Processing costs of mining/transport costs/market economics

?

Processing costs

Chemical Form of the Mineral

  • cost of extracting a metal depends upon other elements with which it is combined
  • the more energy needed to break the bonds the more expensive it will be to extract the metal

Purity

  • financial cost of extracting metal from rock increases rapidly as purity of ore decreases
  • to produce 1 tonne of metal, greater quantity of rock must be extracted and more energy is required for the chemiccal seperation of the metal from its ore
  • the cut-off ore grade is the lowest ore purity that can be exploited econmically
  • deposits that are below cut-off ore grade are not included in reserves also changesalthough…

Comments

No comments have yet been made