TURKEY MINING

TURKEY MINING
2014
Economy | Regulations | Gold | Coal | Base Minerals
Drilling | Contracting | Equipment
INTERVIEW
Global Business Reports
Emin Ulu,
Abdullah Buhur
& Burak Köse
Company Managers
Argetest
EU
AB
BK
As a new entrant into the Turkish mining
market in 2012, can you tell us about
Argetest and the mineral processing
expertise that you are bringing?
Until recently, the mining sector was directed by the government, which carried
out research activities through its institutes, including the Mineral Research
and Exploration Institute or ETI Bank,
as well as some universities. Now with
the opening of the industry to the private
sector, Argetest was established as the
first private mineral-processing laboratory. With our experience in mineral processing and chemical engineering, we
are bringing services to the industry for
sample preparation, analysis and mineral
processing research.
The company was founded in 2012
and in the last year you completed 35
projects. What are your expectations for
projects this year?
Last year, we finished projects in copper, iron and gold, with companies from
Africa, Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania. This
year we have started eight projects—
two of which are in copper, and four of
which are in iron. We plan to finish 50
to 60 projects this year. Argetest speIndustry Explorations
cializes its services for each commodity.
One example is copper, which is different in Turkey so we are using flotation.
Last year we completed a project with
Asya Maden and now they will start constructing the flotation plant for copper
concentrates.
What are the main challenges that
Turkish companies face when it comes
to mineral processing?
In Turkey easy mining methods are no
longer valid. Ore is getting more complicated, and companies have to complete
more drilling and more scientific work.
For this reason, a lot of samples should
be taken and mineral processing methods, flow sheets and pilot tests should
be carried out to give an initial idea about
costs and grades. For example, in copper, minerals like sulfur contaminate the
ore, so it must be pulverized on a very
small scale, which increases the cost.
Argetest looks at the structural relationship of the minerals and how to remove
contaminants. Some reactives are used
and finally a flow sheet is given to the
miners to show what costs they will
come across during commercial production.
Can you give us an overview of the
range of different testing packages that
Argetest offers to the industry?
We have many different packages and
methods for each of the commodities
and many different types of analysis. For
example, fire assay for platinum groups
and gold; special packages for drilling
exploration and sales; AAS and ICP-OES
analysis for wet methods analysis.
For example, we do chrome analysis
with a different method from other Turkish laboratories. When chrome is exported or imported to a different country,
we take a sample from that country and
perform our own analysis so that we can
compare reports and make sure they are
at international standards.
Turkish geology is very complicated, so
you have to use different packages. Our
mission is to provide our customers with
the most convenient method of analysis
according to the type of mineral. We can
analyze and perform analyses on 62 elements, and we have 48 packages right
now. This year we will start offering 10
new packages.
- 61 -
How would you describe the current
climate for mineral processing activities
in Turkey?
Previously, companies were extracting
their ore, crushing it and selling it. Now
we have lower ores and need more
beneficiation, so we need more experiments, more reactives, and more test
laboratories. Mineral processing is improving. We are working with both exploration and production companies to
optimize their processes.
Where are you focusing your R&D
activities?
We are focusing our flow sheets on
economic results. We are working on
experiment methods and focusing on
how methods can be changed based on
mineral type. According to these studies,
liberated particle size, methods which
will be using, machine selection, optimum grade – performance distribution,
determination – optimization of process
reagents, reagents consumption per ton
(In Flotation and Hydrometallurgy Studies); settling tests based on thickener
design, detailed reports with respect to
experiments aiming to determination
of equipment characteristics are conducted.
What is your outlook for the growth of
Turkey’s mining sector, and how would
you like to see the company develop in
the next two to three years?
For the metallic mining sector, the industry has slowed but we hope it will
improve in spite of these challenges by
using more scientific research and more
developed equipment. At the same time,
the government should take measures
to assist research and ease the legal
challenges for permits. The metal sector
needs a lot of investment and expertise. 50 concentration plants were constructed in 10 years with shaking tables,
flotation cells and magnetic separation. If
metal demand and prices rise, the Turkish market will improve.
We hope that this year Argetest will
work together with the industry on
projects and analyses. Our aim is to work
on many international mineral-processing projects in Africa, the Balkans, the
Middle East and Central Asia. •
TURKEY MINING 2014

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