BARRIERS TO BEST PRACTICE: VARIABILITY IN MEASUREMENT PRACTICES ACROSS THE GOLD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

摘要

The global gold industry loses an estimated $2-5B of theoretically recoverable gold each year, with a significant portion of the losses caused by variable (and unmeasured) process performance. Gold mines collect a large amount of measurement data in an effort to improve control and reduce avoidable losses, however: the amount, frequency, and analysis techniques can vary to a large degree. The result of this is avoidable gold losses: as the information used to make optimisation decisions may be compromised, and comparative analysis (i.e. performance benchmarking) requires adjustment of results for measurement method. Although the different techniques can be sometimes justified due to individual nature of challenges facing various operations, most of the time the variations are due to personal preferences of the technical personnel.This paper reflects on observations from >50 sites as visited or examined by Orica's Cyanide Customer Solutions Team over the period 2014-present, with focus on the following areas: Typical range and profile of gold losses from CIL/CIP processing. Common practices and shortcomings. Recommended measurement regimes and standardised procedures, with particular focus on measurements that encourage action on gold loss reduction (teachable gold in tails, carbon activity). Experiences in benchmarking and process modelling in this environment, and possible future approaches