Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Full scale installations of the InLine Pressure Jig (IPJ) continuous gravity recovery (CGR) circuits at Pirquitas (Silver Standard Resources) and Kloof (Gold Fields) provide further evidence of the strong correlation of Gekko’s CGR laboratory test work protocol and plant results. In both instances, the preliminary test work was undertaken in Gekko’s metallurgical laboratory, utilising Viking Cone and tabling test work where appropriate.
Both circuits have substantially different flow sheets with IPJs operating in different particle size ranges. In the case of Pirquitas the IPJs treat particle sizes in the 2-12mm size range and perform a critical gangue rejection function.
Testwork
Extensive gravity characterisation test work was conducted at Gekko’s laboratory in Ballarat, the University of Technology at Oruro, Bolivia, and Gekko’s Peruvian agent, Futuratech. The results indicated that the ore contained at the Pirquitas mine site could be separated at a crush size of 12mm into 50% of the mass with less than 5% silver loss. Key tests conducted during the program include size distribution analyses, single pass tabling tests and dense media ‘Gekko Viking Cone’ testing.
The Viking test is particularly suited to determining the recovery and mass yield that can be obtained using the IPJ at coarse sizes.
