Metal Content

Calculate contained and recovered metal across dry-tonnage lots with grades in g/t; caller recovery fractions do not establish reserves or payable-metal terms.

Description

Contained metal combines dry ore tonnage and assay grade.

Contained metal combines dry ore tonnage and assay grade. Applying a recovery fraction estimates recoverable metal, which is distinct from payable metal or a mineral reserve.^[1]

The tool returns containedMetalKg, recoverableMetalKg, totalContainedKg, totalRecoverableKg. The computation uses supplied observations and parameters rather than acquiring measurements.

When to use Metal Content

Use this for the following task: Calculate contained and recovered metal across dry-tonnage lots with grades in g/t; caller recovery fractions do not establish reserves or payable-metal terms. Prepare observations and calibration parameters on the same unit and reporting basis.

How to use Metal Content and understand its results

Prepare the measured quantities and supplied model parameters. Match the units and align paired lists before calculating.
Enter dryOreTonnes, metalGradesGramsPerTonne, recoveries according to the field table, then run the tool.
Read containedMetalKg, recoverableMetalKg, totalContainedKg, totalRecoverableKg. Use the calculation below to interpret the selected mean or the model’s signs, units and comparison flags.
Review the supplied assumptions and calibration before comparing or reporting the result.

Input field	Meaning	Value type and bounds	Requirement
dryOreTonnes	Dry ore tonnes	list of number	Required
metalGradesGramsPerTonne	Metal grades grams per tonne	list of number	Required
recoveries	Recoveries	list of number	Required

Provide aligned nonempty lists of nonnegative dry tonnages and grades, with recoveries in [0,1]. Calculate lot values and sum each metal total.

contained kg[i] = dry tonnes[i]×grade g/t[i]/1000; recoverable kg[i] = contained kg[i]×recovery[i]

The symbols and boundary conditions refer to the supplied fields and the implementation described above.

Output field	Meaning	Value type
containedMetalKg	Contained metal kg	list of number
recoverableMetalKg	Recoverable metal kg	list of number
totalContainedKg	Total contained kg	number
totalRecoverableKg	Total recoverable kg	number

json

{
  "input": {
    "dryOreTonnes": [
      100,
      200
    ],
    "metalGradesGramsPerTonne": [
      2,
      1
    ],
    "recoveries": [
      0.5,
      1
    ]
  },
  "output": {
    "containedMetalKg": [
      0.2,
      0.2
    ],
    "recoverableMetalKg": [
      0.1,
      0.2
    ],
    "totalContainedKg": 0.4,
    "totalRecoverableKg": 0.30000000000000004
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

Grades must be grams per tonne and masses must be dry tonnes. Recovery estimates and assay representativeness are supplied externally; no reserve or sales contract is assessed.

Numerical inputs must be finite. Input-shape and calculation checks do not establish measurement quality or the validity of a supplied calibration.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Choose Mine Call Factor when you need its operation: Reconcile called metal against recovery-corrected product metal; over-100% factors and negative discrepancies are preserved. Choose Leaching Recovery for the complementary operation: Infer leached metal from ore and changing residue mass/assay; accounts for mass loss with matched dry samples.

Background reference: Material balance in mineral processing.

References

Material balance in mineral processing — NPTEL, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Similar or alternative tools

Mine Call Factor
Reconcile called metal against recovery-corrected product metal; over-100% factors and negative discrepancies are preserved.
Leaching Recovery
Infer leached metal from ore and changing residue mass/assay; accounts for mass loss with matched dry samples.