Posts by LKI Consulting
QA Basics: Closing Out Our Lab Series with Quality Assurance Essentials
As we wrap up our series on geochemistry laboratories, we want to take a moment to thank you for following along. Your interest in elevating the standard of geochemical data management inspires us to keep sharing insights that make a difference in exploration and mining. For our final post, we’re focusing on the Quality Assurance…
Read MoreShining a Light on Finishes in Geochemistry
In the world of geochemistry, finishes often take a backseat to more headline-grabbing topics like sample digestion. But finishes are crucial to the accuracy and utility of geochemical data, and it is time they took center stage. Analytical finishes are the final analytical step that determines the concentrations of elements in your sample, and your…
Read MoreUnderstanding Geochemical Digests
Geochemical digests are the backbone of many geochemical analyses, providing critical insights into the composition of rocks, soils, and sediments. Selecting the right digest for your project is essential, as it dictates the elements you can analyze and the interpretability of your data. In this edition we are exploring the more common digests, weak and…
Read MoreThe Essentials of Crushing and Grinding
Crushing and grinding are essential steps when preparing drillcore samples for geochemical analysis. These processes break down the sample into smaller particles or fine powders, making it appropriate to analyze. However, contamination can creep in during these stages, potentially skewing your results. Understanding these risks and knowing what checks to perform can help you maintain…
Read MoreGeochemical Sample Preparation: A Focus on Drill Core Samples
Geochemical sample preparation from drill core is a critical step in the laboratory process, ensuring that the resulting geochemical data are reliable and representative. Here, we outline the general process, considerations, and best practices for drill core sample preparation. 1. Assigning a Unique Sample Code Each sample must be assigned a unique code for tracking…
Read MoreInside Geochemical Laboratories: A Practical Blog Series
Geochemistry is a fundamental part of mineral exploration and mining, providing data essential for decision-making. Behind every data point is a detailed laboratory process. To clarify this process and highlight the work done in geochemical laboratories, LKI Consulting si launching a new blog series. This series will follow a sample’s path—from preparation to final analysis—and…
Read MoreGeometallurgy: Metal Concentration, Recovery & Refinement
To close out our series on geometallurgy, we are presenting an overview on some highly complex topics that contain a lot of underlying thermodynamics and kinetics (we are unfortunately not going to get super deep into this here), both of which are the natural, best friends of geochemists. What is extractive metallurgy? Extractive metallurgy, unlike…
Read MoreGeometallurgy: Comminution
Comminution is simply the size reduction of particles, and its purpose is to liberate valuable minerals from waste prior to concentration. The product is a mixture of particles that contain the valuable mineral (i.e., ore), gangue minerals (i.e., the commercially worthless material that surrounds, or is closely mixed with, the ore mineral), and locked particles/middlings…
Read MoreGeometallurgy: Texture
A key aspect of geometallurgy is understanding what is the relationship of the mineral(s) of interest to all other minerals? What is texture? The characterization of mineral texture is a major concern for process mineralogists, as liberation characteristics of ore are intimately related to mineralogical texture. What do we mean when we are talking…
Read MoreGeometallurgy: Deportment
More than anything when I first heard about deportment, I liked the word, but I knew nothing about it. Therefore, my natural next step was to ask questions, read some papers, and generally learn more about it. The first thing I learned was that understanding deportment is the key control in the successful extraction, liberation,…
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