Geometallurgy: Present and Future

Abstract

Geometallurgy is an interdisciplinary research field concerned with the planning, monitoring, and optimisation of mineral resource extraction and beneficiation. Geometallurgy relies on a quantitative understanding of primary resource characteristics such as mineralogical composition and texture, the spatial distribution and variability of these characteristics, and how they interact with mining and beneficiation processes. Thus, geometallurgy requires accurate analytical data for resource characterisation and detailed models of orebody geology, mining and processing technologies, mineral economics, and the often-complex interactions between them. Here, we introduce the fundamental concepts relevant to the field, with particular emphasis on the current state-of-the-art and some notes on potential future developments.