Steps Of Engineering Concentration From International Precious Metals Institute ( IPMI )

Examples of exciting from International Precious Metals Institute ( IPMI ) how to refine precious metals with the initial steps of engineering concentration, using chemical engineering mineral engineering metallurgical, industrial engineering geology, geosciences, organic, inorganic, health, safety and many others.

Precious metals produced from primary sources start off as or once the ore is removed from the mine it must be processed to separate the valuable content from the surrounding rock and minerals to extract the metals from the ore. 

Ore with low concentrations of metal take more energy and work to concentrate and refine. concentrations of precious metals in or can be very low, yet still be profitable to mines due to high value platinum concentrations in or can contain as little as two and a half grams per ton, that is the equivalent of 2 to 3 grams of precious metals in a million grams of surrounding Rock.

The task of separating the Platinum from the rest of the material is a multi-step process using a variety of separation techniques. Mineral engineering is the discipline that utilizes technology to concentrate or the techniques used in mineral engineering have formed the foundation of all refining and recycling processes. This is true for precious metals recycling from automotive catalysts to the separation and recycling of metals glass and plastics from household trash.

The differences in physical properties of materials being separated are used to separate them. for example a mixture of magnetic and non-magnetic particles can be separated using large magnets within separating tumblers. In every case the material must first be broken apart into small enough particles to enable them be separated.

Crushing and grinding of the first step to break down more the amount of energy used, to accomplish this is significant so technology has been refined to optimize the process or its first blasted from rock, and then the large boulders get crushed for easy transport and handling by trucks and conveyors.

The ore is then taken through various types of crushing and grinding equipment until it is almost in a fine powder form. The rock size distribution and hardness are matched to the type of equipment used impact crushers roll crushers home pressures and grinding Mills progressively reduce the particle size massive grinding or ball mills contain large hard spheres which roll and tumble to grind the ore particles between their services. Technology has been developed to monitor variations in the incoming orb properties and modify the crushing techniques to improve efficiency.

Once the metal bearing or has been crushed and then ground the precious metal bearing material must be separated from the rest of the material. A standard and widely used process called flotation separates particles based on their tendency to attach to frothing bubbles. precious metals can be found within ores metallic particles or contained in formations of oxides or sulphides.

When the valuable content of the ore is in one form like sulfide the surface chemistry properties may differ from the surrounding material in the ore which will allow Flotation to be used to separate them the ore is mixed with water and small quantities of chemicals are added to help the separation a very small amount of wetting agent is first mixed in to selectively coat the desired particles.

This treatment alters the surface chemistry of some material and improves attraction and adherence to the bubbles in the froth, the pH of the slurry may also be monitored and adjusted to control the surface chemistry, the next chemical addition is the frothing agent which is a type of soap which will create thick bubbles that can hold on to the selected particles.

Internal impellers spin at high speeds to draw in air and create fine bubbles these bubbles swirl and rise to the top collecting the particles along the way, this is similar to and can be thought of as a cleaning, action much the same way dirt and stains are cleaned from clothing.

A stain remover may first be sprayed on to treat the fine particles in the stain and then the detergents in the wash lifted up and out. The bubbles then overflow to separate and concentrate the metal bearing particles. Prior to the next concentrating steps a series of flotation cells are typically used in which the froth from one cell cascades into the next cell for further concentration.

Once ores are concentrated additional technologies are used depending on the metals being processed as well as the other materials being removed. hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy are the next disciplines within the realm of mineral engineering which are next employed to concentrate the precious metals from the ore.

Hydrometallurgy involves the technologies which chemically dissolve or leach to eventually extract metals. pyrometallurgy involves melting or other thermal treatment of ores to concentrate or extract metals.

Video International Precious Metals Institute ( IPMI ) Refine Precious Metals - Step Concentration 

See Also : 

Video How To Refine Precious Metals - Hydrometallurgy

Gold Exploration Activities In Newmont Waihi

Geologists Newmont exploring for gold on the coromandel peninsula and the gold fields look for the tale signs of historic volcanic and geothermal. Activity exploration is conducted for define mineral deposits, although it's one of the  first steps towards  developing a mine exploration in an area does not necessarily mean that mining  will follow for every thousand prospects identified only one has the likelihood of becoming an operating mine.

Exploration mine involve geological mapping rock and soil geochemical surveys and geophysical surveys. These surveys provide information on the characteristics of the rocks their history ,strength, magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity and mineral content . These are all parameters which help identify areas of greater prospectivity where more detailed work including exploration drilling may be conducted.

Exploration drilling provides a wide range of information on some surface geology, wine space drilling can often show geologic trends which point to areas of Greater prospectivity. Most of the rigs used in this area a diamond drilling rigs, they use a diamond impregnated drill bits capable of boring through hard rock. The drill bit cuts a circular hole to produce drill core for analysis.

The drill bit has attached to the end of a string of hollow steel rods. The rigs engine spins the drill string as it is pushed into the ground. every three meters a new rod is added, as the drill string is spinning and penetrating the rock the chorus forced into the drill rod, if meet raw so this core is pulled out through the inside of the rods and placed in boxes ready for analysis by geologists.

In this region most holes are drilled to a depth of between 200 and 500 meters and due to the near vertical orientation of the quartz veins the holes must be angled to intersect the veins and maximize the information from the drill core, then taken back to a corset and laid out so geologists can record the rock type from surface to the bottom of the hole.

Drill sites are chosen and controls are in place to ensure that exploration drilling activities minimize the impact to the environment. the consent of landowners and occupies is required for any exploration drilling activities and this is formalized in an access agreement.

Drill rigs come in a wide range of configurations from large truck for track mounted to small skid mounted healthy portable rigs. The type of rig used depends on the location ease of access and depth of hole planned. Water is sourced from local streams or if necessary brought to the site. resource consents from the Regional Council are required to take water from streams.

Drilling fluids are added to the water at the rig, these are used to lubricate the drill bit and flush the rock cuttings out of the hole.  The cuttings that come up out of the hole may look muddy and messy but they're captured in sumps at the drill site, where the rock cuttings settle out and the fluids harmlessly break down over time.

There are no discharges off the site . Drilling activities must also comply with all district and regional council regulations covering a range of potential environmental effects.

When the drilling program is completed the drillers cement up the hole before the rig leaves the site. the sumps are filled and all equipment is removed. the site is rehabilitated to the satisfaction of the landowner

Video Gold Exploration Activities In Newmont Waihi

Videos Gold Refining With Aqua Regia By Machine

Gold refining with aqua regia by machine, after the raw material is impure gold is melted in an induction furnace the form of grains or flakes to be fed to the Aqua region reactor. The Aqua region refining plant comprises of steps mix acid that is aqua reaction as the first step we're an impure alloy is dissolved.

Steam or heating issues as a step to enhance reaction and ensure good efficiency. this aqua region reactor is connected to a fume scrubber which takes care of neutralizing toxic fumes of acid mainly knocks generated due to nitric acid and also hydrochloric acid vapors.

Silver gets converted to white silver chloride crystals which are filtered in the silver chloride filter and once it is ensured that entire silver chloride is filtered.

Then the silver chloride crystals from the filter are collected and accumulated, these are then cemented in silver semen tation unit where it is reduced by a mixture of sodium hydroxide and glucose. The cemented silver is filtered casted into a node bar and is refined to pure silver of 999 quality an electrolytic silver refining setup.

The liquids after filtration of silver from electrolytic refining plant are also collected in liquid storage tanks. Clear gold chloride solution is transferred to another reactor where sodium metabisulfite is charged in as a reducing agent,  then this will precipitate gold from the solution, this is monitored by good pH control and viewing glass reactor for the right change in color.

The cemented gold is then filtered in the gold filter until it is ensured that entire gold is collected this wet gold is 99.5 quality and the liquids left out are transferred to exhaust liquid storage tanks.

Pure gold of 99.5 quality filtered from aqua region refining plant if it needs to be further purified should pass through the process of electrolytic gold refining in order to get 999.9 purity.

All the exhaust liquids are collected in storage tanks are passed through three tanks by overflow systems and then primarily in the first stage copper is cemented which is filtered and collected for further refining. The liquids after copper sementation are treated with alkali solution mixture of calcium and sodium hydroxide. These metallic hydroxy Tsar sedimented which are filtered in a filter press and then after clear water is discharged to drain.

The pure gold sand of 99.5 generated from the Aqua region process is first dried in an oven or it can be pure gold of 99.9 from electrolytic process. This gold is then melted in an induction furnace where after it follows the process depending on the configuration of gold bar desired, for gold bars up to 100 GMS configuration the molten gold is collected in a pre-designed mold for the desired configuration and strips, these gold strips are then passed through the rolling mill where the rollers are set to get the right thickness of the strip's getting converted two sheets.

These sheets are then passed through the cutting press with set of punching so that gold blocks are cut as desired these gold blocks are then annealed to remove oxide by a flame and then cooled and cleaned.

For gold bars above 100 GMS up to killobar configuration. The molten gold is collected in a pre-designed mold for the desired configuration. This is then cooled in the cooling table where bar is formed. A burner flame is used in order that oxides are not formed this is mainly a kneeling step and then the gold bar is cleaned.

Videos Gold Refining With Aqua Regia By Machine

See Also

Video Process Basics How Gold Is Made In The Mining

Gold is the softest and most malleable, metal it can be pressed extremely thin crafted into various shapes even drawn out to form a fine wire. Gold isn't affected by water or oxygen as many metals are so it doesn't rust. Most gold comes from low deposits also called bein deposits concentrations of gold and other metals in the cracks of rocks. Low deposits require hard rock mining, the process of removing gold-bearing rock called or by drilling and blasting

Miners to send more than half kilometer underground there they drill holes for explosives using what's called a long whole air drill. They drill in a specific pattern set out in a plan prepared by the mines engineers. The engineers know exactly where those veins of gold are thanks to the mining companies geologists who studied or samples.

The company collects these samples by drilling deep into the rock at 50-meter intervals. These diamond drill cores as they're called are up to 100 meters long and measure three point five centimeters in diameter.

Gold in its natural state isn't cure it's usually intertwined with silver and other metals, so the mind or has to be processed afterward to isolate and extract the gold. A metric ton of ore yields only about six point five grams of gold. After blasting the rock apart with explosives or miners use what's called a mock machine to transfer the or two cars headed to the main shaft and then above ground to the mill. There a crusher reduces the large chunks into smaller rocks about the size of gravel a mil then processed into a pulp

The factory adds a water and cyanide solution than another mill and flows into large settling tanks. The wet solids being heavier sinks to the bottom, the water the top drains to another area. They transfer the solids to an agitation tank and blowing air the oxygen steps off a chemical reaction between the cyanide and the goal triggering the gold to dissolve and leach into the surrounding water.  

Drum filters then separate the water from the solids. This water now joins the water that was separated earlier they pour in zinc powder to solidify the dissolve gold and four pieces containing both zink and gold. To smelt it into bars they first have to mix several chemicals, manganese dioxide, flew right, silica flower, borax and sodium nitrate. 

This chemical mix called flux will separate the gold from the impurities. Into the smelter whose temperature is a fiery 1,600 degrees Celsius. The rotate smelters so that the contents heat evenly, over two and a half hours the heavier gold eventually sinks to the bottom while the impurities called slag float to the surface.  They pour out the slag taking a sample to make sure it contains gold or no.

The gold cooled slightly so they reheat - 1600 degrees celsius, then cast into bar-shaped molds. The gold takes about four minutes to harden, and then another hour to cool completely in a basin of cold water. Then bullion cleaned of dirt remaining combustion. Gold bars or ingots, this stage the gold is eighty percent pure.

Video Process Basics How Gold Is Made In The Mining 

Precious Metals Analysis For Sampling

A true sample is a small sample of a mask which represents the average composition of the mass or simply stated truly representative of the bulk, uniformity of composition and particle size of the boat material are the key features which lead to selecting the processes required to generate true samples.

Both lots of materials for saddling come in many forms from mick solids like crushed or for scraps circuit boards for recycling to sludge slurries and solutions from industrial processes.

To maximize uniformity of composition fault materials are most often process prior to sampling.

For example scrap metal lots are melted to form alloys for leech to take all the metals into solution for analysis. When the ball contains solid particles imaginas ation for mechanical mixing is a sampling technique employee to create a uniform distribution of particles so that each sample taken from the mixed will represent the average composition.

The uniformity of composition of the starting material greatly affects the amount of reduction needed for true sample

Highly uniform materials require less reduction. fundamental principle of good sampling is to gradually reduce the bulk simultaneously with a gradual reduction in the size of the particles.

Larger sample sizes are required with larger particle size distributions of the bulk. Therefore it is of great value to crush and grind the sample to allow for taking smaller reliable sample. The sample is then mixed thoroughly to obtain a mixture that is homogenized.

For example when salt is completely dissolved into a solution, the solution is thoroughly mixed so that any droplet will contain the same concentration of dissolved salt. in order to get the same amount of thorough mixing with solid particle mixtures, the solid particles must be ground small enough and extensively mixed prior to sampling.

Each type of material for sampling and analysis has optimum ratios for the finest relative to the size of the sample. These ratios must be determined experimentally. middle of the blended and split test samples are taken from lots and sent for analysis.

Essay samples are then taken from the test samples which typically require further grinding and splitting. there are a number of traps that can produce misleading results that karen handling should avoid.

cross-contamination for one sample to the next could occur if sampling equipment is not cleaned adequately between life. care must be taken to collect all of exhaustion crushing grinding or handling fine materials that some does have different metal concentrations than the bone.

Fine particles may also pick up or lose moisture while passing through sampling equipment although they may not appear wet they may contain enough moisture to affect results so this should be accountable.

When samples reach the essay lab they may have segregated so the test sample should also be blended again and split properly.

The ipmi recognizes the importance of this technology to the precious metals community and has published and made available several books on this subject. The sampling and analysis committee of the ipmi also publishes guidelines in this field

Video Precious Metals Analysis For Sampling

See Also:
The Basics Sampling Science for Precious Metals Analysis

The Basics Sampling Science for Precious Metals Analysis

The process of taking small samples for analysis

The process of taking small samples for analysis to determine the precious metal content of a large quantity of material is the most critical. Small errors and sapling can there fore lead to large differences in the calculated value of each precious metal. Sampling science and techniques are used on primary sources of precious metals from ore samples at mine sites.

Due to the high value of precious metals very low concentrations are contained enviable primary or secondary sources. For example a platinum concentration as low as 2 to 3 grams per ton of ore or scrap material is often profitable to recover and refine.

The process of taking samples from drilling to analysis

Secondary sources of precious metals which are manufacturing scrap or end-of-life materials for recycling and  refining must also be sampled properly for accurate results.

The fundamental processes include preparation, homogenization, equation handling and splitting from bulk lots to prepare a small sample to represent the average composition of the large amount of material.

Homogenizing is the process by which the material is blended uniformly to facilitate accurate sampling. Splitting is the act of evenly dividing materials while avoiding any separation or segregation for example a typical sample size of 300 grams may be selected to represent the average composition of several tons of material once the 300 grand sample is sent to the analytical lab the sample will then be further split to obtain smaller samples used for analysis.

Homogenizing process

The science and techniques used at mine sites for obtaining or samples utilize complex statistical analysis. The same material from initial surface exploration is first panel sighs to determine locations for drilling core samples to map out or deposits and determine mind valuations.

Chip samples are also taken within an active mind. Evaluation or deposits are used to determine where to drill and to calculate the value of the ore which is required to secure financing for the mining operation.

Materials that contain precious metals for recycling and refining are collected in bulk lots it is critical to accurately determine what concentrations of each precious metal are contained in each lot for two reasons.

First is to obtain the technical information needed to determine which processes to use for refining or whether it is even worth the cost of refining.

The second is the financial consideration to place the correct value on each lot as the materials change hands from suppliers to fires. Samples are often analyzed by both parties and transactions with a third sample saved as a referee sample for possible analysis by an independent lab.

Video The Basics Sampling Science for Precious Metals Analysis

See Also :
Precious Metals Analysis For Sampling

Artisanal Gold Mining In West Africa

Province Loba 50 meters underground Since 2001, artisanal gold mining communities have sprung up around West Africa, In many respect it resembles the gold rush of the nineteenth century.

These cities were mere fields before they came artisanal miners. His arrival created wealth and a flourishing secondary economy that drove the development of regulations, systems of land tenure, infrastructure and economic diversification.

It is fascinating to see that almost the same phenomena that occurred in the gold rush are happening again today.

Although artisanal gold mining has been active since antiquity, the sector in West Africa has grown dramatically since 2001, driven by rising gold price and the lack of alternative opportunities.

Many farmers and herdsmen have entered the sector of artisanal gold mining and now they use their profits to improve their farming activities.

In artisanal gold mining, see a direct transfer of wealth which it is unique to other products sold on the international market.

For most agricultural products, for example, those who buy in the grocery store, only a small fraction of that profit back to the small original producer, often less than 20%.

Even for social brand products, the percentage is only moderately higher. For example, the banana cooperatives receive about a dollar for 18 kilos of bananas, less than 20%. On the other hand, artisanal miners earn a minimum of 70% to 80% of the international price.

This is unheard of in other goods. Artisanal gold mining is a massive wealth from rich to poor, but also has an amplification effect.

The local secondary economy is typically five or six times larger than the primary economy, the value of gold.

Miners use their profits to pay for hardware products, mining supplies, food, clothing, transportation, communications, medicine, all things that sell local businesses and people of that service sector, in turn do the same.

Thus they are circulating gold profits, building a large and diverse local economy. Motorcycle dealers, home improvement, telecommunications, health services, infrastructure and schools often appear in cities in connection artisanal gold mines.

Mercury is one of the great problems of artisanal gold mining. Mercury is cheap and therefore affordable means for processing the gold, but it is also a deadly neurotoxin that can cause permanent damage to the nervous system, and even death.

It is also a poor extraction method, which normally gets about 40% of the gold that is in the mineral, therefore wasting resource.

Artisanal Gold Mining In West Africa

Although problems like mercury poisoning, exposure to silica dust, child labor and other criminal activity may be present in artisanal mining sites around West Africa, governments often overlook the positive benefits.

Governments and the media have a history of condemnation and demonization of artisanal gold mining without really properly understand the sector without offering solutions.

However, artisanal gold mining is now universally recognized by international agencies like the UN as a development opportunity and a huge source of rural employment and wealth generation.

The modern sector of artisanal gold mining has been strong for some 40 years and because of the jobs it provides poor rural areas, it is clear that it will continue.

In fact, it is probably stronger than the industrial sector of gold mining, which it is much more susceptible to fluctuations in gold prices.

In this context, the government and industry should help artisanal gold mining to improve their environmental and social performance to allow maximize its role of reducing poverty.

Need help and support to enter the formal economy, where you can become a responsible sector and help finance a diverse and sustainable rural economy.

And this is where comes the Artisanal Gold Council (AGC). The Artisanal Gold Council is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving opportunities, the environment and health of the millions of people involved in artisanal mining and small-scale gold in the developing world, and in doing so, we are helping to improve the integrity of the entire gold sector, from small to large.

Artisanal Gold Council (AGC)
In West Africa

Video  Artisanal Gold Mining In West Africa

Problems Solutions and Opportunities

Hydrometallurgy For Gold Leaching

Refiners hydrometallurgy will give examples of careers and precious metals using chemistry both inorganic and organic, chemical engineering, metallurgical engineering and others. Hydrometallurgy for gold refers the processing techniques that require wet chemistry approaches to separate the precious metals from the surrounding materials vs pyrometallurgy which requires heating and smelting operations to perform the separation.

Hydrometallurgy to take many forms depending on the substrate or the material which contains the precious metals. Many of these chemicals used are very hazardous and these processes should only be done by professional refiners

Hydrometallurgy is an extractive metallurgy process using aqueous solutions to recover metals it involves technologies with solubilize, concentrate and then recover specific metals.

For example a first step maybe to chemically dissolve or leach a material to eventually extract metals by means of precipitation or electrically reducing the metals.  Leaching is the first process used to extract metals into an aqueous solution, chemical acids or alkali eyes are used to convert metals into soluble salts within the solution.

For example aqua regia is a highly corrosive acid mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids which will dissolve most metals, including gold platinum and paladium

In the other platinum group metals however do not dissolve in aqua regia so it can be used to separate these groups, all those silver also dissolves in aqua regia it immediately precipitates to silver chloride so does not go in the solution. Nitric acid alone is used to dissolve silver.

The different gold leaching processes are descriptively named :

Gold leaching processe

1. Situ Leaching

 In situ leaching also called  solution mining. Extrating the minerals directly from ore in the mining. Leach solutions are pumped through the ore to surface.  In situ leaching is occasionally used in select mining operations to leach precious metals from surrounding rock structures.

2. Heap leaching is routinely used to remove gold from ore deposits in tailings

3.Vat leaching is most frequently used when removing gold from secondary scrap materials such as electronic scrap or even jewelry scrap

See Also : 
How To Work The Heap Leaching Mining  
Gold Leaching Process With Carbon In Pulp

4. Agitated leaching is where the material is saved in slurry with the extracting solution.

5. Pressure leaching places the material, solvent along autoclaves to pressurize heat, it is also used when gases need to be added for the leaching reaction.

The pressure oxidation process the free gold is an example of this cyanidation and chlorination are other pressure leaching processes, after leaching solution concentration and purification steps are employed to further concentrate and separate the precious metals

These refining processes can be used for precious metals extracted from primary remaining sources as well as secondary sources of industrial or recycle scrap materials

Video How To Refine Precious Metals - Hydrometallurgy

The Products Of Gold Ore

 Gold within rock

Gold is produced from both primary and secondary sources , primary sources are mining activities and these take a variety of forms hard rock underground mining, open pit mining and dredging in the ocean lakes rivers and streams. Secondary sources refer to materials coming from recycled scrap metal scrap jewelry scrap electronic scrap spent sputtering targets and many others gold

From primary remaining sources in the american prospect is panning for both flakes and small nuggets in Riverbend ancient cultures occasionally found gold and silver and riverbeds also low deposit work gold is found within rock and placer deposits is where erosion has washed down from the hills and outcroppings of metal near the surface this lustrous and ductile.

Small nuggets from river

Metal was sought after throughout the centuries by almost all cultures metal jewelry artwork and eventually finding a place as monetary currency the majority of gold is mine from mineral deposits where it's found mixed with other metals and minerals these deposits are called or the ancient

Egyptians Greeks and Romans all developed underground mining operations a low deposits more than 2,000 years ago many of these vines especially in eastern europe greece turkey and other middle eastern countries are still economically viable and in production

Today pores are concentrated in veins which were formed millions of years ago deep under the earth surface. These veins were formed from hot water rising from hot magma the metal slowly precipitated out along these complex veins

Mines will also have side streams of gold and silver production which help. Their bottom line approximately twenty percent of gold is produced as a byproduct of copper and silver mining operations.

Following numerous paths approximately 70 million ounces of gold our mind each year the highest concentrations of gold found in North and South America are on both sides of the mountain ranges that run the length of these regions the sierra nevada in north america and the Andes in South America gold and silver are almost universally found in conjunction with copper deposits virtually all copper

Video  The Products Of Gold Ore

Gold Technology Carbon In Leach From Curtin University

Technology Carbon In Leach

Curtin University’s Gold Technology Grouph as designed and developed an automated “Carbon Meter" to continuously, reliably and accurately measure carbon concentrations in CIL tanks.

Currently, measuring the carbon to slurryratio involves taking a small sample from the tank, it’s time-consuming and has drawbacks interms of frequency, accuracy, and repeatability.

To optimising this process, you must precisely control the ratio of activated carbon to slurry.

Simply put, too much carbon is inefficient, while too little allows dissolved gold tobe lost to tailings.

But to control it, you first have to measure it. And this is true for the Carbon In Leachor CIL gold extraction process. Carbon-in-Leach accounts for about 75% of the world’s gold production.

Process Carbon In Leach

In this process, ground, gold-bearing ore is dissolved in a chemical slurry. Granules of activated carbon are added to absorb the dissolved gold, before further processing.

See Also :
Extracting Gold By Carbon In Pulp with Activated Carbon
Gold Processing With Method Carbon In Pulp 

This robust, self-contained unit takes sample sup to 20 times larger than the manual method, every 15 minutes, 24 hours per day, whichit feeds into a measurement cylinder that strains the larger carbon particles from the slurry before a laser beam accurately measures the amount of captured carbon.

This data, along with the well-established SIMCIL modelling tool, is used to optimise carbon management to a degree not previously possible.

The end result is less soluble gold lost to tailings. Gold producers are processing higher tonnages of lower grades of ore than ever before.

And along with fluctuating gold prices and increased costs, optimising processes is the key tolong-term profitability.

For many CIL operations, optimisations resulting in recovery a 100th of a gram more gold per tonne of slurry processed, can increase annual revenue by millions of dollars. And this is a significant benefit for any mining operation.

Activated  Carbon for Carbon In Leach

Video Gold Technology Carbon In Leach From Curtin University

Prospecting For Lode Gold Deposits

Most lode gold deposits are found in quartz veins that commonly called “Bull Quartz” by miners that are usually emplaced in a fault zone that might consist of one large vein or a whole series of quartz veins holding gold, or both.

According to one the glossary of geology, “a lode is a mineral deposit consisting of a zone of veins, veinlets, disseminations, or planar breccias; a mineral deposit in consolidated rock.

Lode gold occurs within the solid rock in which it was deposited. Areas likely to contain valuable lode deposits of gold have been explored so thoroughly that the inexperienced prospector without ample capital has little chance of discovering a new lode worth developing. Most future discoveries of workable lode gold ore probably will result from continued investigations in areas known to be productive in the past.

Prospecting for lode deposits of gold is not the relatively simple task it once was because most outcrops or exposures of mineralized rock have been examined and sampled. Today's prospector must examine not only these exposures, but also broken rock on mine dumps and exposures of mineralized rock in accessible mine workings. Gold, if present, may not be visible in the rock, and detection will depend on the results of laboratory analyses. Usually, samples of 3 to 5 pounds of representative mineralized rock will be sent to a commercial analytical laboratory or assay office for assay. Obviously, knowledge about the geological nature of gold deposits and particularly of the rocks and deposits in the area of interest will aid the prospector.

The dictionary definition of a vein is more complex include some of the definitions :

1.  An epigenetic mineral filling of a fault or fracture in a host rock, in tabular or sheet-like form, often with associated replacement of the host rock; a mineral deposit of this form and origin.

2. A zone or belt of mineralized rock lying within boundaries clearly separating it from neighboring rock. It includes all deposits of mineral matter found through a mineralized zone or belt coming from the same source, and appearing to have been created by the same processes

3. A rock fissure filled by intruded mineral matter. Many valuable minerals are co-deposited with gangue in veins. Usually the formation is steep to vertical, unlike a bedded deposit in which values are sandwiched horizontally. Vein is typically long, deep, and relatively narrow.

4. The term lode is commonly used synonymously for vein.

Most prospectors visualize a lode to be a distinct vein of quartz. But lodes include more than just veins. But let’s briefly look at veins first.  Veins can be formed primarily of quartz, but another common gangue mineral is calcite. Gangue minerals are worthless material that is found with valuable minerals, and when combined, the two produce ore. So ore is just a mixture of the good and bad stuff.

 The formation of ore shoot in veins is not entirely understood, but they appear in many cases to be the result of changes in chemistry sometimes due to changes in the rock type in the wall rocks. They have been identified where veins are folded or where veins intersect other veins or fractures.

Video Technical Level Basic How To Find Lode Gold Deposit

New Afton Mine

The New Afton copper-gold mine located about 350 kilometers northeast of Vancouver in the south-central interior of British Columbia. The New Afton mine 10km from the center of Kamloops is, which has a population of about 90,000 in southern central British Columbia, Canada,  and it is directly accessible from the Trans-Canada Highway.

The mine is owned 100% by New Gold Inc and property is only 10 kilometers from the regional hub of Kamloops and is easily accessible by paved road.  Kamloops acts as a hub for the mines in the region and is a popular destination for tourists and campers. 

The New Afton mine occupy the property the site of the historic Afton mine, a previous operation of Teck Resources Limited ( “Teck” ) and has an open pit mine, underground workings, historic support facilities, a new concentrator and recently constructed tailings facility.

The New Afton deposit of extending immediately below the Afton mine open pit in the southwest. New Afton gold mine began in June 2012, and production began in July 2012  ahead of schedule initial estimates. The timetable commercial production before underground operation is expected to produce an average of 85,000 ounces of gold and 75 million pounds of copper per year over a mine life of 12 years. 

The Company’s holdings in the area comprise the Afton Group and the Ajax Group. The New Afton deposit lies within the Afton Group. The Afton Group consists of 61 mineral claims included in a mining lease issued by the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources on 29 November 2006 (the “Afton Mining Lease”). The total area of the Afton Mining Lease and all other claims is 12,450.4 hectares.

Geology And Mineralization New Afton Mine

The New Afton deposit part of a larger copper-gold porphyry includes circle within the productive the Quesnel Trough island-arc terrane,  host to many of the major copper and gold fields in British Columbia.  Pre-mineral rocks consist of intermediate volcanic rocks on the Triassic Nicola formation belong to mafic. Regional scale fault zones act as major controls at the batholithic rocks and associated in the area porphyry mineralization. 

The majority of deposit New Afton occurs as tabular, near vertical, southwest plunging body at least 1.4 kilometers along strike measurement of about 100 meters wide, a  with a down-plunge extent of over 1.5 kilometres. The deposit remains open to the west and at depth. 

Mineralization of copper sulphide veinlets and disseminations localized to brecciated margins between altered porphyry intrusions and Nicola volcanic rock is characterized. Copper occurs mainly as chalcopyrite and lesser bornite, with secondary chalcocite and native copper occurs in the upper nearer surface parts of the deposit. Gold occurs as sub-micron grains with copper sulfides

Since the start of commercial production in 1977, the New Afton mine has more than 800,000 ounces of gold and 850 million pounds of copper from both open pit and underground operation. 

Mineral Ore Processing In New Afton 

In New Afton, block caving, an innovative extraction process is used in excess produce from 11,000 tons per day. The block made cave is 600 meters below the surface and serviced by five main levels, extraction, undercut, apex, transport and ventilation. The final footprint of the cave will cover an area of ​​700 m in length from 100-150 in width.

Ore is specified rates are pulled over the footprint in advance in order to maintain an optimal cavity profile and limiting dilution to establish during its propagation. Approximately 202 drawbells the mine will be built to facilitate the removal of ore from the cave on the first phase of life.

A metro gyratory crusher, which opened in January of 2013, can mine ore tonnage can to maximize rates ore tonnage throughput rates. After the ore is crushed, it is then transferred into the underground conveyor system which transports the crushed ore 4.5 km to the surface.

On the surface, the ore is then processed by a prior art sulphide flotation concentrator. The most important key components are a SAG mill, a ball mill, pebble crusher, flotation cells and filter presses. 

The New Afton mill is designed to process 11,000 tpd (4 million tons per year) of ore at full capacity, for recovery copper, gold and silver. The mill will process a mixture of primary, transition and supergene ores using conventional crushing, grinding and concentration processes. Mineral separation will be flotation by gravity concentration and differential. A sharpening stage will be included in the flotation circuit. Life of mine recoveries anticipated to reach 88% copper, 87% gold and 75% silver.

Video New Gold In New Afton Mine, Kamloops,BC 
( Mining Methods )