11 th SGA Biennial Meeting
Let’s Talk Ore Deposits
26-29th September 2011 Antofagasta, Chile
Geometallurgy: from ore to concentrate – a pilot study
on the Cavanacaw Au deposit, Northern Ireland
Sandra Birtel, Dirk Sandmann, Jens Gutzmer
Department of Mineralogy, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany
Abstract. A pilot study was carried out to assess the
value of characterization of uncrushed samples of low
grade, finely disseminated Au ores by SEM-based image
analysis in order to produce a geometallurgical
assessment. For this purpose, a small suite of samples of
ores and concentrates from the Cavanacaw mine in
Northern Ireland was examined. Results illustrate that
important information may be lost during geometallurgical
assessments if only processed samples are studied. For
example, exceptionally large electrum grains (to 100x20
�m) were noted in the ore, but are conspicuously absent
in the concentrate. Furthermore, the concentrate has a
large component of sulfides other than pyrite despite the
fact that the ore samples indicate that pyrite is not only
the preferred host of electrum, the most important ore
mineral in the deposit, but also contains Au in solid
substitution and is thus also an ore mineral. These
observations indicate that concentrate quality could be
improved and this has obvious economic implications.
Keywords. gold, MLA, in-situ analyses, mineral
processing
1 Introduction
The quantitative mineralogical investigation of grain
mounts by SEM-based image analysis has become a
common method in the mineral industry in the last
decade. Quantitative information on mineralogy, mineral
association, the degree of liberation, grain size
distribution etc. has proven to yield valuable data for
plant design and efficient mineral processing. However,
information on the mineralogical and fabric relationships
in the undisturbed ore is lost when the material is
crushed and milled and made into grain mounts,
including the loss of valuable information that may
provide insights into factors influencing metal recovery.
The value of studying undisturbed ores has been recently
documented by Voordouw et al. (2010).
In a pilot study we have investigated three different
types of samples that were collected in August 2010
with permission of Omagh Minerals Ltd who operate
the Cavanacaw mine. Gold and base metal
mineralization occurs along veins and shear zones in
Dalradian metasedimentary rocks that were
metamorphosed to greenschist facies during the
Caledonian orogeny (Parnell et al. 2000). Gold
mineralization is associated with Caledonian structures
that formed during thrusting of an Ordovician arc over
the Dalradian rocks. The major ore mineral is electrum,
but minor concentrations of Au also occur in pyrite (0.7-
0.8 at.% Au) and galena (up to 1.2 at.% Au) (Parnell et
al. 2000). Parnell et al. (2000) describe electrum as
small rounded grains within sub- to euhedral pyrite,
along the rim of domains or crosscutting veinlets with
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tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite and pyrite.
Two of the samples investigated here represent a vein
and two other samples were collected of the wall rock
(quartzite with ore veinlets). Both sample types were
from a recently mined area in the main open pit. For
comparison four small individual samples were
collected from a large bag of sulfide concentrate
produced by flotation-based mineral processing. Two
polished thin sections were prepared from each of the
high grade vein (CAV05 A, CAV05 B) and the wall rock
samples (CAV06 A, CAV06 B). Four grain mounts were
prepared from the concentrate samples (CAV08 I,
CAV08 II, CAV08 III, CAV08 IV). The concentrates
were not separated into different grain size fractions but
prepared “as is”.
2 Analytical approach
Both sample suites were analyzed in two analytical
sessions with a mineral liberation analyzer (MLA)
Quanta FEG 600, a scanning electron microscope made
by FEI with two Bruker EDX detectors located at the TU
Bergakademie Freiberg. The instrument is equipped with
MLA software supplied by FEI for automation and data
processing. The MLA instrument and different analysis
modes are described in detail by Gu (2003) and Fandrich
et al. (2006).
Instrument settings for this study were 25 kV
(acceleration voltage) and 190 �A (emission current).
The XBSE mode was used to gain an overview of the
sample. Two more analytical modes (SPL_Lt, GXMAP)
were also used. The latter modes are efficient methods
used to search for fine-grained, high grey level minerals
such as electrum. For the SPL_Lt mode a trigger was set
to a grey level of >230, which will find and identify the
different compositions of electrum (Au90Ag10,
Au85Ag15, Au80Ag20, Au75Ag25, Au70Ag30,
Au65Ag35, Au60Ag40, Au55Ag45, Au50Ag50), but
will also be triggered by galena. For minerals with the
matching grey levels, the X-ray spectra are verified and
a frame of 50 pixels was analyzed with the grain in the
center. In the GXMAP mode a similar grey level trigger
was used. Matching mineral grains were analyzed in
grid-like fashion with a pre-defined step size.
The different analytical modes can be run with
different magnification which has obvious implications
for the minimum grain sizes that will be detected. The
analytical mode, magnification and complexity of the
samples (number and size of the minerals) (Tables 1 and
2) determine the measurement time. In order to reduce
analytical time to a maximum of eight hours for each
measurement mode per sample, only part of each
sample was analyzed.
 11 th SGA Biennial Meeting
Let’s Talk Ore Deposits
26-29th September 2011 Antofagasta, Chile

Table 1. Analytical settings and information about number of Gold was exclusively detected in electrum and is
analyzed particles and gold including electrum grains (g.) heterogeneously distributed in the ore, wall rock and
identified in grain mounds. (Mag: magnification). concentrate (Fig. 1). Gold concentration varies by a
factor four in the two sulfide rich vein samples CAV05 A
XBSE GXMAP SPL_Lt
Mag. 300 500 500 and B although the analyzed areas are comparable (ca.
particles Au particles Au particles Au
100 mm2). For the wall rock samples the variation is a
sample
g. g. g. factor of two (0.95 ppm and 0.37 ppm). The Au content
CAV08 I 70737 15 14657 3 14738 4 of the concentrate samples is rather uniform, with a
CAV08 II 20676 3 15690 3 13688 12
CAV08 III 101266 23 15664 1 581 0
mean of 90 ppm Au.
CAV08 IV 9670 13 15459 4 9670 2

Table 2. Analytical settings and information about size of

analysed area and number of gold including electrum grains
(g.) detected in thin sections (Mag: magnification).

XBSE GXMAP SPL_Lt

Mag. 175 500 500
sample area Au area Au area Au
2 2 2
(mm ) g. (mm ) g. (mm ) g.
CAV05 A 95 28 10.4 47 20 3
CAV05 B 115 64 12.3 323 38 19
CAV06 A 312 5 10.4 38 123 2
CAV06 B 572 3 1.4 0 149 10

3 Results

In the following section the results obtained for different

measurement modes are documented. Differences
between in situ analyses on polished thin sections and
grain mount analyses are highlighted.

3.1 Different analytical modes

XBSE, SPL_Lt and GXMAP measurement modes were

found to be of very different efficiency in detecting Mozilla Firefox.lnk
electrum grains. For example, in a particular area (38
mm2) on one sample, the XBSE mode found 11 electrum
grains, whereas the SPL_Lt mode identified 19 grains. In
another area (12.3 mm2), the XBSE mode identified 16
gold grains whereas the GXMAP mode found 323
electrum grains. In the SPL_Lt or GXMAP mode gold
grains of 2 �m in diameter are safely detected, whereas
the XBSE mode detected gold >7 �m in size as it was
carried out at lower magnification. In this study, the
GXMAP mode was the most efficient mode for
identifying gold grains. However, improved detection of
gold grains was achieved at the expense of measurement
times that are about ten times higher than in the XBSE
mode.

3.2 Modal composition and gold concentration

Compared to the modal mineralogical composition of the

ore and the wall rock samples, the concentrate is
enriched in galena, whereas pyrite is present in similar
amounts (ca. 30 wt.%). This may suggest that the gold
bearing pyrite (containing both Au in solid substitution
(Parnell et al. 2000) as well as electrum mineral
inclusions) is only partly captured during flotation (Fig.
1). However, assuming a certain ratio of vein material
and wall rock material in the plant feed (e.g., 3:2), a
similar mineralogical composition to that observed in the
concentrate could be attained.
Figure 1. Modal mineral composition of the four thin sections
(A) and concentrates (B), analyzed in XBSE mode (scale to the
left). The black bars adjacent to each column show the Au
content (scale to the right). Numbers below the sample names
indicate the analyzed area in mm2 (A) for the thin section and
the number of analyzed particles (p.) for the concentrate (B).
Since all concentrate samples were from the same
bag, CAV05 A and B from the same part of an
individual sulfide ore, and CAV06 A and B from
immediately adjacent wall rock, these three sample

960
 11 th SGA Biennial Meeting
Let’s Talk Ore Deposits
26-29th September 2011 Antofagasta, Chile
types have been recombined for further data processing.
There is a distinct difference in the distribution of the
electrum composition between the concentrate and the
ore samples. Au80Ag20 is the most common
composition in the polished thin sections of ore and wall
rock samples. In contrast, the concentrate samples have
compositions of Au80Ag20 to Au65Ag35 that appear
evenly distributed.
3.3 Liberation and association
In the concentrate samples ca. 50% of the electrum is
liberated, another 40% is associated with pyrite, less than
10% is associated with quartz or galena and less than 5%
with other minerals. For the vein samples 75% of the
electrum is associated with pyrite, 10% with chalcopyrite
and <10% with arsenopyrite. In the wall rock samples
most electrum is associated with arsenopyrite and pyrite.
It may be assumed that electrum associated with
arsenopyrite is efficiently extracted in the concentrate, as
arsenopyrite is enriched in the concentrate compared to
the vein material (Fig. 1). However, strong enrichment in
galena in the concentrate – and the lack of association of
electrum with galena, will lead to a decrease in
concentrate grade.
3.4 Grain size distribution
Calculated grain size distributions for electrum in the
concentrate and thin section samples indicate that
smaller grain sizes (<10 �m) are more frequent in the
concentrate. In the concentrate, electrum grains >20 �m
represent 5 area % of the total Au. In contrast electrum
grains >40 �m represent 15 area % of the total Au in the
thin sections. Electrum grains >20 �m always represent
the infill of fractures in pyrites. The absence of such
large electrum grains in the concentrate may simply be
attributed to the scarce occurrence in the ore. Due to the
ductile behaviour of electrum it is unlikely that these
grains are crushed or milled to a finer grain size.
4 Implications
Comparison of the results of in situ analyses of ore
samples in thin section with those from the concentrate
indicates that the average Au concentration of both thin
sections is 130 ppm, double that determined for the
concentrate (average of 60 ppm, Fig. 1, ignoring the low
grade concentrate sample CAV08-II the average is 90
ppm). However, the number of samples included in this
pilot study is not representative. Furthermore, we cannot
confidently assume that the ore samples correspond to
the same material used to produce the concentrate. This
also likely influences the observed variation in electrum
compositions in the concentrate samples. Nevertheless
an important observation that is not affected entirely by
sample selection, is the fact that electrum occurs in the
ore with grain sizes from 2-20 �m and is associated most
commonly with pyrite. Effective transfer of the pyrite
into the concentrate is highly desirable. Concentrate
quality could thus be improved by suppression of galena
in the flotation circuit or by separation of galena from
the pyrite concentrate to form a separate saleable Pb
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concentrate. This would result in much higher Au grades
in the pyrite concentrate which has obvious economic
implications. On the other hand electrum also occurs in
very large grains (100 x 20 �m), that need to be
captured. These observations have important
implications for mineral processing, which can only be
gained by including thin section samples of the ore
material and not just the final concentrate.
5 Conclusions
The use of SEM-based image analysis allows detection
of electrum grains down to 2 �m in diameter. However,
due to extremely long measurement times only small
areas can be tested in such great detail. The GXMAP
mode is the most effective but takes the longest
measurement time. The recommended method is to
analyze a large part of the sample in XBSE mode, which
detects Au grains down to 7 �m and then in areas where
electrum has been found in the XBSE mode a small area
can be chosen for the GXMAP mode.
The results indicate that important information on the
association between electrum and sulfide minerals can
only be determined by analyzing samples of uncrushed
ore. These results can then be used in conjunction with
the results from analyzing the concentrate samples. For
example, galena forms a large proportion of the
concentrate but has been shown to have only a minor
association with Au. This information could be used to
help improve the way the ore is processed at
Cavanacaw. Behaviour of specific ore minerals during
processing need to be assessed on an ongoing basis is to
avoid systemic losses.
Acknowledgements
The kind permission by Orla McKenna and Richard
Crew from Omagh Minerals Ltd operating the
Cavanacaw gold mine to take samples in the open pit
and from the concentrate bag is greatly appreciated.
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