TOMRA Sorting Mining has congratulated Lucara Diamond Corp on the recent recovery of a 1,111 ct type IIa diamond using TOMRA XRT (X-ray transmission) technology at their Karowe mine in Botswana. The diamond, which is the second largest gem quality diamond in history and the largest ever to be recovered through a modern processing facility was recovered by a TOMRA LDR (large diamond recovery) machine
utilising X-ray transmission sensors which was commissioned at Karowe earlier this year. The value of the diamond is not yet assessed.
Paul Day, Chief Operating Officer at Lucara Diamond Corp. said: “We selected TOMRA XRT following an extensive suite of test work which demonstrated TOMRA XRT technology as a superior technological solution having the highest efficiency of diamond recovery and lowest concentrate yield compared to their competitors. TOMRA’s technology detects all types of diamonds with the same efficiency and has a remarkably small footprint in terms of power and water consumption. “
Dr Volker Rehrmann, Head of TOMRA Sorting Solutions: “Its an honour for us to be part of setting new benchmarks in the diamond mining industry. We are very proud that Lucara showed confidence in our innovative sensor-based sorting technology which was rewarded with this outstanding recovery.”
Six TOMRA XRT sorters are in operation at the Karowe Diamond Mine since May 2015 replacing conventional Dense Media Separation (DMS) technology in the -60+8 mm size range. Each sorter can treat up to 150 t/h per hour at over 8,000 hours per year. Advantages of the XRT technology include its compact footprint, low operating costs, high recovery rates and extremely low concentrate yields. There is no need to further process
the sorter’s concentrate before final hand sorting. TOMRA launched at the beginning of 2014 a new range of diamond recovery solutions
which out-perform traditional technologies, providing the highest diamond recovery rates at the lowest yields. This allows the overall complexity of recovery plants to be reduced, resulting in lower running costs.
