Rapid Large Volume 3D Mineral Processing and Liberation Characterization Technique to Sub Micron Resolution

We describe a novel lab based X-ray computed tomography system based on the architecture of X-ray Microscopes (XRM) used in synchrotron radiation facilities to be adapted for mineral processing and mineral liberation analysis. As this is a tomographic technique performed with an XRM, it is non-destructive and does not require complex preparation of polished sections typical of SEM-EDS techniques (such as MLA and QEMSCAN). It complements these existing techniques by providing 3D information and mineral liberation of multi-phase particles with much larger sample volume statistics but at a fraction of the time. In several applications, the technique is superior. These include the characterization of tailing loss in precious minerals; the characterization of porosity, particle size distribution, crack and pore network analysis during comminution, heap leaching and for texture and exposure/lock class analysis for floatation.