Resource Evaluation

QPS Consulting Services

The evaluation of a resource is a vital step in accurately determining project feasibility and maximising life-of-mine revenue. QPS offers a number of specialist coal resource and coal reserve evaluation consulting services ranging from the planning and coordination of borecore test work programs, coal quality review, Coal Preparation Plant (CPP) flowsheet analysis, Life-Of-Mine (LOM) process modelling and subsequent economic feasibility assessments. To ensure the final solution meets all stakeholder requirements it is critical that the evaluation phase is thorough and based on sound fundamentals.

Resource evaluation consulting provided by QPS can include:

• Borecore data review
  
  • Review of the consistency and accuracy of the treatment procedure;
  • Compilation, integration and validation of borecore database;
  • Review of results for compliance to ‘realistic’ benchmarked expectations;
  • Coal liberation modelling of the washability data due to differences between borecore and CPP feed topsize;
  • Washability analysis of product viability and specification development;
  • Analysis of float/sink data for theoretical CPP yields of single or multiple products;
  • Provide realistic yield and coal quality inputs to the coal reserve calculation; and
  • Product characterisation and comparison to an extensive, world-wide coal quality database.

• Flowsheet development
  
  • Development of optimal beneficiation options by calculating gross revenue for each flowsheet option;
  • Calculation of product moisture for thermal coal for accurate estimation of product energy specification;
  • Equipment selection recommendations;
  • Plant and circuit simulation and design
  • 'Solids-only' CPP flowsheet modelling;
  • Coal washplant operating strategy recommendations; and
  • Product coal quality (eg ash and calorific value) and CPP yield for all seams or plies.

• Life-of-Mine process modelling
  
  • Application of ‘working section’ blends to CPP feed data to improve accuracy;
  • Application of dilution and loss models to simulated CPP feeds;
  • Incorporation of mining plan into long-term product and projections; and
  • Blending optimisation on a month-to-month basis to give optimum economic projections.

The above work can be packaged as part of a concept or pre-feasibility study. Apart from Australia, our coal quality experience includes South Africa, Botswana, Mongolia and Indonesia.