An integrated approach that is applicable to existing operations and early stage of mining project such as prefeasibility and feasibility studies is developed to asses deposit variability and its influence on metallurgical performance. The approach is based on linking the techniques of geometallurgy and circuit simulation. It allows better understanding of deposit variability, effective selection of drill core samples from the deposit, quick and efficient prediction of metallurgical performance, and provides more knowledge to a holistic approach of circuit and tailings design and optimisation in prefeasibility/feasibility stage. A case study is performed on Finney's Hill to demonstrate the approach. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.