laboratory and pilot tests for the main unit operations
involved in flowsheet design comminution, gravity concentration, cyanidation, flotation, diagnostic leaching,
pre-oxidation and solution purification/gold recovery.
Selection of industrial processes
Once the basic ore behaviour is established, the system can select the industrial processes to be applied to
the ore. The selection of industrial processes, in this step, considers the metallurgical behaviour together
with general guidelines such as typical gold recovery, throughput and head grade ranges.

252

V.M. Torres et

al.

Selection of process routes and flowsheet design

After selecting which extraction, concentration and oxidation processes are suitable for gold recovery from
a specific ore, IntelliGold continues the consultation by building flowsheet options for the ore processing.
To accomplish this, the system uses a combination of rules and default values to select, which unit
operations are to be used, from primary comminution through to gold smelting. The first step is to define
different "options" of flowsheet design, since, at any given time, more than one alternative may be possible.
In this case, it is important to enter the economic evaluation module with more than one flowsheet, since
final choice is highly dependent on economic, political and environmental factors. Also, it is important to
show the user that more than one option is available, since personal preference can be used to add more
certainty to one specific flowsheet or another.

M E T A L L U R G I C A L R E P O R T AND F L O W S H E E T D R A W I N G
The final step in the process selection module is the report generation and flowsheet drawing procedure.
All input data and results generated during the consultation are arranged within a hypertext report. The user
can browse through the report, go to a specific page or print the report.
Using rules and graphical files, the system is able to draw a flowsheet representing each possible process
for the ore. The flowsheet is designed as a series of block diagrams, each of which represent a specific unit
operation.
By clicking on each unit operation, the hypertext document jumps to a page describing the basics of each
unit operation/process, main applications, possible problems, and a picture of an industrial unit. Design
details of each unit operation is accessible in this manner as well.
Also, a flowsheet showing all possible unit operations is also available for consultation. The individual
flowsheets are generated from this complete diagram shown in Figure 4.

E C O N O M I C E V A L U A T I O N OF PROCESS ROUTES
The process routes recommended by the system are used as inputs to the economic evaluation module.
The first step consists of calculate capital and operating costs for each unit operation selected in the
flowsheet, using a database of actual costs and adjustment factors. The adjustment factors correct the
database data for inflation (using M&S index), location, plant size, availability of salvaged equipment,
among others.
After the cost calculations, the system determines project revenues based on the reserve size, estimated
throughput, gold grade and recovery. The system then calculates the expected Net Present Value and
Internal Rate of Return. At this point, the main sources of uncertainty and risk in the project are identified
and the user is shown which testwork parameters need to be confirmed, optimised or reviewed. This
provides feedback to the process behavior and design modules providing interactivity in the analysis.

Process design for gold ores

253

Feed

Pnm~

Crushing

Secondary
Crushing I~1 SAGM'ling I
/

l
I .o=,o-.,,o,, I

~,ck~,,~ I

i *u~'~,,,on
,..o I 1,,o=,,,~

I Cyanidation
Heap I

~,=u,o I
O"'="on

sinewing
I

i O''"d~t'n I

Pre-aeration

I Pre-aerationI

leach
I Ca'bon-in-

CCD

pulp

I cco

1
IE~nl
1

Z.,n,: I
I Electro~nningI I Preci~ation
I

I c='~pulp I
J

,=,,.,,o,,

I ~on I

Srtelt~g

Fig.4 Complete flowsheet used by the expert system.

CONCLUSIONS
The development of an expert system for designing processes for gold ores is justified by the following
reasons:
process design is an important issue in development of a gold project, since it affects both the
technical and economic feasibility of exploiting the ore; the co-ordination of data and people
required to conduct the preliminary design within a gold project is often a difficult task since often
only uncertain information is available and not all "experts" are available at one time and place
to discuss and detail the design;

254

V.M. Tones et al.

knowledge of gold processing options may be critical in providing input to the early decisionmaking regarding continuing to explore and evaluating the prospect.
IntelliGold is being developed to provide a consistent methodology to integrate information from different
areas of the project development and provide estimates and inferences of possible process options and
variables. The system aims to give a basis for decision-making during the preliminary stage of a project
even if information is incomplete or unavailable.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank their supporting institutions and organisations: The Companhia Vale do Rio
Doce, CNPq, Escola Polit6cnica da Universidade de S~o Paulo, and University of British Columbia, which
made possible the development of the system.

REFERENCES

2.

.
4.
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6.
7.
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Nardi, R.P., Revisao crftica do circuito de cianetaao de Fazenda Brasileiro. Sao Paulo, Escola
Polit6cnica da Universidade de Sao Paulo, 1996. (Qualifying examination).
Torres, V.M., New Applications of Diagnostic Leaching: From Heap Leach to Complex
Copper-Gold Ores. In Latin American Perspectives, ed. O. Bascur. SME Inc, Littleton, 1998, pp.
181-193.
Meech, J.A., Managing Uncertainty in Expert Systems--A Fuzzy Logic Approach. in: 31st CIM
MetSoc. Conf. Proceedings. Edmonton, 1992, 77-85.
Lorenzen, L., Some guidelines to the design of a diagnostic leaching experiment. Minerals
Engineering, 1995, 8(3), 247-256.
Marsden, J. & House, I., The Chemistry of Gold Extraction. London, Ellis Horwood Limited, 1992.
Yannopoulos, J.C., The Extractive Metallurgy of Gold. New York, Van Norstrand Reinhold, 1991.
Meech J.A. & Kumar, S., A Hyper-Manual on Expert Systems v. 5.0. CANMET, 1996. (Electronic
book).
Paterson, C.C., Ore deposits for gold and silver. Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy
Review. 1990, 6, 43-66.

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