MINERAL EXPLORATION

Major stages involved in Mineral Exploration

1. Project Design: This is the initial stage in formulating a project.

- This involves review of all available data (geologic reports, mining history, maps, etc.),
government requirements in acquiring the project, review of social, environmental,
political and economic acceptability of the project, and budget and organization
proposals.

2. Field Exploration: This stage involves physical activities in the selected project area. This can
be subdivided into three phases:
A. Regional Reconnaissance: The main objective is to identify targets or interesting
mineralized zones covering a relatively large area (regional).

B. Detailed Exploration: This involves more detailed surface and subsurface activities with
the objective of finding and delineating targets or mineralized zones.

C. Prospect Evaluation: The main objective is to assess market profitability by (1) extensive
resource, geotechnical and engineering drilling (2) metallurgical testing and (3)
environmental and societal cost assessment.

3. Pre-production Feasibility Study : The feasibility study determines and validates the
accuracy of all data and information collected from the different stages. The purpose is for
independent assessors to satisfy interested investors to raise funds and bring the project into
production.

MINING METHODS
2 Main Methods of Mining
1. Surface Mining
◦ Utilized to extract ore minerals
that are close to Earth’s
surface
◦ Different types include open
pit mining, quarrying, placer
mining and strip mining.

600m deep open pit diamond mine (Source: CK12 Earth Science)

Limestone Quarry in northern Illinois(source: Physical Geology Earth

Revealed by Carlson, 2011)
102
 Strip Mining

2. Underground mining
◦ Utilized to extract ore minerals
from the ore body that is
deep under the Earth’s
surface

Underground Mining
Source:https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-
investing/underground-block-caving-guide-investors-/

The Milling Process

The extracted rocks will undergo processes of mineral separation and recovery.This is because
the materials extracted or “mined" are rocks composed of both ore and waste material.

Crushing Screening Grinding

Milling or Recovery Methods

1. Heavy media separation

- The crushed rocks are submerged in liquid where the heavier/denser minerals sink thus
are separated from the lighter minerals.
- This is commonly used to separate chalcopyrite from quartz before the refining
processes of extracting copper.
2. Magnetic separation:
- If the metal or mineral is magnetic, the crushed ore is separated from the waste
materials using a powerful magnet.
3. Flotation:
- The powdered ore is placed into an agitated and frothy slurry where some minerals
and metals based on physical and chemical properties may either sink to the bottom or
may stick to the bubbles and rise to the top thus separating the minerals and metals
from the waste.
4. Cyanide heap leaching:
- This method used for low-grade gold ore where the crushed rock is placed on a
“leach pile” where cyanide solution is sprayed or dripped on top of the pile.
- As the leach solution percolates down through the rocks, the gold is dissolved into the
solution.
- The solution is processed further to extract the gold.
- The waste material is either used as a backfill in the mine or sent to a tailings pond,
while the metals are sent for further processing