Diamonds can be broken and/or damaged during every stage of their liberation and recovery. Damage and breakage can occur during drilling in the exploration phase or during full-scale production, and is often caused by undersized processing equipment. By understanding the properties and features of the damage, inferences can be made on how this may have happened, and the processes that may have been involved. This information can be used by plant operators to help mitigate future breakage/damage, such as changes to plant design and/or operating parameters, and help lead to informed decisions on processing equipment. It can also improve the understanding of the expected size population of the diamonds.
A number of features are assessed when determining the characteristics of fresh diamond breakage. Principally, any breakage surface is visually examined. If there are any resorption features present, the break is classified as old. If the features visible are associated with fresh breakage, then it is determined the damage was caused by man-made forces. Fresh breakage is assigned to different categories, based on the severity, and reconstituted carat weights are then ascertained. In addition, the presence or absence of abrasion and impact damage is noted, as well as if there is any visible stress on the diamond.
In this webinar, experts from SRC’s Mining and Energy team will discuss:
» What’s involved in determining diamond damage
» The benefits of determining diamond damage
» How the information can be used to improve the accuracy of frequency size distribution plots during the exploration phase, or to mitigate future damage in your plant during production
