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Mineral Exploration and Mining Methods

The document outlines the stages of mineral exploration, including project design, field exploration, and pre-production feasibility studies. It also discusses mining methods such as surface and underground mining, and details the milling process, which includes techniques like heavy media separation, magnetic separation, flotation, and cyanide heap leaching for mineral extraction. Each stage and method is essential for assessing the viability and profitability of mining operations.

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Leizel Mundo
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103 views2 pages

Mineral Exploration and Mining Methods

The document outlines the stages of mineral exploration, including project design, field exploration, and pre-production feasibility studies. It also discusses mining methods such as surface and underground mining, and details the milling process, which includes techniques like heavy media separation, magnetic separation, flotation, and cyanide heap leaching for mineral extraction. Each stage and method is essential for assessing the viability and profitability of mining operations.

Uploaded by

Leizel Mundo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

A.

Mineral Exploration
1. Project Design: This is the initial stage in formulating a project. This involves review of all available data
(geologic reports, mining history, maps, etc.), government requirements in acquiring the project, review of
social, environmental, political and economic acceptability of the project, and budget and organization
proposals.
2. Field Exploration: This stage involves physical activities in the selected project area. This can be subdivided
into three phases:
A. Regional Reconnaissance: The main objective is to identify targets or interesting mineralized zones
covering a relatively large area (regional). In general, the activities involve regional surface
investigation and interpretation.
B. Detailed Exploration: This involves more detailed surface and subsurface activities with the
objective of finding and delineating targets or mineralized zones.
C. Prospect Evaluation: The main objective is to assess market profitability by (1) extensive resource,
geotechnical and engineering drilling (2) metallurgical testing and (3) environmental and societal cost
assessment.
3. Pre-production Feasibility Study: The feasibility study determines and validates the accuracy of all data and
information collected from the different stages. The purpose is for independent assessors to satisfy interested
investors to raise funds and bring the project into production.

B. Mining Methods
• Identify and explain some of the vital considerations needed to know on the different methods to mine a
mineral deposit. - For example, upon knowing the geometry of the ore body, there are appropriate safety ways
to mine the minerals and proper assessment of maximizing profit.
1. Surface Mining - Utilized to extract ore minerals that are close to Earth’s surface - Different types
include open pit mining, quarrying, placer mining and strip mining.
2. Underground Mining - Utilized to extract ore minerals from the orebody is that is deep under the
Earth’s surface

C. The Milling Process


1. Heavy media separation: The crushed rocks are submerged in liquid where the heavier/denser
minerals sink thus are separated from the lighter minerals. This is commonly used to separate
chalcopyrite from quartz before the refining processes of extracting copper.
2. Magnetic separation: If the metal or mineral is magnetic, the crushed ore is separated from the
waste materials using a powerful magnet.
3. Flotation: The powdered ore is placed into an agitated and frothy slurrywhere some minerals and
metals based on physical and chemical properties may either sink to the bottom or may stick to the
bubbles and rise to the topthus separating the minerals and metals from the waste.
4. Cyanide heap leaching: This method used for low-grade gold ore where the crushed rock is placed
on a “leach pile” where cyanide solution is sprayed or dripped on top of the pile. As the leach solution
percolates down through the rocks, the gold is dissolved into the solution. The solution is processed
further to extract the gold.

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