JKTech, the technology transfer company for the Sustainable Minerals Institute at the University of Queensland, Australia, has formed a strategic alliance with Quantitative Group, a resource consulting firm, to provide integrated geometallurgical solutions including data assessment, geometallurgical testing programs, spatial modeling, risk assessment and valuation.
QG’s expertise, according to a statement issued by the participants, is in geometallurgical modeling scenario-based project evaluation. JKTech offers a multidisciplinary approach to geometallurgy, called GeoMet. This includes acquiring relevant parameters to spatially model the behavior and variability of material types to extraction processes within a deposit.
QG and JK Tech said they regard the objectives of geometallurgy as broad: manage risk, improve forecasts and maximize project and/or operational value. This applies at both the project and operation levels from advanced exploration, feasibility studies to operation execution. Both groups are research partners in the Cooperative Research Center for Optimal Ore Extraction (CRC-ORE).
The alliance between QG and JKTech will allow the two organizations to provide expertise across all aspects of geometallurgy from small-scale testing and spatial modeling, to optimization including professional development.
QG/JKTech will be offering integrated consulting services to the mining sector worldwide, and in addition, are planning to offer joint training programs in geometallurgy which will be conducted in Australia, South Africa and Brazil during 2011.
