Reagent Dosage Calculator
Reagent consumption is the specific dose applied to every tonne of ore that passes through the plant.
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Before you rely on this: First-pass guide only. Verify safety-critical or regulated work against the relevant standards, your project requirements and a qualified professional.
How to use this calculator
- Enter the reagent dose rate in grams per tonne of ore (g/t) from your testwork or plant target, and the plant throughput in tonnes per hour (t/h).
- Optionally add operating hours per day and operating days per year to get daily and annual reagent tonnages for budgeting and storage.
- Read off the hourly consumption (kg/h); use the daily and annual figures to size dosing pumps, mixing tanks and reagent deliveries.
How it works
Reagent consumption is the specific dose applied to every tonne of ore that passes through the plant. Because dose is quoted in grams per tonne and throughput in tonnes per hour, the product (g/t × t/h) is in grams per hour, so dividing by 1000 converts it to the working unit of kilograms per hour: consumption (kg/h) = dose (g/t) × throughput (t/h) ÷ 1000.
Daily use scales by the operating hours per day (kg/day = kg/h × h/day) and annual use scales again by operating days per year (t/yr = kg/day × day/yr ÷ 1000). The dose rate itself is set by metallurgical testwork — collector, frother, lime, cyanide, flocculant and other reagents each have their own target g/t — and real consumption drifts with ore variability, water quality and reagent strength, so this arithmetic sizes the demand rather than replacing plant measurement.
Worked example
Collector at 800 g/t on a 250 t/h mill. A flotation plant treats 250 t/h of ore and doses collector at 800 g/t. Hourly consumption = 800 × 250 ÷ 1000 = 200 kg/h. Running 22 h/day gives 200 × 22 = 4,400 kg/day (4.4 t/day). Over 350 operating days a year that is 4,400 × 350 ÷ 1000 = 1,540 t/yr of reagent to budget and store.
Common mistakes
- Confusing dose rate units — the formula assumes grams per tonne (g/t). If your dose is in kg/t, multiply by 1000 first (or the g/h ÷ 1000 step will under-report by 1000×).
- Using nameplate throughput instead of actual milled tonnes — reagent is consumed against the ore that is truly treated, so use realistic feed rate and operating hours, not the design maximum.
- Ignoring reagent make-up strength — this gives the mass of active reagent. If you dose a dilute solution, divide by the solution concentration to get the volume of made-up reagent to pump and store.
Frequently asked questions
What does grams per tonne (g/t) mean for a reagent?
It is the specific consumption: the mass of reagent added for every tonne of ore fed to the plant. A dose of 800 g/t means 800 grams of reagent per tonne of ore, so 250 t/h of feed consumes 200 kg/h.
Does this work for any reagent — collector, lime, cyanide, flocculant?
Yes. The arithmetic is the same for any reagent quoted in g/t against throughput. Only the target dose rate differs, and that comes from your metallurgical testwork or plant control, not from this calculator.
Why divide by 1000?
Dose is in grams and throughput in tonnes per hour, so g/t × t/h gives grams per hour. Dividing by 1000 converts grams to kilograms, giving the practical kg/h figure used to size pumps and reagent orders.
Can I use it to size reagent storage and deliveries?
Yes — enter operating hours per day and days per year to get daily (kg/day, t/day) and annual (t/yr) consumption. Use those to plan tank volumes, delivery frequency and annual reagent budgets, then confirm against actual plant assays.
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