The MLA (or Mineral Liberation Analyzer) is an automated mineral analysis system that can identify minerals in polished sections of drill core, particulate, or lump materials, and quantify a wide range of mineral characteristics, such as mineral abundance, grain size, and liberation. Mineral texture and degree of liberation are fundamental properties of ore and drive its economic treatment, making the data gathered by the MLA invaluable to geologists, mineralogists and metallurgists who engage in process optimization, mine feasibility studies, and ore characterization analyses.
The MLA solution has unparalleled time to data capabilities. For example, the MLA 650F is a high-speed automated mineralogy analyzer used in the mining Industry to optimize the performance of mineral processing operations. Compared to traditional automated mineralogy analyzers, the system reduces sample analysis turnaround time from days to hours, allowing operators to increase metal recovery by responding faster and more frequently to changes in feed and waste stream mineralogy. Also available are the MLA 250 and MLA 650 solutions.
The MLA Story
The MLA was developed during the late 1990’s by Dr Ying Gu of the University of Queensland’s JKMRC Research Centre, in collaboration with its commercial arm, JKTech, based in Brisbane, Australia. Following its release as a commercial product in 2000, the MLA was quickly adopted by many of the world’s leading mining companies. On June 15, 2009, FEI announced the purchase of the MLA business from JKTech, Australia, and contracted selected technical personnel, who joined the recently formed Natural Resources Centre of Excellence facility in Brisbane, Australia.
The acquisition of the MLA technology is the result of FEI's determination to further develop automated mineralogy technology and continuously increase the value it delivers to natural resource companies, service providers and research institutes.