Geometallurgy is an interdisciplinary field aimed at describing potential ore deposits in terms that mine planners and economists can use to design and run profitable mining operations. The major geologic contribution to the field is defining the spatial variability of potential and active mining resources so that planning and scheduling can accurately predict the economic performance and environmental impact of mining in time to respond efficiently to variations in ore type. This information is needed at the feasibility stage and throughout the mine life. We review the available literature on how geologists have contributed to these predictions in the past. There have been substantial advances in predicting comminution behavior. Prediction of recovery and environmental impacts are less advanced. This introductory paper provides a brief review of geometallurgy and a synopsis of the papers in the Special Issue, along with suggestions on future directions.

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地质冶金专刊：前言

地质冶金是一个跨学科领域，旨在用矿山规划者和经济学家可以用来设计和运行有利可图的采矿作业的术语来描述潜在的矿床。该领域的主要地质贡献是定义潜在和活跃采矿资源的空间变异性，以便规划和调度能够及时准确预测采矿的经济绩效和环境影响，以有效应对矿石类型的变化。在可行性阶段和整个矿山生命周期都需要这些信息。我们回顾了有关地质学家过去如何为这些预测做出贡献的现有文献。在预测粉碎行为方面取得了重大进展。恢复和环境影响的预测不太先进。