Tutorial For Calculating Modal Composition

HSC Chemistry
6.1 1

Pertti Lamberg J une 25, 2007 06120-ORC-T
HSC Sim 6.1 Tutorials
Calculating modal composition of samples using HSC
Geo

Prepared by Pertti Lamberg
Date 25
th
J une 2007
For HSC Chemistry Version 6.1
For HSC Chemistry Modele Geo
Tutorial version Draft 2.0, J une 2007
Checked and approved -
Language checked -
Keywords Modal composition, mineralogy, Add-in

Table of Contents

Table of Contents...........................................................................................................................1
Introduction................................................................................................................................................... 1
Example 1 Simple calculations using Excel and HSC Chemistry Add-In functions................................. 2
Example 2 More complicated calculation in Microsoft Excel using matrix functions............................... 7
Example 3 Simple calculation in HSC Chemistry...................................................................................... 8
Example 4 Complicated modal calculation. Using the rounds................................................................. 17
Example 5 - Worked example to calculate copper mineralogy based on copper phase analyses using
diagnostic leachings..................................................................................................................................... 19
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................. 19
Data.......................................................................................................................................................... 19
Step-by-step instructions.......................................................................................................................... 20

Introduction
HSC Chemistry 6.1 has a special module (HSC Geo) designed to calculate mineral composition of
samples using chemical assays. The other way to do it utilizing mineral databases of the HSC Chemistry is
to use Excel Add-in functions. This tutorial shows how to use mineralogical Add-in functions in Excel,
how to calculate more complicated task in HSC Chemistry, how to utilize diagnostic leaching techniques
in mineral quantification and how to update the mineralogical databases.

HSC Geo 6.1 includes a calculation module for estimating mineral composition of samples based on
chemical assays. The equation solved by the program is:

G
element,mineral
*G
mineral
=G
element

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where G
element,mineral
is the matrix including chemical composition of minerals, G
mineral
is the vector of
mineral grades and G
element
is the grades of elements in a sample, i.e. analysed chemical compositoin of the
sample. In the HSC Geo in solving the simultaneous mass balance equations different techniques can be
used: 1) least square method, 2) weighed least square, 3) non-negative least squares, 4) weighed non-
negative least squares.

Example 1 Simple calculations using Excel and HSC
Chemistry Add-In functions
HSC Chemistry 6.1 has an extensive mineral database which can be used in Excel. The first example of
this tutorial shows how to start using the Add-in functions of the HSC Chemistry in Microsoft Excel.
Figures 1 to 4 how to load the HSC6.XLL.

Figure 1. In Microsoft Excel select Add-Ins on the Tools menu.

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Figure 2. Press Browse.

Figure 3. Browse C:\HSC6\AddIns\HSC6.XLL and press OK.
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Figure 4. Press OK.
After loading the HSC6 Add-In you can use the HSC Chemistry Add-in functions in Microsoft Excel. To
learn different Add-in functions open files AddInSample.xls, AddInSampleEQ.xls and
AddInSample_Minerals.xls in folder C:\HSC6\AddIns (Figure 5 and Figure 6).

The general mineralogical Add-in function has a syntax
MineralProperty(Mineral,Property)

Mineral is the name of the mineral, e.g. pyrite, quartz, kyanite, chrysocolla.
Proprety is mineral property, like chemical element (e.g. Cu, Si, O, Na), density, color, code, formula. For
example MineralProperty(Chalcopyrite,Cu) will return copper content of chalcopyrite as wt%. See the
example file.
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Functions Return Values Arguments
General Return Value Argument 1 Arg. 2 Arg. 3 Arg. 4 Arg. 5
UNITS(T;E) C and MJ C MJ
BAL(Equation) H2(g)+O2(g)=H2O(g)qweaH2(g)+O2(g)=H2O(g)
SPECIES(DBNo,Position) Ag2WO4 2 200
Species Return Value Argument 1 Arg. 2 Arg. 3 Arg. 4 Arg. 5
H(Species;T) -390.593 CO2(g) 100
HKG(Species;T) -1.104 FeS 100
HNM3 or HCM(Species;T) 0.096 N2(g) 100
HLAT(Species;T) 0.000 H2O(l) 25
S(Species;T) 636.026 H2O(l) 45435
CP(Species;T) 205.166 CH4(a) 100
G(Species;T) -47.253 He(g) 100
Reaction equation Return Value Argument 1 Arg. 2 Arg. 3 Arg. 4 Arg. 5
H(Equation;T) -485.132 2H2(g) +O2(g) =2H2O(g) 100
HKG(Equation;T) -13.465 2H2(g) +O2(g) =2H2O(g) 100
S(Equation;T) -93.276 2H2(g) +O2(g) =2H2O(g) 100
CP(Equation;T) -19.295 2H2(g) +O2(g) =2H2O(g) 100
G(Equation;T) -450.326 2H2(g) +O2(g) =2H2O(g) 100
K(Equation;T) 1.105E+63 2H2(g) +O2(g) =2H2O(g) 100
Iteration (reverse) Return Value Argument 1 Arg. 2 Arg. 3 Arg. 4 Arg. 5
TATH(Species;H) 5046.97 CO2(g) -93.35
TATHKG(Species;H) 1191.85 FeS -0.26
TATHNM3 or TATHCM(Species;H) 42.94 N2(g) 0.02
TATHLAT(Species;H) 25.00 H2O(l) 0.00
TATS(Species;S) -138.85 H2O(l) 20.77
TATCP(Species;CP) 137.99 CH4(a) 49.04
TATG(Species;G) -204.93 He(g) -11.29
Stream/Flow Return Value Argument 1 Arg. 2 Arg. 3 Arg. 4 Arg. 5
STREAMH(Species;Amount;T) 5.723 Fe 1 100
FLOWH(Species;Amount;T) Cu 1
Zn 1
STREAMHKG(Species;Amount;T) 6.364 Cu(+2a) 21.85 100
FLOWHKG(Species;Amount;T) Fe(+2a) 6.72
Zn(+2a) 2
STREAMHNM3(Species;Amount;T) 2.187 N2(g) 17.78 100
FLOWHNM3(Species;Amount;T) O2(g) 4.79
Ar(g) 0.23
STREAMHLAT(Species;Amount;T) 14.060 Cu2S 1 100
FLOWHLAT(Species;Amount;T) FeS 1
ZnS 1
STREAMS(Species;Amount;T) 200.629 N2(g) 0.78 100
FLOWS(Species;Amount;T) O2(g) 0.21
Ar(g) 0.01
STREAMCP(Species;Amount;T) 29.252 N2(g) 0.78 100
FLOWCP(Species;Amount;T) O2(g) 0.21
Ar(g) 0.01
STREAMG(Species;Amount;T) -72.677 N2(g) 0.78 100
FLOWG(Species;Amount;T) O2(g) 0.21
Ar(g) 0.01
DensityA(Species;Amount;T) 1260.348 NaCl 0.2 50
FeSO4 0.1
Densitykg(Species;Amount) 2504.675 NaCl 0.2
FeSO4 0.1
DensityNm3(Species;Amount) 2.322 N2(g) 1
SO2(g) 2
Stream/Flow iteration (reverse) Return Value Argument 1 Arg. 2 Arg. 3 Arg. 4 Arg. 5
STREAMTH(Species;Amount;H;Tmin;TMax) 100.00 Fe 1 5.72 0 1000
FLOWTH(Species;Amount;H;Tmin;TMax) Cu 1
Zn 1
STREAMTHKG(Species;Amount;H;TMin;TMax) 100.00 Cu(+2a) 21.85 6.36 0 1000
FLOWTHKG(Species;Amount;H;Tmin;TMax) Fe(+2a) 6.72
Zn(+2a) 2
STREAMTHNM3(Species;Amount;H;Tmin;TMax) 100.00 N2(g) 17.779049 2.19 0 1000
FLOWTHNM3(Species;Amount;H;Tmin;TMax) O2(g) 4.786145
Ar(g) 0.227884
STREAMTHLAT(Species;Amount;H;Tmin;TMax) 100.00 Cu2S 1 14.06 0 1000
FLOWTHLAT(Species;Amount;H;Tmin;TMax) FeS 1
ZnS 1
STREAMTS(Species;Amount;S;Tmin;TMax) 100.00 N2(g) 0.78 200.63 0 1000

Figure 5. File AddInSample.xls in folder C:\HSC6\AddIns lists most of the add-in functions and shows
how to use them.
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Figure 6. File AddInSample_Mineral.xls in folder C:\HSC6\AddIns lists the Add-in functions related to
minerals and shows how to use them.

The first example shows how to use Add-in functions to answer following question:

Question: Copper grade of the sample is 3.46 wt% Cu and sulphur grade 14.19 wt%. Sample consists of
chalcopyrite, pyrite and quartz. What are the grades of the minerals?

The steps are:
1. Create table about minerals and their chemical compositions using MineralProperty Add-in
function
2. Input head grades
3. Write function for chalcopyrite grade (Grade
Chalcopyrite
=100*G
Copper
/ G
Copper,Chalcopyrite
)
4. Calculate sulphur carried by chalcopyrite
5. Calculate remaining excess sulphur
6. Calculate pyrite grade from the excess sulphur
7. Calculate quartz (100-others)

You can find the calculations in the file Mineral Conversions HSC.xls provided with this tutorial file.

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Figure 7. Create table of minerals and their chemical compositions using MineralProperty function.

Example 2 More complicated calculation in Microsoft Excel
using matrix functions
Example 2 shows how to calculate a slightly more complicated mineralogy in Microsoft Excel using
matrix functions. This is needed because minerals are not stoichiometric pure end-members. The task is
to calculated mineral composition of sample consisting of sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite and quartz,
and then calculate density of the ore sample grading 1.0% Zn, 3.66% Cu and 6.12% S.

Mineral Sphalerite Chalcopyrite Pyrrhotite Quartz
Code Sp Ccp Po Qtz
Density 4.05 4.2 4.62 2.63
Zn 59.03 0.00 0.10
Cu 0.26 34.626 0.00
S 33.12 34.945 37.60
Fe 7.59 30.429 62.30
Sum 100.00 100.00 100.00 0.00

Zn 1.00
Cu 3.66
S 6.12

1. Create first the table of mineral with chemical composition (a)
2. Create table for sample assays (b)
3. Using function MINVERSE and INDEX create a inverse matrix of the (a) =(c)
4. Multiply matrix (b) and (c) to get a vector of mineral grades (d)
5. To calculate the density on unporous basis use formula
=
=
N
eral eral
eral
Density
G
SG
1 min min
min
100 / 1

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Figure 8. Worked example in Excel.

Example 3 Simple calculation in HSC Chemistry

HSC Geo has a special module designed to calculate mineral composition of samples using chemical
assays. To follow this example load file Assays.txt (tab-separated text file with header row and SampleNo
column). Once you have saved this file you are ready to continue:

1. Open HSC Geo

2. To open the analysis file select File Open data from the menu, change the files of type to Tab
delimited text (*.txt) and browse for the Assays.txt. HSC Geo opens the file.

Figure 9. Opening data in HSC Geo.

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6.1 9

3. Before continuing the structure has to be identified. This is because you can use various formats in
the HSCGeo and the Identify routine is to make all files compatible. Press Identify button for
that.

4. HSC Geo identifies the structure and to indicate that window changes. For modal calculations
from each column ELEMENT, METHOD and UNIT should be identified correctly. Check that.

Figure 10. Structure identified.

5. For modal composition calculations press Modal button in the left panel.

Figure 11. Press Modal.

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6. In the Quantification Modal composition window you have to 1) select data source (if only
one open, then it is automatically selected), 2) define minerals, 3) define elements used in
quantification. For defining minerals present press Edit/Add button

Figure 12. Going to defining the minerals.

7. HSC Geo uses HSCGeo.mdb database and <MineralChemistry table for defining minerals. In
this example the minerals of interest are sphalerite, chalcopyrite, galena and pyrite. First write
sph and all minerals starting with name sph will be shown. Select STOICH (stoichiometric)
and press Add>>-button to move it to the list of minerals. M/Sp/20 appears in the right list box.
Repeat this for chalcopyrite, galena and pyrite. When ready, press OK.

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Figure 13. Defining the minerals.

8. Press the Next >> button

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Figure 14. Minerals defined.

9. In the HSC Geo Modal Calculations window move all the minerals to be calculated on the first
round by pressing >>button

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Figure 15. Modal calculations window.

Figure 16. Minerals are all calculated on
the first round..

10. Click on each available element, Cu, Zn, Pb and S, twice to move the elements in the Elements
list

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Figure 17. Defining the calculation basis.

11. Now you have defined that you are calculating the amount of sphalerite (Sp), chalcopyrite (Ccp),
galena (Gn) and pyrite (Py) using mass balance equations for zinc (Zn/TOT), copper (Cu/TOT),
galena (Pb/TOT) and sulphur (S/TOT); all analysed with total method (i.e. all minerals will
decompose in the analysis method completely).

12. To calculate, press Calculate button

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13. Modal composition is available as wt% and by pressing Graph>> button, you can visualise the
modal composition in bar graph.

Figure 18. Studying the results of the modal calculation.

14. You can copy the result on clipboard, save it as an Excel file or save it in Microsoft Access
database.

15. You can fine tune calculation using rounds and different mathematical methods like non-negative
least squares.

16. You may study distribution of any of the elements included in the minerals (not necessarily
included in the calculations), study the residual of the calculation, composition of mineral fraction
(i.e. selected minerals recalculated to 100%) and bulk composition of samples back calculated
from mineral composition. All these are also available in graphical format.

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Figure 19. Studying the distribution of sulphur.

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Example 4 Complicated modal calculation. Using the
rounds

The next example is more complicated. The data is from the Ph.D. thesis of Sergio Vianna and the ore is
Cannington Pb-Zn-Ag ore. The task is to calculate mineral composition of three flotation test samples,
feed, concentrate and tailing. A total of twelve elements have been analysed, as given in the file
Cannington Example and shown in Table below.

Stream Ag
ppm
Pb % Zn % Fe % S % Cu % Sb % As % SiO2
%
CaO
%
MgO
%
Al2O3
%
Feed 692 23.36 16.36 4.41 13.24 0.052 0.080 0.000 35.40 2.04 1.22 0.673
Concentrate 1400 44.72 22.13 4.15 18.78 0.071 0.176 0.000 6.74 0.48 0.37 0.154
Tail 323 9.86 11.41 4.43 8.55 0.037 0.029 0.025 55.00 2.98 1.77 1.020

The minerals present are: galena, sphalerite, freibergite, boulangerite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, pyrite,
quartz, talc, fluorite, garnet, magnetite and others.

The steps of the calculation are:
1. Open HSC Geo

2. Open the file Cannington Example.xls

3. Identify the structure

Figure 20. Structure identified.

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6.1 18

4. Go to Modal calculations

5. Define the minerals: galena, sphalerite, boulangerite, freibergite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite,
pyrite, quartz, talc, garnet, fluorite, magnetite and gangue. Whenever available, select minerals
from Olympia.

6. Press OK to go back and then press Next>>to enter the calculations

7. You may try several possibilities, but the one which gives a reasonable result is given in a table
below

Round Minerals Elements Calculation method
1 Gn
Sp
Bou
Frb
Ccp
Apy
Pb
Zn
Sb
Ag
Cu
As
NNLS
2 Py S NNLS
3 Qtz
Tlc
Gar
Fl
Mgt
Si
Mg
Al
Ca
Fe
NNLS
4 Gan 100-others SVD

The result should be like given below.

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6.1 19

Stream Gn % Sp % Bou
%
Frb
%
Ccp
%
Apy
%
Py % Qtz
%
Tlc % Gar
%
Fl % Mgt
%
Gan
%
Total
Feed 27.03 28.86 0.27 0.05 0.15 0.00 0.00 31.82 3.84 3.19 2.46 0.00 2.33 100.00
Concentrate 51.69 39.04 0.60 0.11 0.21 0.00 0.00 6.04 1.11 0.00 0.66 0.00 0.53 100.00
Tail 11.42 20.13 0.09 0.03 0.11 0.06 0.57 49.72 5.56 4.87 3.57 0.13 3.75 100.00

8. Study the distribution of silver, the composition of the minerals used in calculations, the residual.

9. Test graphics

10. Find the ways to transfer the calculation result to Excel or other reporting tools.

Example 5 - Worked example to calculate copper mineralogy
based on copper phase analyses using diagnostic
leachings

Introduction

This worked example shows how to estimate the quantities of copper minerals by using the Copper Phase
Analysis and HSC Geo.

Data
Analyses of the samples are given below. The format should be:
Data is row-wise
The first column is the unique sample ID
The first row is the header row and the format is element-(space)-method-(space)-unit,
e.g. Cu P1 %, S TOT ppm
There can be extra columns, but HSC Geo can use in the calculation only columns, which
it is capable to identify

Sample Cu P1 % Cu P2 % Cu P3 %Cu P4 % Cu PSum
%
S LECO
%
4435 0.06 0.01 0.36 0.05 0.48 36.00
53 0.02 0.24 1.13 25.20 26.59 32.70
54 0.00 1.18 7.89 18.20 27.27 31.50
79 0.00 0.95 13.68 0.42 15.05 5.46
541 0.06 4.60 33.70 0.84 39.20 29.60
542 1.19 1.05 6.38 19.00 27.62 29.30
543 0.24 2.55 15.20 13.80 31.79 28.30
545 0.02 0.23 2.12 22.60 24.97 34.50
546 0.10 0.45 2.45 18.70 21.70 37.50
701 0.00 1.10 0.50 0.05 1.66 0.73
1577 0.09 1.62 19.00 1.45 22.16 26.90
2594 0.07 1.05 2.99 0.65 4.76 22.60
4118 0.00 0.00 0.54 21.70 22.24 36.00
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Step-by-step instructions
1. Arrange your data in spreadsheet, e.g. Excel, as described above
2. Open HSC Geo
3. Copy your data in Excel to clipboard

4. In the HSC Geo select in the main window select Edit Paste

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5. Data is pasted in the new datasheet window called Data 1

6. Identify the data by pressing Structure button on left (the Identify Structure button on right
does the same).

HSC Geo identifies the data structure and indicates that each of the copper assays are correctly
identified as Cu, method is P1, P2, P3 and P4 and unit each of them %.

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7. For modal calculation press the Modal button on left.

8. In the Quantification Modal composition window define the phases, i.e. minerals. Press the
Add / Edit button on right.
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9. In the Phases window write the name of the mineral in the Criteria text box and follow the
changes in the database query table below. Select appropriate minearal in the list. In this case
select: chalchantite, brochantite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite an pyrite. You may change the order of
minerals by pressing Move Up and Move Down buttons. Once ready press OK to exit the
window.

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10. Back in the the Quantification Modal composition window you can check the chemical
composition of minerals by double clicking the mineral. To change the mineral press Add / Edit
button and remove the mineral from selected and select the appropriate one. Once ready press
Next >>to the calculation window.

11. In the HSC Geo Modal Calculations window move minerals to calculations by (1) selecting it
in the left list box and (2) pressing >-button. (3) Select appropriate elements by clicking it in the
peridic table and (4) by selecting the method in the Element | Method listbox on the right side of
the periodic table. (5) Then press Element | Method Accepted to move it to the calculation set-
up listbox.

In the current example move all the minerals and select Cu P1, Cu P2, Cu P3, Cu P4 and
S.

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1
2
3 4
5
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12. To calculate press Calculate. The result is presented in a separate HSC Geo Mocal
Calculation Results window. Red colour indicates negative value, and in this case chalchantite is
slihtly negative in three samples. To correct that, for the calculation method select non-negative
least square (NNLS) for the quantification and press Calculate again.

13. For distribution of copper in the Results- window select Distribution tab and press Cu in the
periodic table. To see the result in graphical format press Graph >>> button.

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Maintaining the database
The chemical composition of minerals is stored in the HSCGeo.mdb Microsoft Access Database.

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