Mineral processing design and operations. An introduction / Проектирование и операции по переработке полезных ископаемых. Введение

A processing plant costs many millions of dollars to build and operate. The success of this expenditure relies on the assays of a few small samples. Decisions affecting millions of dollars are made on the basis of a small fraction of the bulk of the ore body. It is therefore very important that this small fraction is as representative as possible of the bulk material. Special care needs to be taken in any sampling regime, and a considerable effort in statistical analysis and sampling theory has gone into quantifying the procedures and precautions to be taken.
The final sampling regime adopted is, however, a compromise between what theory tells us should be done and the cost and difficulty in achieving this in practice.