Guidelines for mineral process plant development studies

Abstract

This paper presents guidelines for studies required for the development of mineral processing facilities from initial feasibility studies through to commissioning. Mining project schedule and cost overruns can often be attributed to inadequate metallurgical testwork, engineering and cost estimating leading up to commitment to the project. In some cases this may result from lack of understanding of, and commitment by the project proponent to, the requisite metallurgical and engineering studies during the development stages. Guidelines for metallurgical testwork, process development, engineering and estimating requirements for each stage of precommitment studies are described together with those for the engineering phase.