Grade engineering and GE View

Project completed by CRC ORE: Optimising Resource Extraction which receives allocation of MRIWA funds.

The Challenge

• The mining industry is in the midst of a productivity and investment crisis.
• Industry perception is that low grade ore is unavoidable in terms of mass mining.
• The capital and energy costs of using a traditional crush-grind-float processing method for low grade deposits produces poor productivity.

Key Findings

• The GE.View tool produced in this project uses predictive modelling of heterogeneity to identify Grade Engineering opportunities in the Western Australian minerals industry from public domain data.
• Using the GE. View tool as an industry standard will increase productivity and output across the industry.
• The technology is also able to filter and rank individual operations for the highest opportunity to facilitate planning and sequencing decisions

Benefit to WA

• The new industry standards for ore deposit characterisation delivered through this work will improve productivity and ore grade output across the Western Australian mining industry.
• This will deliver economic benefits to the state including enhanced productivity and employment.

Keywords: grade engineering, low-grade ore, mining, waste, grade deportment