feasibility study

Sineqan mine, 25 km away from Delijan city (Markazi province), has shown important evidences of iron oxide ores containing copper, gold and rare earth elements (REE) in the early stages of exploration. In the present study, a low-grade sample of the mine from the albite zone containing 0.69% of copper and 223, 186 and 55 g/t of cerium, lanthanum and neodymium was processed and compared with the results of elements correlation in geochemical samples. Cerium, neodymium and lanthanum showed the highest correlation with each other and with the thorium. The correlation coefficient of light REEs with phosphorus was negative. The results of ammonium sulfate leaching showed that the occurrence of REE in the sample is not as adsorption on clay minerals and the study of the correlation coefficient of REE with aluminum and sodium in geochemical samples also confirmed this result. The results of leaching with H2SO4 showed that selective leaching of copper is possible. The low efficiency of leaching with H2SO4, HCl and HNO3 and the higher efficiency of 96% for leaching with cerium and lanthanum under acidic baking conditions showed that a significant part of REEs is in the form of refractory minerals. The concentration ratio of REEs in the magnetic concentrate was close to iron. According to the correlation analysis of elements in geochemical samples, the correlation of calcium with REE was in the range of -0.2to-0.3. In the flotation test, although the grade of calcium increased 3.5 times in the flotation concentrate, this was not the case for REEs. The results of this research can be used in similar cases in the early stages of exploration and processing feasibility studies.

Uncertainties are an inherent part of any exploration and resource development activities. Mining projects، due to their variable nature، are always faced with many kinds of uncertainties. Substantial amount of investment and complexity in design and execution in mining industry، cause the mining projects being categorized as activities with high level of risk. Feasibility studies facilitate a better identification of uncertainties sources and present more efficient risk management in these projects. These uncertainties will also affect the time scheduling and resource allocation in the feasibility studies procedures. In this research، the effects of time and cost uncertainties on the process of feasibility studies are assessed. In order to illustrate the role of these uncertainties، their effects on scheduling and costing is depicted by using Monte Carlo simulation method. Also the associated risks of these uncertainties are evaluated in a probabilistic approach. The result confirms the significant impacts of these uncertainties on the project implementation، while it shows that considering the uncertainties lead to more reliable results. The outcomes of this research help a better and more realistic understanding of the effects of time and cost uncertainties on the design and implementation of feasibility studies. Besides it proposes more efficient plans for managing these uncertainties and the related risks.