Smelter feed quality control

Final concentrates and furnace feeds from Anglo American Platinum are routinely monitored for quality. Merensky Reef, UG-2, and Platreef concentrates are sampled at the concentrators, as well as blended feed at the smelters, and the composition and mineralogy of these samples are determined at Anglo American Research. nformation allows the smelting characteristics of the concentrates to be predicted. Parameters such as the matte fall, spinel formation, and smelting energy requirement can be calculated by modelling. ncentrates are characterised by chemical analyses for base metals, precious elements and trace elements. Various QEMSCAN techniques are used to determine the mineralogy of the samples and the abundance of gangue minerals and base metal sulphides (BMS), as well as the mineral association, are reported.