Key ore textures influencing separation behaviour of ores

Ore texture displays the fundamental ore properties that significantly influences processing behavior of ores. Of all texture characteristics, mineral grain size and mineral association are expected to have the greatest influence. These textural features can be used to predict the separation performance of ores. To obtain such micro-scale textural information is costly and time-consuming to be applicable to the entire deposit. Recent work has shown the contribution of vein-type mineralization in the separation behavior of ores. Since veins can be identified during core logging, it provides a cost-effective means of acquiring textural information relevant to mineral processing for the entire deposit. This can then improve geometallurgical characterization of separation performance, providing better understanding of separation variability within the deposit.