18th Freiberg Short Course in Economic Geology
The Freiberg Short Course on Economic Geology finally returns! The block course will cover all topics related to predictive geometallurgy applied to the primary sector. The combination of lectures and practical exercises will not only provide you with insights but also with hands-on experience regarding the implementation of different tools. The programming language of the course is R, for which we will provide a voluntary crash course if needed.
- When: 11 - 15 December 2023
- Where: Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology
- Registration: The number of participants is strictly limited to 30 (thirty!). The registration form and information about the participant fees can be found here. Registration deadline is 14.11.2023.
- Lecturers: Raimon Tolosana-Delgado (HDZR), Julian Ortiz (Queen’s University), Max Frenzel (HZDR)
- Requirements: The course is designed for Master students / PhD students / Postdocs with existing knowledge on ore geology and mineralogy and/or mineral processing and/or mining engineering.
- List of hotels: download here.
Flyer for the 18th Freiberg Short Course in Economic Geology
Course content and structure
Geometallurgy is an interdisciplinary research field at the intersection of mineralogy, geology, engineering, and mathematics, which is concerned with the planning, monitoring, and optimisation of mineral resource extraction and beneficiation. Its basis is a detailed quantitative understanding of primary resource characteristics such as mineralogical composition and texture, the spatial distribution and variability of these characteristics within ore deposits, and how these interact with mining and beneficiation processes. This requires accurate analytical data for resource characterisation, as well as a detailed understanding of ore body geology, mining and processing technologies, economics, and the often-complex interactions between them.
This course will introduce the field, covering the following topics:
- Geometallurgy in a nutshell: broad overview, primary vs secondary properties, types of geometallurgical models (space, time, process, decision), non-linear transformations, additivity, grade-tonnage curves
- Analytical tools for process mineralogy: automated mineralogy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence, electron microprobe
- Ore body modelling: multivariate geostatistics, block models
- Mine planning: concepts, tenets of algorithms
- Comminution and concentration: processes, mechanisms, machinery, classical and data-driven models
- Impact assessment and optimisation: economics, environment
- Decision making: strategy vs tactics, adaptive processing, effects of uncertainty
The block course will start on Monday 11.12.2024 at 13:30 and finish on Friday 15.12.2023 at 12:30, and is roughly divided in eight 3.5h-blocks incl coffee breaks (morning block: 9:00-12:30; afternoon block 13:30-17:00) . At registration time, participants can enroll on a previous R crash course to be held on Monday 11.12.2024 morning block (no coffee or lunch provided here).
Fees
The basic fee for the course is 200€ (students) / 300€ (postdocs, seniors, professionals). These fees cover the course materials and catering for eight coffee breaks and three lunches (Tuesday to Thursday), plus an evening event (Monday).
Both the DMG (Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft) and the IAMG (International Association for Mathematical Geosciences) support this course. All DMG members get a discount on the course fee of 25€, irrespective of their status; DMG student members with residence outside Freiberg can also apply for 100€ travel support. IAMG student members can apply for a full refund of their (paid) registration fees by sending a travel grant application to the IAMG well before the course starts.
