Metallurgical Consulting

  • Resolving recovery losses,
  • Reducing deleterious species in concentrates,
  • Producing Met design input data,
  • Understanding and correctly defining the problem is key to finding an optimum solution.
  • Defining technical, operational and economic constraints and economics of a project are essential to understanding the problem.
  • Opinion Engineering produces predictable results.
  • Garbage in = Garbage out.
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Metallurgical Laboratory

  • IML has well equipped metallurgical testwork facilities available for the design and execution of complete, integrated testwork campaigns.
  • We outsource specialised services to specific individual’s companies.
  • Equipment is mobile for site diagnostic work.
  • Facilities are also available for companies who wish to conduct their own testwork.
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Bulk sample preparation


  • Samples up to ~10 tonnes, larger samples by arrangement.
  • Bulk sample drying facilities.
  • Digitally controlled ovens,
  • IR lamps, air drying
  • Blending and splitting
  • Rotary dividers
  • Crushing
  • From 300mm top size to < 1mm.
  • Jaw and rolls crusher in closed circuit with vibrating screen.
  • Bulk screening:
    Down to 300μm.
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Comminution

  • Rodmilling
  • Ultra Fine Grinding (Komodo mill, SMD, Deswik)
  • Graphite flake delamination
  • True shaft power measurement and real time logging
  • Particle size distribution (PSD) determination
    PSDs,
    Assay by Size,
  • Screening 10μm to 300mm
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Flotation

It is as important to recover what you want to recover, as it is to not recover what you don’t want to recover!  

IML staff have extensive experience in:

  • Reagent suite development.
  • Ultra fine grinding and flotation.
  • Flow sheet development.
  • Ore recovery potential.
  • Diagnostic testwork for plant performance issue resolution and optimisation:
  • Sulphide, PGM and gold.
  • Chromite recovery/rejection
  • Industrial minerals (Graphite, carbon, and beach sands)
  • Base metals (Ni, Cu, sequential flotation of Cu-Pb, Pb-Zn and Cu-Pb-Zn ores)
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Gravity Separation

  • Heavy Liquids
    Tetra Bromo Ethane (TBE) up to SGs of 4.5 kg/l
    Sodium poly tungstate (SPT) to SG 3.0 kg/l
    PSD 600μm to 10mm
    Other size/density ranges can be accommodated
    Increments of 0.05 kg/l
  • 1/8th Wilfley Shaking table
    Constant feed rate feeders
    Minimum sample mass 5kg
    Can be run for bulk separation runs
    Mobile
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Mineralogy

  • Optical
    Grain counting
    Quick, immediate, usable indication of coarse particle species and liberation
    Digital photos
  • XRD
    Semi quantitative indication of minerals present
  • SEM
    Gangue, sulphide, PGM speciation, associations, liberation
    Very expensive and slow
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Metallurgical Support Services

  • Plant optimisation and metallurgical problem solving
  • Plant surveys
  • Mass balancing and modelling
  • Process flowsheet development
  • Plant and test data analysis
  • Staff training and process support
  • Metal accounting audits
  • Metal accounting system implementation
  • Sampling and recovery potential of tailings storage facilities
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