Avaliação de método alternativo para determinação de teor de ouro em amostra de rejeito para cálculo de balanço metalúrgico

Abstract

The acquisition of information about the mineral process is significantly dependent on metallurgical recovery, a data of utmost importance. A sampling plan plays a fundamental role in the efficient management of mineral resources, highly recommended at all stages of a mining venture. In the mining company addressed in this study, sampling of discarded material is of vital importance. Through this sampling, we can determine the levels of gold present in the discarded material, essential for calculating the metallurgical recovery efficiency of the company. Furthermore, these data serve as a basis for critical analyses that help identify potential flaws in the beneficiation process. In this study, a standard analysis of samples was carried out using the Fire Assay method. The goal was to obtain faster results and, therefore, enable more agile decision-making. This work aims to deepen our understanding of the discarded material and, at the same time, determine the reliability of the new analytical method. As a result of this study, it can be concluded that the alternative method is indeed reliable, depending on the gold content in the reject. If the content is high, the method is effective and yields results correlated with the Fire Assay method; if the content is low, the method cannot determine a confident result.