Abstract

COMPAN, G.; PIZARRO, E.  and  VIDELA, A.. Geometallurgical model of a copper sulphide mine for long-term planning. J. S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall. [online]. 2015, vol.115, n.6, pp.549-556. ISSN 2411-9717.

One of the main problems related to mining investment decisions is the use of accurate prediction models. Metallurgical recovery is a major source of variability, and in this regard, the Chuquicamata processing plant recovery was modelled as a function of geomining-metallurgical data and ore characteristics obtained from a historical database. In particular, the data-set gathered contains information related to feed grades, ore hardness, particle size, mineralogy, pH, and flotation reagents. A systemic approach was applied to fit a multivariate regression model representing the copper recovery in the plant. The systemic approach consists of an initial projection of the characteristic grinding product size (P₈₀), based upon energy consumption at the particle size reduction step, followed by a flotation recovery model. The model allows for an improvement in the investment decision process by predicting performance and risk. The final geometallurgical model uses eight operational variables and is a significant improvement over conventional prediction models. A validation was performed using a recent data-set, and this showed a high correlation coefficient with a low mean absolute error, which reveals that the geomet-allurgical model is able to predict, with acceptable accuracy, the actual copper recovery in the plant.

Keywords : geometallurgical modelling; multivariate regression; recovery prediction.

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