Demand for minerals is growing globally but the availability of high-quality ore deposits is in decline. Many of the ore deposits being found today have inherently complex mineralisation where, for example, the target element is present in low abundance, is associated with a fine-grained multi-phase assemblage or occurs in sub-micron particles. This complexity can dramatically reduce processing efficiency and recoveries or, at worst, make processing completely unviable. Understanding the chemical, mineralogical and textural characteristics of an ore can help engineers adjust or even change processing method to suit the ore’s properties. Consequently, ore characterisation is an important first step in precision process design. (more…)