Mining Engineering
Mineral Processing
Metallurgical Testwork and Interpretation (Mets)
Designing metallurgical testwork that answers the question, and reading results without over reading them.
- Duration
- 5 days
- Contact hours
- 30
- Level
- Intermediate
- Fee from
- On enquiry
Overview
Testwork programmes consume budget and schedule and often answer a question nobody asked, usually because sampling was wrong at the start. This week covers programme design from sample selection to interpretation: choosing samples that represent the orebody rather than what was easy to drill, the comminution and recovery tests available, variability work, and the statistics needed to say what a result actually supports. Scale up and its failure modes close the week.
Who should attend
Metallurgists and process engineers, study and project managers commissioning testwork, geologists supplying samples, and laboratory supervisors.
What you will be able to do
- Select samples that represent the orebody and the mine plan.
- Design a programme matched to the study stage and its decisions.
- Choose the right comminution and recovery tests.
- Interpret results with their uncertainty attached.
- Scale up with the failure modes in view.
How it is taught
Short input, then work, across 5 days of roughly 6 teaching hours each. Exercises run on situations delegates bring rather than on a case study written for a different organisation. Cohorts are capped so that everybody is asked something.
Available as classroom, live online, in house.
Programme outline
Day 1
Samples
- Representivity, and the commonest way it is lost
- Compositing, spatial coverage and variability samples
- Sample preparation and degradation
Day 2
Comminution testing
- Work index and the standard tests
- Abrasion and competency
- Relating test data to circuit design
Day 3
Recovery testing
- Flotation, leach and gravity testwork
- Batch, locked cycle and pilot scales
- Reagent and condition optimisation
Day 4
Interpretation
- Mass balance and reconciliation
- Uncertainty, repeats and outliers
- Grade recovery curves, and what they conceal
Day 5
Scale up
- From bench to pilot to plant
- Design criteria and safety factors
- Ramp up performance against prediction
What you leave with
- A testwork programme scoped for a real study stage.
- A sample selection rationale defensible to a reviewer.
- An interpretation note stating what the data does and does not support.
Dates and fees
| Dates | Location | Format | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 to 27 November 2026 | Nairobi, Kenya | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 30 November 2026 to 4 December 2026 | Lagos, Nigeria | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 7 to 11 December 2026 | Cairo, Egypt | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 14 to 18 December 2026 | Windhoek, Namibia | Classroom | R15,000 |
Fees are per delegate and cover tuition, all programme materials and the certificate. Travel, accommodation and visas are arranged by the delegate. Registration closes two weeks before a programme starts.
Certificate
A GATI certificate recording what was attended, issued after the programme has run and attendance has been taken. Attending at least 80 per cent of the days earns a certificate of completion; attending less earns a certificate of attendance stating exactly what was attended. Every certificate carries a code that anybody can check against GATI's own record.
It records participation. and GATI does not claim one it does not hold.