Grinding out greater recovery

As ore grades decline and deposits become more complex, miners are turning to Glencore Technology's flotation and grinding innovations to boost recovery and profitability.

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Global demand for critical minerals has presented new challenges for miners, who are facing declining ore grades and rising capital expenditure for new projects. It is against this backdrop that Glencore Technology, a global provider of metallurgical and mineral processing solutions, sees a greater need to produce more with less, starting with mineral processing. As mineral processing technology remains laden with legacy automation, Glencore Technology global marketing manager Fraser Kendall said mines often face a steep investment curve, spending much of their capital before producing their first tonne of ore.

Fraser said mines still use standardised flotation and grinding circuits, a concept that has remained relatively unchanged for years.

“Some of the world’s biggest mines in development we’re working with are acknowledging that they can’t increase their outputs with the same old approach,” he said.

Glencore Technology director of technologies Stanko Nikolic believes a change is imperative, especially considering there is an “increased complexity” to the critical minerals being mined.

“It’s not just copper anymore, it’s copper-zinc-gold,” he said. “It’s [also] not just lead and zinc, and there’s even antimony in there.”

A detailed study on operations and a strong focus on capital costs and mineral resources are all considered when it comes to maintaining profitability for a project, especially when justifying a greenfield site.