Consulting Metallurgical Engineer

Optimization of a mineral processing plant can occur at many different levels, but, actually there is always involved a consulting metallurgical engineer which advises in many aspects such as the design of the plant and processes, management of the material sent to the plant and optimization of the operational aspects of a facility. In the past much of the operational optimization was responsibility of people that many times did not have enough knowledge or perhaps the attention to the specific problems made forget the interest to observe other metallurgical problems.

Nowadays, the consultant is part of the organizational structure of a mineral processing plant, and each time more a more his comments and suggestions are being important part. Thus, a consultant can advise about crushing and grinding circuits, flotation plants, gravimetric processes, leaching processes, or dewatering systems. The field is wide and no one can deny it.

Some years ago, was not seen as a very important element a consultant in the mineral processing industry. The technology moved from an experimental phase into a practical industrial solution with documented installed and successful applications. But, seems that will take a number of years for the mining industry to overcome the natural inertia and then, will be totally accepted a consultant as a robust and profitable element. So often the introduction of new ideas can create conflicts and sometimes there is a possible risk in an operation.

Technology changes and many times if there is not a head, inherent instability and complexity within mineral processing dictates the technologies most suitable for control of the operation. With the introduction of advanced instrumentation the industry is better able to understand on a real time what is occurring within the circuit. With this understanding come the ability to apply dynamic models and new ideas given by a consultant. All is done with a good fundamental basis. Per haps, at this time, the technology is not quite at the stage of applying a direct change lonely and still must rely on proven feedback coupled with other models to provide inferred feed forward behaviour. Phenomenological and fundamental models can be applied but an interpretation is necessary and many times, only few people are able to do that.

A consultant has to deal with three components at the moment of take decision on mineral processing: data, technology, and integration. The data must be inferred and measured. With any decision making process the better information that goes into the decision, the better ability to make the right one. La technology is selected for an application and an implementation is essential to both the short term and long term sustainability and success of the solution. The third component is related to the substantial shift in the culture of an operation or process. The procedures used to apply and integrates this ideas often dictate the success of the changes and decisions.

Consequently, the tasks and duties of a consultant are many times influenced by the level of technical culture and the permeability of the personnel in direct contact with the metallurgical operation.