Employee
In the mining industry, beneficiation is a process that aims to improve the performance of an ore deposit. This increases the potential earnings available from the ore and allows a company to increase the overall profitability of a mine and its business in a specific area. Various processes are used to achieve the benefit goals, and several companies that manufacture mining equipment have product lines that are designed to help companies get more out of their ore.
The objective of the beneficiation is to eliminate inefficiency and waste by ensuring that as much recoverable material as possible is extracted from the ore. Various techniques can be used for this, usually starting with grinding the ore into particles. Once ground, the particles can be screened and classified to extract usable material and reserve residues. For example, the particles can be suspended in water to allow various components to separate, making usable ore easier to access.
For rare resources, the buff is critical, as you take advantage of every available chunk of material. This practice can also make a fringe mining facility more practical than it might be, and can actually be used to extract ore from a facility previously thought depleted. Profit potential is also considered when evaluating prospective mine sites to determine whether or not the mine’s operating expenses will be offset by mine products.
People concerned with sustainable development and ethical business practices also use the term “processing”, but in a slightly different way. Rather than signifying that a resource’s full potential has been exploited, benefit refers to business practices that benefit the communities where products are mined, harvested, or extracted. Historically, large companies have tended to enter small communities, obtain resources and then leave, with no benefit to the population.
This practice of exploiting a community and then leaving has become a form of exploitation of individuals and national governments, making profit more and more popular. With the benefit, a company does things like move some of its operations to the country where a product is harvested or extracted, giving it back to the community and doing more work to keep some of the country’s profits and benefits. For example, if a company mines opals, it can open an opal cutting and polishing facility near the mine, rather than shipping it overseas for processing, in order to create more employment opportunities for the local community. Likewise, a company that extracts wood can operate a factory near the forest, instead of sending raw wood abroad.