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KHALESI, M.R., BAZIN, C., HODOUIN, D., and BELLEC, S. A grinding-liberation model for the size reduction of gold ores. World Gold Conference
2009, The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 2009.
A method is proposed to estimate the gold content of the ore in the size intervals during size
reduction. The method uses the population balance model to trace the gold deportment through the
size fractions and monitor the generation of liberated gold grains during the size reduction. The
model is calibrated using batch grinding test results of a gold ore. Preliminary results show that
the model can be calibrated with a minimum of parameters compared to conventional grinding-
liberation models.
Keywords: simulation, liberation, gold, exposure, grinding
Gold ore from Géant Dormant mine distribution of gold grain sizes, shapes and liberation status.
When an ore carrying valuable species is crushed and
The ore used to illustrate the application of the proposed ground, the valuable species and gangue minerals are
model was obtained from the Géant Dormant gold mine in
distributed within the size fractions. For a purely random
Québec, Canada. The ore consists of 10–13 g/t of gold in a
fragmentation of the ore the concentration of any species in
silicate (58%) and carbonate (31%) matrix12. The sulphide
a size interval would on average be equal to the species
concentration is less than 4.5%. Samples obtained from the
rod mill feed conveyor were roll crushed to -10 mesh (1.7 content of the unbroken ore. This is not usually the case and
mm) and split into 5 sub-samples. Four samples were mineral species are found to exhibit a deterministic
ground for 10, 20, 55 and 65 minutes (samples R10, R20, distribution through the size intervals. This deterministic
R55 and R65). The 5 sub-samples were sieved and the size distribution of the species in the size intervals could be
fractions were assayed for gold and other species (Cu, Fe, readily observed by plotting the species cumulative passing
S, and Ag). Results are shown in Table I. Two gold distribution as a function of the ore cumulative passing size
analyses were performed on each size fraction to obtain an distribution11. This is illustrated for some species of the
average and a standard deviation value. Some material was Géant Dormant ore in Figure 1. The particular behaviour of
also submitted for mineral liberation analysis to obtain the gold could be related to the ductile characteristics of the
Table I
Distribution of ore and gold in the size fractions of the feed and ground samples
Feed (RO) Ground for 10 min (R10) Ground for 20 min (R20) Ground for 55 min (R55) Ground for 65 min (R65)
Screen size Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold
(microns) Ore (%) (g/t) STD Ore (%) (g/t) STD Ore (%) (g/t) STD Ore (%) (g/t) STD Ore (%) (g/t) STD
+850 47.77 8.11 0.64 2.78 1.03 0.01
-850 +425 16.05 8.08 0.70 17.92 4.78 0.54
-4.25 +212 10.19 16.00 6.08 22.68 17.20 8.63 9.24 25.05 7.42
-212 +150 5.30 17.70 6.79 13.27 13.35 3.32 13.55 13.75 0.07 3.26 108.50 33.23 2.96 101.50 2.12
-150 +106 4.69 17.15 2.90 8.27 16.70 1.27 15.32 12.00 2.69 8.10 18.50 1.27 7.04 17.25 2.62
-106 +75 3.59 19.80 3.11 5.37 19.20 0.42 13.05 14.10 2.12 11.39 18.30 0.85 11.40 13.90 1.70
-75 +53 2.69 21.25 0.21 6.28 16.80 0.57 9.52 15.30 0.57 10.29 13.85 2.19 8.70 13.05 0.07
-53 +38 2.47 16.50 1.13 8.04 11.60 0.28 10.65 8.59 0.18 9.79 17.10 1.13 10.29 16.30 0.42
-38 7.25 10.35 0.35 15.38 7.26 0.55 28.67 7.95 0.35 57.17 3.62 0.52 59.62 4.77 0.04
Head 10.75 0.07 10.75 1.00 10.26 1.05 9.98 3.28 8.72 0.18
Figure 1. Distribution of copper, sulphur and gold in size classes of the ore for different samples of the ground products
Figure 2. Measured gold grain size distribution and shape for the Géant Dormant ore
Figure 4. Proportions of materials coming from mineralized and non-mineralized zones of the ore to size intervals of feed
Figure 5. Proposed gold size distribution of size fractions of the feed of size reduction unit
This is discussed in Appendix A. The number of mixed It is convenient to model the selection and appearance
particles in each particle and grain size classes is required functions using empirical equations to reduce the number of
to perform the simulation. Class k=0 of grain size (see parameters to be estimated for the model calibration15. The
Figure 6) is used to account for the free gangue that is model used to represent the breakage rates of particle of
produced by the fragmentation of a mixed particle as size interval i is given by:
discussed in a subsequent section. of size interval i is given by:
The appearance function is described using the empirical approximation is currently revisited since when the size of a
model: mixed particle becomes close to that of the carried gold
grain, the breakage properties of the mixed particle may be
significantly different from those of particle much larger
[6] than the gold grain. Similar equations used for the non-
mineralized gangue (Equations [4–7]) are used to model the
selection and appearance functions of Equation [8].
[7] The breakage of mixed particles produced mixed particles
and particles of free gangue that are added to the class k=0
gl gl gl
The adjustable parameters are , n 1 and n 2 . The of free gangue (Figure 6) according to:
appearance function described by Equation [6] is said to be
normalizable, i.e. that the distribution of the progeny is
independent of the size of the mother particle. This is
consistent with recent observations of ore comminution16. [9]
Different parameters are used to describe the appearance
function of mixed particles. Calibration results (Table II)
gl gl
showed that the introduction of and n 1 for the
cumulative breakage function of non-mineralized material
does not have a significant impact on the modeled breakage The term describes the disappearance of the
function and therefore Equation [6] converts to a more free gangue produced from the breakage of mixed particles
simple form of
whereas gives the mass of free gangue
Figure 7. Classes of particle and gold grain size and types of fragments produced by size reduction of a mixed particle
Process simulation
The batch grinding simulation requires the knowledge of [12]
the grinding mill feed size distribution and gold content of
the size interval. It is possible, as it is usually done, to use a The specific gravity of the gold grain and of the gangue
set measured values such as those of Table I for grinding minerals are respectively noted Gold and Gangue . The
time t=0 as the feed size distribution and gold content of the average volume of a particle in size interval i and k are Vi
size intervals. However, such route assumes that the feed is and Vk.
perfectly known while it is not the case. In this initial Using the simulation results and a liberation model
version of the simulator the gold content of the size developed by geometric simulations 1 it is possible to
intervals is calculated using: calculate the proportion of gold grain surface that is directly
exposed to the environment, exposed through pores, or
• The non-mineralized gangue content in the size
inaccessible for leaching reagents. This data will be used in
intervals as estimated using Equation [2] for which the
combination with a leaching model to predict the rate of
parameters are adjusted at the calibration stage
leaching of the gold in the various size intervals of a ground
• An estimated gold content of the ore that is adjusted at
product17.
the calibration stage
• The gold grain size distribution which is also estimated
at the calibration stage. Calibration of the simulator
The procedure used to estimate the gold content of the The model is calibrated by running the simulation
material in the size intervals of the feed is described in procedure using the feed size distribution and gold content
Appendix A. The current version of the simulator uses the of the size intervals calculated using the method described
observed weight fractions retained in the considered size in Appendix A. The calibration procedure is illustrated in
intervals as the feed ore size distribution for the simulation. Figure 8. Initial guesses are assumed for the gold content of
Once the gold contents of the feed size intervals are the feed, the size distribution of the gold grains (Equation
estimated the variation of the mass of ore and of mixed [1] and the parameters to calculate the distribution of free
particles in the various size intervals is calculated by gangue in the feed (Equation [2]).
integrating the differential Equations [3], [8] and [9]. The These values are used to calculate the distribution of gold
fraction of ore retained in each size interval is calculated grains within the size intervals of the feed. Parameters of
using: the selection and appearance functions (Equations [4–7] are
used in the differential equations of the model which are
integrated for the grinding times used in the tests conducted
for the calibration of the model.
[10] Different values of the model parameters are tested until a
set of parameters is found to minimize the criterion:
for the tests is noted x^0 and x0 (T) is the measured gold of Equation [2] into the calibration procedure. The
content of the sample in grinding test T. The objective calibration results are found to be less sensitive to the
function of Equation [13] is a weighted least square estimation of the gold grain size distribution than the non-
criterion. The inverse of the measurement standard mineralized gangue distribution. The significance of the
deviation z is used to weight the residuals (z–z) according reduction in the criterion value due to the introduction of
to their reproducibility. A poorly reproducible measurement the grain size distribution parameters (Equation [1] is
has a large standard deviation and its residuals would have verified by calculation of the F value of the Fisher test as:
little weight in the criterion. On the other hand, the small
standard deviation of reproducible measurements will
produce a strong effect on the criterion value if the residual
is large. The weighting used in Equation [13] also makes
the various contributions to the criterion dimensionless,
allowing the combination of the residuals for weight The number of measurements used in the calibration is
fractions and those of gold assays in one criterion. 95. The tabulated F95 value of 3.1 for 2 and 81 degrees of
freedom is significantly less than the calculated value of
Results of the model calibration 14.6 justifying the introduction of the parameters of
The simulation and calibration procedures were applied to Equation [1] in the calibration procedure in Table II.
the grinding test data of Table I. Several calibration runs The estimated parameter values (condition D in Table II)
were initially conducted to assess the impact of the are summarized in Table III. The optimum diameter for the
parameters used for the model adjustment on the criterion selection function was found to be 1.63 mm which is
value (Equation [13]. Some results are summarized in consistent with the size of the grinding balls (2.54 cm
Table II. The results of Table II show the importance of diameter) used for the test work. The estimated gold grain
including the non-mineralized gangue concentration model size distribution is close to the observed distribution using
Table II
Sensitivity analysis on the criterion value
(A) No calibration of the non-mineralized gangue distribution (Equation [2]) and 12 1484
grain size distribution (Equation [1])
Table III
Estimated parameters off the developed model
Simulation examples
The gold ore grinding simulation results provide the mass
of gold in the size intervals of the ground products but do
not provide information on the gold exposure in these size
intervals. Since gold leaching efficiency is dependent on
Figure 11. Estimated vs. measured cumulative ore and gold size
Figure 9. Measured (by MLA) and estimated gold size distribution distributions
Table IV
Estimated vs. Measured gold content of size intervals of the ground ore products
Feed (RO) Ground for 10 min (R10) Ground for 20 min (R20) Ground for 55 min (R55) Ground for 65 min (R65)
Screen size Measured Estimated Measured Estimated Measured Estimated Measured Estimated Measured Estimated
(microns) Gold (%) Gold (%) Gold (%) Gold (%) Gold (%) Gold (%) Gold (%) Gold (%) Gold (%) Gold (%)
+850 35.25 35.87 0.24 1.00
-850 +425 11.80 14.10 7.09 10.95
-425 +212 14.85 10.89 32.30 23.81 18.50 22.95
-212 +150 8.54 8.53 14.67 16.03 14.90 20.66 28.80 26.00 26.20 22.62
-150 +106 7.32 8.25 11.44 11.45 14.70 13.33 12.19 17.36 10.60 17.79
-106 +75 6.48 6.83 8.55 9.87 14.71 11.30 16.96 14.57 13.84 15.23
-75 +53 5.21 4.67 8.74 7.00 11.65 8.00 11.60 10.17 9.92 10.65
-53 +38 3.71 4.81 7.72 7.79 7.31 9.04 13.62 11.62 14.65 12.19
-38 6.83 6.04 9.25 12.11 18.23 14.73 16.82 20.28 24.80 21.52
Figure 13. Effect of gold size distribution parameters on the generated gold grain free surfaces
(AGS: average grain size; SDGS: standard deviation of the grain size)
used to analyse the impact on gold dissolution of the If the total mass of non-mineralized zone in the unbroken
variation of the grain size distribution in the unbroken ore. matrix ore is noted as A:
In parallel to these developments, other grinding tests will
be conducted with gold ores from various mines in order to [A-3]
test the applicability of the model for other types of gold
bearing ores.
The proportion of the total mineralized zone within size
class i of feed is:
Ackowledgement
[A-4]
The authors would like to thank Mintek Lab for
mineralogical characterization of gold ore samples. The
m
financial support by CRSNG and COREM is also The head grade of mineralized zone (xo ) is obtained
acknowledged. using the ore grade (xo):
[A-5]
Appendix A
Calculation of the gold content in size interval of the The gold grain size distribution by number (CNk) modeled
feed of the size reduction process using Equation [1], is used to calculate the distribution of
The purpose of this Appendix is to illustrate the method gold grains by mass using:
used to calculate the gold content of the size intervals of the
feed. The method uses the gold content of the ore, the non-
mineralized gangue concentration in the size intervals and [A-6]
the gold grain size distribution. For the demonstration it is
assumed that the percentage of the ore retained on the size
intervals of the feed are known and one metric ton of ore is Where Ng is the number of discretized size classes of the
m
considered for the calculations as the gold content is gold. If xo is expressed in grams of gold, the mass of gold
expressed in grams per ton. The mass retained within size grains of size k in the unbroken ore is:
interval i is given by:
[A-7]
[A-1]
It is assumed that the total mass of gold grains of size
The mass of the ore retained in size interval i of the feed gold
interval k (Mk ) coming from the mineralized zone of the
is noted (ri) and is the sum of the weight of material coming
m ore is distributed in the size intervals according to:
from mineralized zone (r i ) and of that of the material
g m
coming from non mineralized zone (ri ). The values of (ri ) [A-8]
are calculated using the ai parameter (Equation [2]):
The mass of gold grains within size interval k in the ore
[A-2] gold
size interval i is noted as Mi;k and i;k is given by:
[B-6]
[A-9]
Combining Equations B-6 and B-3 and rearrangement of
the variables gives:
The i;k accounts for the fact that gold grains of size k
are assumed to be unbroken and cannot deport to size i=j+1 to NS [B-7]
intervals below that of the gold grain (i<k). The total mass
of gold in size fraction i is given by:
The mass of mixed particles is readily calculated using:
[A-10]
[B-8]
The gold concentration in size fraction i of the feed is
estimated using: The factor i;j;k is then calculated as per Equation [B-2].
The previous development works as long as the sizes of
the daughter particles are larger than the gold grain size
[A-11]
carried by the mixed mother particle. The situation is
slightly different if some of the daughter particle sizes are
smaller than the gold grain size. In this case because of the
Appendix B assumption that gold grains are not broken mixed daughter
particles are not observed in the intervals smaller than the
Estimation of the i;j;k factors gold grain size. The mixed daughter particles are therefore
grouped in the size intervals j+1 to k, where +j+1 is the
The factors i;j;k give the proportion of mixed particles in size interval that follows the size interval of the mother
the daughter fragments within size interval i that are particle and k the size interval of the gold grain. Equation
produced from the breakage of mother mixed particles of [B-7] that is used to calculate the number of mixed
mx
size j with gold grain of size k. The breakage of a mass Mj;k daughter particles and then should be written:
of mother particles produces a mass of daughter fragments
in the size interval i given by the appearance function:
i=j+1 to k [B-9]
[B-1]
This mass of daughter fragments is composed of free i=k+1 to Ns [B-10]
gangue (fg) particles and mixed (mx) particles containing
one gold grain of size interval k. The factor i;j;k The corrected appearance proportion can be calculated in
corresponds to the ratio: various ways. A simple approach consists of using values
equal to the appearance function of the mixed particles up
to size interval k-1, and to cumulate the missing proportion
[B-2] in the size interval corresponding to the gold grain, i.e.:
In the initial demonstration here it is assumed that the [B-11]
coarsest gold grain size is smaller than the smallest
considered size interval Therefore gold grains of any size [B-12]
can go to particles in any size interval The mass of daughter
particles in a size interval i is given by Equation [B-1]
which can be written as: Another option is to use:
[B-3]
[B-13]
The specific gravity of a mixed particle in size class i that
contains a gold grain of size k is given by:
[B-4] Both options were tested and it was found that for the
particular ore studied in this paper the first option gives the
best results. Once the number of mixed daughter particles is
The specific gravity of a gold grain is noted gg and Vk is calculated from Equation [B-9], the factor i;j;k is
the volume of a gold grain belonging to size interval k. The calculated using Equations [B-9] and [B-9].
fg
number of free gangue particles (N i;k) is related to the
mx
number of mixed particles in size interval i (Ni;k ) by the
fact that if a mother particle of size j is broken into
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Mohammed graduated from Tehran University in 2001 with a Master of Science degree in mineral
processing. He worked in the ceramic industry from 1997 to 2000 and worked in the Gold industry
(Zarmehr Gold Co.) from 2001 to 2003.
Mohammed worked for National Geoscience Database of Iran (NGDIR) from 2003 to 2004 and
is currently a PhD student at Laval University, Quebec, Canada. He is currently working on: thesis
on the relationship between grinding and leaching of gold ore.