Tag Archives: TOMRA Sorting

Vimy senses Angulari gold-uranium project boost following TOMRA XRT trial

Comminution of minerals, Energy minerals, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining project news, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ore sorting test work from TOMRA Sorting Australia has Vimy Resources thinking about higher grades, lower capital and operating costs, and the production of precious metals at its majority-owned Angulari uranium-gold deposit in Australia’s Northern Territory.

The ASX-listed company, which has defined an inferred mineral resource estimate of 26 Mlbs of U3O8 (0.91 Mt at 1.3% U3O8) at Angulari, already thought the deposit, part of the Alligator River project, had potential to fit into the first quartile of the global uranium cost curve, but now it has eyes on further improving its cost position.

An ore sorting proof of concept trial conducted by TOMRA using its COM X-ray Transmission Tertiary system factored in a 41.5 kg sample that was obtained from mineralised material collected from drill core that Cameco Australia drilled in 2011 and 2016.

The trial on this material saw the uranium concentrate grade increase from 1.2% to 2% U3O8 (70% increase) with high U3O8 recovery. Alongside this, the sample gold concentrate grade increased from 0.7 g/t to 1.1 g/t (47% increase). On the latter gold work, Vimy said: “This warrants further investigation given no gold processing or recovery test work has been undertaken to date.”

The test work also showed that gold mineralisation is spatially coincident with the uranium mineral resource within the sample.

Some 13.5 kg of this 41.5 kg sample was not sorted due to the high uranium grade, which provides additional upside in future trials, Vimy noted. Other potential by-products were also identified, including platinum and palladium.

All of this bodes well for cutting the capital and operating costs that Vimy was unable to disclose to investors as part of its December 2018 scoping study on the project.

A higher feed grade from ore sorting would likely result in lower operating costs, the company said.

Meanwhile, smaller hydrometallurgical plant circuits would likely be required for the same level of production. Coupled with a potential reduction in acid-consuming phases in the concentrate, ore sorting has the potential to lower reagents (and water) usage and costs on a per lb U3O8 produced basis, noting that expected reagent use is already low, Vimy said.

“A smaller plant would result in a lower overall disturbance footprint with commensurate approvals and capital cost benefits,” it added.

Mike Young, CEO of Vimy, said, “The results of the TOMRA ore sorting trial at the Alligator River project’s Angularli deposit have exceeded our expectations. The high-grade nature of the deposit, coupled with the ore sorting outcomes, enhances the prospect of Angularli’s potential future development as a low-cost uranium operation.

“Our next step is to progress the upgrade trials and investigate the potential for the recovery of high value by-products associated with the uranium mineralisation at the Angularli deposit.”

The Angularli deposit is located in the King River-Wellington Range tenement group which is managed in a joint venture (Vimy 79%: Rio Tinto 21%) with Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto Ltd.

Steinert ore sorting tech picks up the Beaton’s Creek gold fine print

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Novo Resources says initial laboratory-scale tests using Steinert mechanical ore sorting technology indicates an upgrade of gold into significantly reduced mass is achievable at the Beaton’s Creek project in Western Australia.

The mechanical sorting tests carried out in Australia on the Beaton’s Creek bulk sample showed that nuggety gold occurring in Beaton’s Creek conglomerates is finer grained (generally sub 1 mm) than gold at Novo’s Egina and Karratha projects (generally over 1 mm), the company said. The company is also considering using ore sorting at these two projects.

Test work was conducted on a 2.8 t split of crushed (-50 mm) and screened Beaton’s Creek bulk sample material, with analyses conducted as part of this sorting test work generating a calculated head grade of 5.72 g/t Au for the bulk sample. The vast majority of gold reported to mechanically sorted concentrates in each of the three size fractions tested, with 90.2% of gold recovered in 54.5% of the mass of the +18/-50 mm fraction; 68.8% of gold recovered in 42.4% of the mass of the +6/-18 mm fraction; and 95.5% of gold recovered in 20.3% of the mass of the +2.3/-6 mm fraction.

Material finer than 2.3 mm, comprising 17% of the total mass of the bulk sample, was not tested due to excessive dust issues, the company said. “Novo believes such material is treatable by means of gravity concentration,” it added.

“Test results are considered indicative, and Novo and Steinert see additional opportunity to optimise sorting conditions and parameters that may result in further efficiencies,” the company said. “Nevertheless, these tests indicate robust potential for upgrading nuggety conglomerate gold mineralisation, and perhaps, a broader spectrum of gold mineralisation types.”

A second 2.8 t split of the same bulk sample material has been delivered to TOMRA Sorting’s mechanical sorting test facility in Castle Hill, New South Wales, where it will soon undergo similar testing using various TOMRA mechanical sorters, the company said.

Rob Humphryson, CEO and Director of Novo Resources, said: “We are highly encouraged by these initial results. We are already fully confident about the outcome of Egina mechanical sorting test work, which demonstrated excellent recoveries into very small concentrates. Our Beaton’s Creek test work is more investigative in nature owing to the finer gold grain size, so to achieve such levels of upgrade in first phase testing is remarkable.”

He added: “Test work is being developed and supervised by Novo staff specialising in mining engineering, metallurgical processing, and importantly, our geology team. This means those people engaged in exploration are fully aware of the profound impact that mechanical sorting potentially imparts on the economic viability of our prospects. Mechanical sorting test work is likely to become an integral part of future exploration and economic modelling as we hopefully progress each of our projects towards production should the economic viability and technical feasibility of the project be established.”

TOMRA seminar highlights sensor-based ore sorting benefits

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TOMRA recently held a seminar on sustainable mining solutions and sensor-based sorting that, it said, addressed major challenges of the mining industry, including increasing pressure to be more financially streamlined and radically more efficient, while addressing environmental and sustainability concerns.

Sensor-based sorting (SBS) is proving to be an increasingly important tool both to formulate optimal solutions for greenfield projects and to help conquer challenges for keeping brownfields operations viable, converting the mining operation’s resource into value, according to TOMRA.

During this seminar at the Colorado School of Mines, TOMRA’s specialists were joined by guest speakers to examine all aspects of a sensor-based sorting operation with a broad range of topics including sorting technology, applications, plant design, test work and economic considerations.

The 62 participants came from all across the US and Canada, and included representatives from mining companies, engineering firms and students and professors eager to learn more about the applications and technology.

Corby Anderson, Harrison Western Professor at the Colorado School of Mines, opened the seminar with an introduction of recycling, recovery and sorting. The next talk focused on sensor-based sorting technologies and their applications, as well as highlighting fully operational SBS plants in the mining industry.

TOMRA’s Mathilde Robben explained the importance of setting objectives for SBS and the financial and technical aspects to evaluate.

“The most critical factors to consider when assessing the feasibility of sorting are throughput requirements, particle size and potential water usage, as well as the mineralogy of the ore,” TOMRA said, adding that having a clear understanding of where sorting can benefit in the process is paramount when planning to use this technology.

Test work is the best way to determine if SBS will work for an application, and TOMRA’s Chris Korsten explained the company’s test work philosophy to identify the best solution that will meet the mining operation’s specific conditions and objectives.

Guest speaker Erik Stepperud of Hazen Research, the industrial R&D company specialising in the mining, chemical, energy and environmental industries, shared his expertise in assays and interpretation of test results, while Craig Murray of the Saskatchewan Research Council spoke about testing and support services for projects using sorting technology.

Downstream impacts

When designing optimal sorting plants, it is critical to understand the necessary auxiliary components for materials handling, such as screens, washing and conveying, and where to place the sorter in the flowsheet to optimise the process and get the most out of SBS, according to TOMRA.

Particle size is critical to SBS, so designing optimal crushing and screening units is vital, and TOMRA invited expert speakers to cover these topics: Jörn Rohleder of Outotec, which specialises in designing leading technologies and services for the sustainable use of natural resources, discussed crushing design and Eli Cannell of Joest, a leader in vibration technology, elaborated on screening. Greg Black of Golden Eagle Technologies, meanwhile, covered the topic of dust extraction.

SBS can have a huge positive impact on the downstream operations of a flowsheet, as more waste is rejected from the process upstream. This means waste is not carried through the rest of the process, resulting in significant savings in energy, water and chemicals. A further benefit is the reduction of fine tailings that are environmentally challenging to manage.

The seminar was very well received, according to TOMRA, and achieved its goal of providing a pragmatic foundation on SBS projects. Genevieve Gosselin, Senior Technical Metallurgist at Agnico Eagle Mines, said, “The seminar gave us keys for the implementation of ore sorting in brownfields and greenfields mining projects”. Vera Gella, Metallurgist at BBA, said: “For us, the test work preparation and flowsheet design are most relevant to what we do every day and being able to quickly assess whether or not sorting is applicable to a given project. Like Jörn pointed out, if you pick the wrong crushing/SBS circuit design up front, it can drastically change the outcome of a project. It’s critical to think carefully about how to get the most out of your sorting circuit.”

It also raised awareness of aspects that participants may not have considered in the past. For Gosselin it was “how important the geology of the deposit is, and the need to evaluate this before starting bench and pilot scale testing”. Gella, on the other hand, was struck by the sustainability aspect, which is becoming increasingly important: “One of the things that we hadn’t thought about because our scope was focused on the economic tradeoff was the environmental impacts of SBS. The environment is becoming more and more of a focus for all stakeholders and will be a key driver for mining projects going forward.”

TOMRA delivers the goods at Stornoway Diamonds’ Renard mine

Diamond mining, Equipment maintenance, Metallurgy, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , ,

TOMRA’s ore sorting technology has delivered impressive results in its first diamond processing plant application. 

The company worked with Stornoway Diamonds and its Renard diamond mine, in Quebec, Canada.

The Renard mine, in commercial production since 2017, is the first diamond mine in the province and one of six in Canada. It started with an open-pit mine and subsequently opened an underground mine.

The conditions of the mine presented Stornoway Diamonds with particular challenges that required an innovative approach, according to TOMRA.

“Due to the geology of our ore, meaning we produce very high yield, we have lots of material that we need to sort through. At times, we have the possibility of losing some of those very expensive diamonds due to inefficiencies,” explains Marie-Claude Hallé, Marketing Operations Manager for Stornoway Diamonds.

In addition, “our orebody at the Renard mine contains a high level of internal and external dilution called country rock, a significant issue for us, as it can make up to 30 to 40% of the feed to the plant.

“With that comes very, very high energy cost from crushing all this waste material that is not diamond bearing. It causes a tremendous amount of wear and tear on our equipment from screening conveyors, diamond recovery equipment, and on a dollar-per-tonne basis we spend a lot of money processing non-diamond bearing material.”

Stornoway needed to find a way to reduce its costs and optimise its operation, which is where TOMRA came in.

“You have to really envision that TOMRA has actually changed the game in terms rough diamond recovered around the world, and allowed producers to access large exceptional quality goods that perhaps in the past would be crushed to pieces,” Marie-Claude Hallé said.

TOMRA’s solution incorporates ore sorting technology into the mine’s processing plant.

TOMRA analysed the situation and worked closely with Stornoway Diamond’s team to design and install a kimberlite pre-concentration plant.

The specific conditions at the Renard mine meant the traditional Dense Media Separation method could not provide an efficient and cost-effective solution. It led to TOMRA making Renard the first diamond mine to incorporate ore sorting into its processing plant.

TOMRA addressed the mine’s recovery issue with its leading sorting technologies, developing a solution with four key objectives for the ore sorting plant: minimise diamond breakage by removing hard rocks from the crushing plant feed; upgrade the quality of the material to the process plant by increasing the proportion of Kimberlite to waste rock; reduce the energy required for crushing by removing the harder rocks; and improve circuit efficiencies throughout the plant.

TOMRA’s solution features five PRO Near Infrared (NIR) sorters in its ore sorting circuit. This technology is particularly well suited to enable discrimination between the various ore and waste materials that need separation at the Renard mine, based on their different chemical composition, TOMRA said.

TOMRA also included a COM XRT 2400 sorter, which uses X-Ray Transmission technology to separate material according to its specific atomic density, in the plant’s large diamond recovery circuit.

Hallé continued: “The TOMRA solution we have in operation has offered us a very low-cost, efficient reliable means of recovering our coarse diamonds without inefficiency, without causing diamond breakage.

“It’s a very neat way to get those diamonds out of the kimberlite at the very early stage of the process. We reduce our power consumption cost, we reduce our wear and tear on material.

“We are still optimising this unit, and we feel there are even more benefits to come in terms of how it helps enhancing the overall recovery of our diamonds.”

Geoffrey Madderson, Diamond Segment Manager at TOMRA, concludes: “The implementation of this plant proves that TOMRA waste sorting technology can successfully be used to upgrade lower grade run of mine and that sensor-based sorting can be used to further improve value recovery for our clients on lower-grade resources.”

TOMRA said the integration of the ore sorting plant into the main processing plant was completed smoothly, with its full involvement in the ore sorting plant design. TOMRA also had a team onsite for the first three months of operation to ensure a seamless transition, and will continue to provide ongoing support for the entire life of the equipment.

“We chose TOMRA because we find TOMRA’s approach to problem solving to be very innovative,” adds Hallé. “We see them as a solution provider that thinks outside the box, that doesn’t always come with ‘here’s the off-the-shelf solution to your problem’, but in fact engages with us and looks at what are the best possible options.

”In fact, it will develop technology if needed to address those specific problems. We always have outstanding service as well, from TOMRA technicians, from engineers, from every aspect of TOMRA Sorting.”

Imilingo after optimal XRT ore sorting process with iPlant package

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X-ray Transmission (XRT) ore sorting is being rolled out across the industry, with companies mining metals and minerals from various parts of the periodic table taking advantage of its sensing capabilities.

South Africa mineral processing company, Imilingo gave an exclusive world-first preview of its latest innovations in sensor-based sorting at the Electra Mining conference in Johannesburg last year. IM caught up with Managing Director, Jaco Prinsloo, to find out more about the company’s offering.

IM: How does Imilingo’s ore sorting offering differ from others on the market?

JP: Imilingo utilises mainly XRT sorting, which is at the forefront of sorting technology in diamond and tungsten applications. Imilingo’s iPlant packages the technology in a way that optimises the efficiency of the sorting machines and provides customers the advantage of dealing with a tried and tested system versus a system made up of a combination of components that are possibly less than ideal for their application. The mobility of the plants also plays a big part in providing the client with a workable solution in African countries and abroad.

IM: Do you use ore sorters from some of the major suppliers and then integrate them into your iPlant offering?

JP: Yes, we have built a strong working relationship with TOMRA Sorting as they are at the forefront of sorting and have a proven track record. The iPlant was specifically developed to prepare material for sorting and delivering the feed material in a clean and well classified state, which increases the efficiency of the sorting process.

IM: How does this customisation result in the optimal conditions for an effective sort?

JP: Efficient material classification and fines removal is key to the sorting process and that is what we focus on when developing a plant. Factors such as operator safety and equipment reliability come standard with our bespoke plants.

IM: Why have you chosen to specialise in diamonds, coal and heavy metals?

JP: Diamond recovery is a clean and relatively simple process, which lends itself to the development of standalone modular plants that can easily be expanded based on a client’s requirements. Tungsten has a much higher specific gravity than the host rock containing it, making it a very effective sort and resulting in a very efficient upgrade of run-of-mine ore. In terms of coal, Imilingo had a test plant running in Middelburg (South Africa) that was relatively successful but not commercially viable at the time due to market constraints.

IM: Have you carried out any commercial coal installations?

JP: No, we have only run our own test plant but believe the coal market is up for the taking in terms of coal sorting. Based on the running of our test plant, we believe that there remains a great opportunity within the coal market for utilising XRT sorting.

IM: Since showcasing your offering at Electra Mining in September, what interest have you had from the mining community in terms of using your solutions?

JP: We have had many enquiries regarding our sorting and dredging solutions. The nature of mining projects is that time is required for projects to mature and convert into actual sales. We believe the main effect of the Electra show was to establish our name in the marketplace and create awareness of our offering, which has been achieved.

The upcoming IM March issue will feature an article on ore sorting