Abstract:
Agnico Eagle's Kittilä Mine in northern Finland is Europe's largest gold producer, with an average mineral processing plant ore throughput of 6,000 tonnes per day. In this study, a geometallurgical program was conducted at the Kittilä mine to test samples to determine metallurgical parameters and their distribution through the ore body. The objective was to link the geological characteristics with metallurgical parameters such as ore competency, hardness, and ore grade. The combined geological and metallurgical information were then used to develop better throughput and forecasting models for the life of the mine. The geometallurgical program used 1,614 kilometres of production drilling core samples from the Kittilä resource. Ore competency and hardness measurements were obtained from over 1,000 individual rock samples using the Geopyörä breakage test. In addition, the samples were studied by X-ray fluorescence and diffraction analysis to define rock types and geochemical and mineralogical proxies, which were linked with comminution parameters. The ore domains were then defined using multivariate data analysis. This work demonstrates the practicality and usefulness of using a low-cost breakage tester in a detailed geometallurgical program. The results of this work can also aid future production planning at Kittilä
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