cal processes, an adequate degree of liberation of the different minerals from each other is a prereq- uisite. To control composition. It is necessary to el nate (or partially eliminate) constituents that would make the ore difficult to process chemically or would result in an inadequate final product. Respec- tive examples are lowering the iron content in lead and zinc ores to avoid problems during smelting, and the removal of iron from silica sand used for glass manufacture, since even very small amounts color the glass. ‘The more typical situation is the elimination of the, bulk of the waste minerals from an ore, thus forming aconcentrate, a significantly smaller volume of material containing the bulk of the valuable min- eral. Generally, the production of a concentrate is the most complex and difficult form of mineral process- ing, in that it can involve liberation, size control, and composition control. Thus this step is the focus of our discussion, since generally this choice per- mits the separate situations above to be covered, as well. 1.1.1. Product Valuation Because mineral products inherently lack u formity, their valuation is a complex issue, involv. ing payment credits for desirable features with Penafties for undesirable features. To introduce the subject, we consider representative custom smelter schedules. A custom smelter is one that purchases concentrates and smelts (reduces) them to salable metal. The price paid by the smelter depends primarily on the market price of the metal.2# Deduc- tions are made based on all costs involved in smelt- ing (including smelting losses), as well as penalties for constituents in the ore or concentrate that are detrimental (o the smelting process. Some simplified typical smelter schedules. are given in Table 1.1. Actual figures vary from smelter to smelter, depending on the smelting method em- ployed and its efficiency. The smelting method de- termines what metals can be recovered and thus what credits can be paid, while the method and its efficiency determine what fraction of the metal can be recovered from the concentrate and thus the ex- tent of the deductions to be made from the pay- ments. The treatment charge is seldom fixed; in- Ores, Mills, and Concentrates perdu Sunt am wat Gu nan and py 197 5% 0 de bh ead S8sThg to oan it: de 0.7 gran a ay tor 92:55 lamin ot pu ree neo Seaton of 30pm ‘ie less w deduction of 032¢hom “ Soe" s66.00%e ‘Mme haga is asso an ran ety cot fae of $7010 rte er acess crs by 19758 fo ack Se ‘hat vag Pat cot chanae. Arne: OS ut omar, charge for sat 2.00) tet ——Aow 0.3 wt fe: or net 5.00 at ne ‘tow 0 wets rn hg for exes ot #0 30% Poment Tp #4 ene gtd pe ee ‘SET ses.connen a 44cm te echt wr 28% “iment Se or mado nora ty nt ef at tht ern cy cout nae. ‘seni: Aw 1,0 ui te: cage ances a 1.00% omen: tow 0.05 wa te hg ar ences 41.00% nme smecrEen EEE yao 2n co pi erin det of Coa fy for 40% of 4 content pbs ie, ea 3.300 iat adit 15 te. gy a 8% orate ce ‘Stee: Opt 170 grat, and pay fr 60% of eit ned Pere eg eee 2:20%000 or ase 1.06 m he patho 386. aa “Kjromats Sty care ie bua on an naan hay cot fir of $7066 aceon srg or 260 fe ch Oh at ‘heeergnfovy com rege ew Dd ont chrge rece at 1.80% Hote: 1. Payment a the nwa nn ee faethe ‘ono iowing age 0 conse st he sme 2. Tones is ema ton ot 1000 4. Soler urn lo aaa. Aumann we oo made fo nga ero aon horse