Mineral processing and metallurgy

Specialised commodity and process experience

With industry-leading mineral processing and metallurgy expertise across  a wide range of commodities, we develop metallurgical testwork programs to support conceptual flowsheet definition, through to detailed engineering and process plant optimisation to help you manage production risks and maximise economic returns. Our experts apply operation know-how with various technologies to deliver greenfield projects as well as plant retrofits, optimisation and expansions.

The mineral processing and extraction metallurgy required to develop new ore grades and sustain existing operations is growing increasingly complex as grades decline and locations become more remote. We are recognised for our innovative use of concepts and technologies to investigate and provide solutions for a wide range of projects and commodities. Our services include development and supervision of metallurgical sampling and testwork programs, as well as interpretation of their results. We use a wide range of proprietary and commercial software for process modeling and simulation, optimisation, and advanced methods of capital and operating cost estimating.

Metallurgical specialists in our team focus on development of flowsheets that achieve a balance among commodity recovery, operating costs and capital costs based on the metallurgical test data available. Operational debottlenecking and plant improvements are the foci at existing operations. Financial models are developed in a connected manner with engineering studies as they advance, allowing assessment of the financial impacts of incremental changes in engineering.

We study what is in the ground then deliver designs engineered to extract the value, whether it be by physical separation, leaching, smelting or a combination of these processes. Our mining process expertise encompasses most of the metallurgical technologies in use today, including:

• Comminution
• Flotation
• CIL/CIP
• Gravity concentration
• Pressure oxidation
• Heap leaching
• Agitation leaching
• SX-EW
• Magnetic separation
• Dense media separation
• Potash compaction
• Unconventional hydrometallurgy
• Gold rooms
• Base-metal smelting and refining
• Pyrometallurgy.

In addition, we are an industry leader in minewater treatment. In the last decade, we have designed and reviewed processes for nearly 200 treatment facilities around the world. We drive creative solutions for process water and wastewater treatment at all stages of mine development, operation and closure.