Tescan Solution for Mining Industry

Stop losing recoverable metal to undiagnosed mineralogy 

 Automated mineralogy that links mineral texture, composition, and behavior to deliver measurable recovery gains 

 

  • Identify the exact cause of metal loss
  • Optimize comminution and separation with real data
  • Reduce process variability across ore types
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Mining

Why you’re still losing metal - even when everything looks fine

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You’re losing metal… but you can’t point to why 

Recovery drops but nothing clearly explains it

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You make changes, but it’s mostly guesswork 

You tweak grind or reagents, hoping it works

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Same plant, same setup… different results 

One day the feed runs fine, the next day it doesn't, and it's not clear what
changed

WHAT IF YOU COULD PREDICT EXACTLY HOW AN ORE TYPE WILL BEHAVE - AND MAP POTENTIAL LOSS BEFORE IT EVER HITS THE MILL?

See exactly where your recovery is leaking 

Automated particle-by-particle analysis that shows which minerals host your metal and how they’re locked

What it changes
You stop guessing whether losses come from poor liberation, wrong mineral targeting, or unexpected phases

Impact

  • Identify metal locked in non-target minerals
  • Quantify what’s actually recoverable vs not
  • No more "We think it's lost as ultra-fines."

In practice
Instead of chasing recovery issues for weeks, you see in one dataset where the metal is going

Gold_antamina phase vs BSE_1

Set the right grind size - not just the "safe" one.

What makes it possible
Measuring real mineral grain size versus bulk particle size, backed by automated liberation analysis.

What it changes
You stop overgrinding “just to be safe” or undergrinding and losing recovery

Impact

  • Reduce energy consumption in comminution
  • Improve liberation where it actually matters
  • Avoid unnecessary regrinding

In practice
Instead of slow, trial-and-error testing, optimize your grind size based on actual mineral liberation data.

Particle diagram: same particle → different liberation states at different grind sizes

Make plant variability predictable 

What makes it possible
High-throughput, reproducible mineralogical datasets across all ore types

What it changes
You stop reacting to variability and start anticipating it

Impact

  • Build geometallurgical models on real mineral data, not just assays.
  • Compare ore types consistently across the entire mine plan.
  • Minimize unexpected drops in plant recovery.

In practice
Instead of guessing why an ore behaves differently, you know exactly what changed.

ore particle with disseminated chalcopyrite 2

Support that doesn’t disappear after installation

You work directly with experienced mineralogists who stay involved, help your team ramp up, and make sure the system delivers real results over time. 

 

“We don’t just install a system and walk away. We work with users until they get the answers they need from their data. ”

MAREK DOSBABA  
Tescan’s expert in automated mineralogy
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Not sure if this applies to your operation?

A QUICK DISCUSSION IS OFTEN ENOUGH TO EVALUATE IF AUTOMATED MINERALOGY WORKFLOW MAKES SENSE FOR YOUR OPERATION..

Tescan TIMA

COMPARISON
Tescan TIMA  Legacy systems  Other current alternatives 
Throughput 1 2 3
Built in databases 1 3 2
Ease of use 1 2 3
Particle categorization 1 1 3
Application support 1 3 2
Suitability for large datasets 1 2 2

Testimonials

Implementation of automated mineralogy workflows often result in significant improvements.

There are known cases where the ROI was counted just in months.