Geometallurgical modeling and reconciliation with production data in a fhosphate mine

The characterization of the ore and its performance prediction in the processing unit are essential for the success of mining projects and should be part of the resource model. The greatest difficulties encountered in the elaboration of these models are the characteristics of the metallurgical variables, such as non-additivity and non-linearity, lack of uniformity of the database and the few samples of process tests. The generalization of geometallurgical models from primary attributes is a valid option when the relationships between geological characteristics and metallurgical responses are well established and will be tested in this work. Bench tests that simulate the mineral concentration process were performed and compared with geological and chemical information. Multivariate statistical analyses and computational algorithms allowed the prediction of metallurgical attributes from the properties of the rocks simulated by Gaussian sequential simulation. The results were reconciled with the plant data over a period of one year and proved to be consistent.