Tag Archives: XRT

Steinert to bolster sorting system test capacity in Pulheim

Comminution of minerals, IoT, Mineral processing, Mining services, , , , ,

Steinert is to introduce additional sorting lines for mining and waste recycling at its new test and development centre in Pulheim, Germany, the company says.

The new lines are being installed in an effort to better achieve the company’s aspiration of “test before you buy”, allowing it to “respond with ever more accuracy to the sorting aims of extraction, purity and profitability for each sorting task”, Steinert said.

Steinert’s sorting solutions are used throughout the mining industry as a way of pre-concentrating material ahead of milling.

The metal sorting line of the new test and development centre will official go into operation on September 22. This milestone will be marked with a virtual event held on that day.

By opening the new building, the company is trebling its testing capacity, allowing it to be more flexible in responding to customer demands, it said.

“The processing sequence deployed in the sorting systems is the same as that used in a real industrial plant,” Peter Funke, CEO of the Steinert Group, said. “We are delighted that even more customers can try out our technology, from magnetic separators to sensor-based sorting systems, such as X-ray transmission, X-ray fluorescence and near-infrared (NIR),”

The research and development team is also moving to the same building in Pulheim, seven kilometres away from STEINERT’s headquarters in Cologne, allowing customers to derive even more benefits from the latest developments, the company said.

TOMRA receives positive ore sorting signals as virtual offering gains pace

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While the effects of COVID-19 continue to be felt across the mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector, the time away from the office or mine site has enabled many within the industry to carry out work that could lead the industry into a whole new growth cycle.

The jury is out on when such an upturn could occur – these economic studies will not necessarily result in a positive mine investment decision – but this activity, coming alongside billions of dollars of investment from governments and central banks, bodes well for the future.

One company that has witnessed this increase in interest is TOMRA Sorting Mining. The Germany-based firm, known to miners for providing high-tech sorting solutions, including X-ray Transmission (XRT) technology, has received many enquiries since lockdowns were established across the globe in March and April, according to Jens-Michael Bergmann, Area Sales Manager for Europe, MENA and India.

“The number of enquiries has definitely increased since COVID-19 restrictions were put in place,” Bergmann told IM last week. “There are many people deep into prefeasibility or feasibility studies (FS) on projects who need ore sorting data for this. They are very happy to have this provided remotely.”

Jens-Michael Bergmann, Area Sales Manager for Europe, MENA and India, TOMRA Sorting Mining

Such remote work could range from the inspection of photos sent from smart phones or distributed within MS Teams videoconferences, to more advanced analysis and testing of material, Bergmann explained.

Fortunately, TOMRA is setup for this type of remote interaction. Its initial sales process – where mining companies will at this stage be considered ‘leads’ – usually involves the exchange of emails/phone calls, inspections of photos/videos and a few kilograms of material to sample.

The next stage would include the performance test, which could involve hundreds of tonnes of material and usually a visit to the Test Center in Wedel, Germany.

It is this stage that has been revamped recently to cater to the lack of travel options for clients.

TOMRA has opened virtual testing facilities that enable miners to take informed purchasing decisions for their processing plants, regardless of where the client may be located.

This brings the capabilities of the company’s Test Center to the client, offering a video of their material being sorted in an ore sorting unit and a follow-up detailed report including assays (supplied by a sub-contractor), ore sorting data and an estimation of just how optimal a sort could be achieved on that material when it is subjected to XRT technology.

“You have a complete document and resource to base economic decisions on,” Bergmann said.

TOMRA, last month, presented the Virtual Demonstration and Test Solution to the market as a “temporary” platform, but recent experience shows the potential for this becoming part of the company’s standard offering.

“We understand it currently to be a temporary version, but in recent days we have had some positive replies that make us think we can continue to offer it in the future to certain clients,” Bergmann said.

In a COVID-19-affected world where every decision to travel on a plane requires strong justification, flying from North or South America, Asia, or Australasia to Europe for a one-day test is unlikely to be warranted.

Such a trip involving operations teams, executives and metallurgists is more likely to take place when a detailed week-long trial examining the effects of sorting technology on roughing, cleaning and scavenging stages is planned, Bergmann said.

“We don’t think in the future we will go virtual permanently, or personal permanently,” Bergmann said.

Testing time for tungsten-tin

TOMRA only established these virtual facilities on May 12, but it has already carried out four or five of these tests for clients that either had sent samples to Wedel ahead of lockdowns or dispatched them during the period when travel was restricted.

Mike Hallewell, Consultant at MPH Minerals Consultancy Ltd

One of these tests has been for Tungsten West, the owner of the Hemerdon tungsten-tin asset in Devon, England.

Previously owned and operated by Wolf Minerals Ltd, Hemerdon has been offline since late 2018 after Wolf fell into financial trouble as the operation failed to reach expected recovery rates.

According to Tungsten West, Hemerdon hosts the world’s fourth largest tungsten resource, with the potential to become the world’s largest.

With eyes on re-starting the operation and improving recoveries, the company has been looking at XRT ore sorting technology to ensure the new operating plan stacks up over the long term.

Mike Hallewell, Consultant at MPH Minerals Consultancy Ltd, has been helping the company explore its processing options and said the virtual test work TOMRA carried out on behalf of Tungsten West was part of studies looking into a re-start of the mine.

“They are at scoping study level and now moving towards feasibility level,” he told IM. “Ore sorting is a key component of that next phase.”

Hallewell said the recording of the virtual test on an Hemerdon ore sample at Wedel was well received by both himself and Tungsten West.

“You have got to convince the Plant Manager that is operating the plant that it (XRT ore sorting) is something he will be comfortable with, on top of making the case to boards of directors that may not have the same metallurgical expertise as the operation guys,” he said.

“When people see particles being blown by the air jets, it greatly enhances the visual understanding of the separation technique being employed,” he added. “To see is to understand.”

TOMRA has done well replicating the experience project and executive teams would have had in Wedel in person with this testing, Hallewell said.

“They have thought about the things that a client would want to do and see if they were there,” he said.

“They provide a powerful video of the air jet stones hitting the sides, the bins where material is deposited into, and even go as far as putting their hands in that bin at the end to try and replicate that tangible feeling of the sort.”

Future indicators

The more successful TOMRA is at replicating the in-person experience virtually, the more likely these ‘temporary’ options will become part of its permanent offering.

Another area that could ‘go virtual’ in the future is the maintenance and servicing side of TOMRA’s ore sorting business, Bergmann believes.

“The maintenance side is moving in that direction already to a certain degree,” he said.

“Since everybody is currently facing travel restrictions, the infrastructure for accurate virtual maintenance will, in the future, be set up in all plants. The awareness of the need to do this will increase,” he said.

Certain parts of the contract negotiation process could also go virtual, such as “all the unloved paperwork”, Bergmann added.

But, the installation and final signoff of these machines is unlikely to make this transition, at least in the near term.

That is despite an XRT ore sorting machine from TOMRA recently being installed at Sotkamo Silver’s mine in Finland when lockdown conditions were still in place.

On this installation, specifically, Bergmann said: “A lot of pre-commissioning work on that unit took place ahead of the delivery and it was a representative from Outotec – a salesperson with engineering experience – that was able to commission it with remote assistance from our specialists in Germany.”

Looking past the virtual offering, TOMRA could be set for an upturn in business in the near- and medium-term if the influx of enquiries it has recently received is converted into, first, demonstrations and, then, sales.

“In terms of first inspections of material, I would say we have had around 50 enquiries in this lockdown period,” Bergmann said.

“While everyone is planning now, if they hit the investment button, there could be a lot of orders backed up. The manufacturing could run into a bottleneck.

“It’s potentially a positive problem, but a problem nonetheless.”

Considering the amount of investment being pledged by governments to stave off an economic downturn, TOMRA is unlikely to be the only METS company facing such a ‘positive problem’.

Sotkamo Silver chases processing efficiencies with Outotec-TOMRA XRT solution

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Sotkamo Silver is looking to reduce the amount of material it grinds and floats at its silver operation in Finland through the introduction of X-ray Transmission (XRT) ore sorting technology.

The company said it began pilot testing of the XRT machine in May after the unit was supplied and successfully commissioned at the mine by Outotec and TOMRA. Outotec and TOMRA have been cooperating on the supply of Outotec-branded sorting solutions for the mining and metallurgical industry since 2014.

Sotkamo’s trial pilot testing builds on previous test work at TOMRA’s testing facilities in Germany.

Previous XRT ore sorting test work carried out by TOMRA on 2,200 kg of Sotkamo samples showed the silver content from low-grade ore increasing some 1.9 x to 116 g/t Ag, while the average silver content in ore rose 1.43 x to 195 g/t Ag. In addition to this, about 60% of the rock previously classified as low-grade ore was removed as gangue with the testing, with some 43% of rock reporting as gangue from the average grade ore samples.

Following this work, back in 2018, Sotkamo Silver said it was looking to install an Outotec-TOMRA XRT ore sorter in the process flowsheet after two-stage crushing (jaw and cone crushers) had taken place and the rock was some 30-70 mm in size.

In the update today, Sotkamo Silver said the XRT technology can scan every feed particle to identify the relative atomic density differences within particles and then separate desired high-grade particles from the barren material pneumatically.

It said sorting of marginal ore would be carried out after primary crushing and it was expected to reduce roughly 50% of non-ore material going into the grinding and flotation process.

“This improves significantly the energy efficiency as less material is grinded, and also material efficiency as marginal ore can be exploited and processed to mill feed,” the company said, adding that leftover barren material would be used as rock-fill in the underground mine.

During the first three months of 2020, around 129,000 t of ore was processed at the silver mine, yielding some 391,000 oz of silver, 462 t of lead, 958 t of zinc and 998 oz of gold in the concentrates.

TOMRA takes XRT ore sorting testing virtual in face of COVID-19 restrictions

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TOMRA Sorting Mining is bringing ore sorting testing capabilities to its stay-at-home mining customers though the development of virtual testing facilities that enable them to take informed purchasing decisions for their processing plants, regardless of location.

This is the latest action in the company’s plan to provide its customers the support they need to take their business forward in the face of current COVID-19-related restrictions.

“Ensuring business continuity at this time is of paramount importance for mining operations,” TOMRA Mining said. “This includes taking forward ongoing investment projects in sorting equipment to improve their efficiency and the quality of their product.”

TOMRA Mining is leveraging digital technology to help customers identify the best sorting solution for their mine by offering them remote access to its Test Center in Wedel, Germany, a facility that has capabilities for all applications, according to the company.

“TOMRA’s temporary Virtual Demonstration and Test Solution will enable mining companies to test the sorting solutions on their samples without leaving their office,” the company said. “They will just need to book a session with their TOMRA sales representative and ship a sample of their minerals to the Test Center, which will conduct the test.”

Once testing is complete, mining customers will receive a video of their material being sorted and be able to discuss the results with a TOMRA sales person and the Test Center’s experts via video call, the company said. “With their support, they will be able to make a decision on the following steps and take the project forward without delay,” it added.

Albert du Preez (pictured), Senior Vice President and Head of TOMRA Sorting Mining, said: “At TOMRA, we work closely with our customers to devise the solution that is perfect for their operation. The visit to one of our test centres can be an important step in this process, as it enables them to work out with our teams the best combination of technologies and develop the flowsheet for their ore sorting plant.

“With this virtual solution, we are able to provide this support, taking our Test Center to our customers’ office so they can make an informed decision on an important investment. This means that they are able to take their business forward in the current situation.”

TOMRA’s test centres play a key role in the company’s collaborative approach to supporting customers with their ore sorting requirements, according to the company. Based on the tests conducted on TOMRA equipment with material from the customer’s mine, the centre can provide an initial feasibility study and detailed reports on the machine’s performance with the sample. With this information and the advice of the centre’s experts, the customer can proceed with their investment with confidence, the company says.

The opportunity for the customer to see first-hand the equipment at work on their sample and discuss the options with TOMRA’s team provides important added value, according to the company.

This was the experience of John Armstrong, VP Mineral Resources at Lucara Diamonds, who visited the Test Center in Wedel when researching a solution for the diamond mine in Karowe, Botswana.

“We gained a lot of confidence in the people at TOMRA, in the technology that they were presenting to us, and the possible solution that it provided to the Karowe mine…We could also see that they had already gone down the road of the next step in X-ray Transmission (XRT) technology, so they were not just focused on one particular module to present to us, but they were working on different modules.

“That helped alleviate some of our concerns about the robustness of the platform and the technology itself, which ultimately led us to use TOMRA as the solution.”

Lucara has since gone on to recover some of the largest diamonds in history with the TOMRA XRT system that was installed following this visit to the Test Center.

In addition to developing this Virtual and Demonstration and Test Solution in reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak, TOMRA has increased stocks of critical components to ensure its ability to fulfil current and future orders, and to ensure the supply of spare parts without disruption.

And the company is leveraging digital technology not only to take the expertise of its test centres to customers, but also by using its remote service and training tools to support their equipment while respecting social distancing safety measures, it said.

TOMRA’s XRT ore sorting aids recoveries, costs at South Africa chrome mine

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One of TOMRA’s X-ray Transmission (XRT) sensor-based ore sorters is helping improve recoveries and lower costs at a South Africa chrome operation.

As South Africa chrome mining operations have increased production in the face of rising demand from stainless steel buyers, the cost of using traditional methods for separating low-grade chromite material, such as dense media separation (DMS), cyclones and spirals, has increased. XRT ore sorting, an established technology in physical separation that has proved extremely effective in mining operations for a variety of minerals, including chrome, is another pre-concentration route they are looking into.

“Its benefits are significant: less complexity in the process, considerably lower costs, higher productivity and profitability – and the added advantage of a lower environmental impact,” TOMRA, a supplier of XRT solutions, said.

The X-ray sensor accurately establishes the density of each particle in the feed, and high-speed pneumatic ejectors separate ore with high chromite content from barren or low-grade ore at throughputs between 60-200 t/h. “The resulting output is a high-grade product that is ready to sell, with no need for additional comminution,” the company said. “It is a dry process that requires no water or reagents, and is frugal in its energy consumption, resulting in a fraction of the capital expenditure and running costs of traditional methods, as well as a smaller footprint.”

Engineering and project management company P2E Consulting has first-hand experience of the advantages of TOMRA’s XRT technology in sorting chrome ore at Eastern Chrome mines, in South Africa. It was looking for a solution to improve the efficiency of the sorting plant and turned to TOMRA.

“We have installed TOMRA sorters on diamond and copper plants in the past and we believe their technology is ahead of their competitors,” Craig Meadway, Business Development Executive of P2E Consulting, said.

P2E Consulting commissioned a TOMRA COM XRT 2.0 sorter to replace an existing drum DMS plant.

“The mine used the DMS plant to produce saleable small lumpy product from the mine’s LG6 Chromite run of mine and dumps at a minimum grade of 38%, but it was very inefficient,” Meadway explains. “The TOMRA XRT sorter has resolved this issue. It is used to upgrade under value material with a head grade of 20-28%, to produce a saleable product at a minimum grade of 38% Cr2O3. It does this efficiently and at a low cost of production.”

The TOMRA COM XRT 2.0 sorter has exceeded Meadway’s expectations, with grades being achieved in excess of 40% Cr2O3 and mass recoveries of 25-30% from scalped waste resulting in chrome-in-tails as low as 12%.

“No other technology has given us such a high recovery rate. Not only that, with TOMRA’s XRT there was no water usage at all, and we didn’t need to spend on expensive reagents, so that we are producing small lumpy product for approximately 50% of the cost compared to a DMS plant,” he said.

The environmental benefits of TOMRA’s XRT solution were also an important factor in P2E Consulting’s choice of technology. “We are looking to introduce greener technologies into the mining industry. The fact that no water or chemicals are used is a major advantage,” Meadway said. “Also, South Africa has major power limitations, and the lower energy consumption when compared to DMS is a huge driving force.”

The ease of operation of TOMRA’s XRT sorters proved to be a further advantage: “It is very easy to use: once the sorter and feed system control philosophy is set up correctly, the plant runs with very little input from the operators,” Meadway said.

TOMRA’s collaborative approach and all-round support was also an important factor in P2E Consulting’s decision to turn to them for this project, according to Meadway.

“We knew from our experience in previous projects that the support from TOMRA is very good, and with the installation of this machine in a relatively new application, it was excellent,” he said. “The local team has bent over backwards to help us make this happen.”

TOMRA strengthens southern Africa ore sorting ties with new regional HQ

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TOMRA says it has opened new regional headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, to strengthen its commitment to customers in southern Africa.

The initiative is designed to enhance customer care through even better technical support, service and training, and to ensure prompt availability of spare parts, it said. The move will also improve operational efficiencies by bringing together under one roof all three TOMRA business divisions: Mining, Recycling, and Food.

TOMRA’s new facilities are housed in a two-story, 1,800 sq.m building which accommodates offices, a warehouse, spare parts area, two training rooms, and three meeting rooms connected to TOMRA’s global network of more than 4,000 employees. There is also the space here to demonstrate TOMRA’s sensor-based sorting technologies.

The building’s location on the edge of the Longmeadow Business Estate, Edenvale, to the northeast of Johannesburg, is conveniently close to major road networks and the city’s airport.

The most senior executive at the new headquarters is Albert du Preez, Senior Vice-President and Head of TOMRA Mining. Du Preez said: “This investment affirms TOMRA’s wholehearted and long-term commitment to southern Africa. This is a growing market, and one we take very seriously. The 26-strong team operating out of our new headquarters will support customers in South Africa and all other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

With the mineral industry such a valuable source of export earnings, it is hugely important to national economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, TOMRA said. The African continent can produce up to 500 t/y of gold and accounts for a large share of the world’s diamonds, according to the company.

In April last year, a 1,758 ct diamond, one of the largest in recorded history, was recovered in Botswana through TOMRA X-Ray Transmission (XRT) sorting technology. South Africa is also a crucial global supplier of chrome ore and ferrochrome, exporting 8.5 Mt of ferrochrome annually, mostly to China, and TOMRA’s sorting solutions are ideal for the production of these minerals, it said.

Speaking from TOMRA’s new South African headquarters, Helga van Lochem, Sales Manager of TOMRA Sorting Mining, said: “Opening new premises confirms TOMRA’s belief in southern Africa as a big player in the global market, and our commitment to supporting mining businesses here in the long term. Investment in sorting solutions pays back handsomely and now our new training facility in Johannesburg can empower customers to get the most from our profit-enhancing technologies.”

TOMRA says it manufactures sensor-based sorting solutions for almost every mineral application: diamonds, industrial minerals, ferrous metal, non-ferrous metal, slag metals, and coal and other fuels.

XRT ore sorting shows promise at Vendetta Mining’s Pegmont project

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Following positive X-ray Transmission (XRT) ore sorting test work on the Pegmont asset, in Queensland, Australia, Vendetta Mining is looking to apply this technology in its next mining study at the lead-zinc project.

The test work, conducted at TOMRA’s testing facility in Sydney, Australia, concluded that the XRT sorters could distinguish between high-density/high-grade feed and lower-density waste material at Pegmont, the company said.

Vendetta said: “At Pegmont, the potential advantages of XRT material sorters is that they could allow plant feed material to be screened prior to grinding and flotation, removing lower density external dilution (waste) and lower-grade internal dilution (material below cutoff).”

Potential capital cost savings occur through the reduced mill throughput while potential operating costs savings occur through reduced water and reagent usage, less pumped tails and lower energy requirements, it said.

The test work envisages that sorted waste product would be ejected and stacked for dry disposal (dry stack tailings).

Vendetta said: “Flotation recovery often improves with increasing head grade. Such a relationship exists in the metallurgical test work performed at Pegmont to date. The higher head grades obtained from the ore sorted product are anticipated to result in enhanced flotation recovery.”

The testing involved material from two drill hole intersections from Zone 5 and one from Zone 2 at Pegmont. The sulphide intersections were selected in order to test different lead to zinc ratios (Zone 5 vs Zone 2) and internal grade distributions, it said. All samples included diluting quartzite material from the hangingwall and footwall.

The conclusions of the XRT ore sorting preliminary test work on the three drill intervals are it can successfully remove the external dilution from the samples; and successfully remove internal diluting material from within the higher-grade intervals.

The total mass tested amounted to 139.2 kg, with the mass pull (weight % of feed recovered) ranging from 44.3% to 70.6% (a weighted average of 62.3%).

The lead grade improved from 18% to 88%, a weighted average of 42%; zinc grade improved from 21% to 72%, a weighted average of 38%; lead recoveries ranged from 83.2% to 90.2%, a weighted average of 88.5%; and zinc recoveries ranged from 76.4% to 92.2%, a weighted average of 85.9%.

Vendetta said that while these results were highly encouraging, they are preliminary. “In order to apply material sorting results in an updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) study, pilot scale test work is necessary,” the company said.

TOMRA recommends 600 kg of material is required for each ore type at Pegmont. Vendetta plans to pursue this test work and expects these samples will be obtained from the next drilling program. Samples will be obtained from Zone 1 transition, Zone 2-3 sulphide and Zone 5 sulphide.

Michael Williams, President and CEO, said: “At Pegmont, the XRT sorter can clearly differentiate between high density/high grade feed from lower density waste material at Pegmont. We are excited by the prospects of advancing to pilot scale test work and applying this commercially available technology to the next mining study.”

The existing Pegmont PEA contemplated a production rate of 1.1 Mt/y, which corresponds to two TOMRA COM XTR 1200 – generation one ore sorters, Vendetta noted.

Vital moves towards REO production with mining, road construction and ore sorting contracts

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Vital Metals says it has agreed multiple development and supply contracts that will assist it in rapidly becoming North America’s next rare earth mining company.

The ASX listed company’s Cheetah subsidiary has signed preferred mining contractor and ice-road construction contracts for its Nechalacho rare earth project, in the Northwest Territories of Canada, with Det’on Cho Nahanni Construction and Aurora Telecom Services, respectively. These contracts allow for the mobilisation of plant and equipment to site over the winter to enable site establishment works to be completed in preparation for operations to commence in 2020.

In addition to this, it has also issued a purchase order to acquire COM Tertiary X-ray Transmission (XRT) 1220/B ore sorting equipment from TOMRA Sorting Inc for C$1.4 million ($1.07 million).

All three of these moves follow close on the heels of the delivery of a 95 Mt JORC-compliant resource at Nechalacho and positive concentration and hydrometallurgy test work.

Vital Metals Managing Director, Geoff Atkins, said: “The signing of these agreements marks an important milestone in the development of the Nechalacho rare earth project as they provide the foundations for enabling Vital Metals to become a producer of rare earths in 2020 through the processing of material from the North T zone. These contracts and agreements also provide prospective customers with a far greater level of confidence in potential delivery dates to progress offtake negotiations.

“Further, by confirming the use of sensor-based ore sorting technology to produce a concentrate, it will remove the requirement for traditional reagents, process water and tailing facilities used in typical ore beneficiation.”

The decision to acquire the TOMRA ore sorter follows excellent results achieved from the recently completed ore sorting test work that produced a high grade (+35%) concentrate, Vital Metals said.

The COM Tertiary XRT 1220/B ore sorter is the same machine used in test work to produce the high-grade product, it said. The purchase order includes supply, installation, commissioning and spare parts, with delivery of the sorter to Yellowknife scheduled for June 2020.

“The ore sorting test work highlighted that the Nechalacho REO project is one of the few and the first REO project to successfully use ore sorting to produce a high grade +35% REO concentrate without the use of reagents and water,” the company said. “This will substantially reduce the cost and the lead time to bring the Necalacho REO project into production.”

TOMRA XRT leaves its mark on Minsur San Rafael tin mine

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TOMRA Sorting Mining says Peru’s Minsur SA has felt the benefit of its X-ray Transmission (XRT) sensor-based ore sorting technology, with its San Rafael tin mine having seen an increase in reserves, plant capacity, overall recoveries and mine life since it was introduced.

Part of the Breca Group of companies, Minsur owns and operates the largest underground tin mining operation in the world, San Rafael. Located in the Eastern Mountain chain of the Andes in Peru at an altitude of 4,500-5,200 m above sea level, the mine contributed about 6% of the total world production of tin in 2015, with about 1 Mt of ore at an average grade of 2.13% mined and processed, resulting in 20,000 t of tin concentrate.

That same year, Minsur initiated a number of activities to ensure the future value of its asset, addressing challenges that included declining head grades and rising operating costs, according to TOMRA.

One of these activities involved an ore sorting project.

Started in 2015, in collaboration with TOMRA Sorting Mining, the project’s objective was to reject low-grade material in coarse particle size.

“By separating sub-economic material before entering the more cost-intensive wet processing, the project would address the bottleneck at the wet section and improve productivity by increasing the feed grade,” TOMRA explained. An added benefit expected from the project would be the longer life of the mine.

Three main factors indicated that sensor-based particle sorting for waste rejection would be effective at San Rafael:

  • The high absorption of transmitting X-rays of tin contained in cassiterite;
  • The structures of cassiterite, which are large enough to be detected by XRT technology; and
  • The significant degree of liberation of sub-economic waste on the particle level that may be subject to sensor-based particle sorting.

In order to assess the feasibility of the project, TOMRA conducted metallurgical tests on geological samples from San Rafael, followed by performance test work. The tests showed the deposit to be amenable to XRT ore sorting due to the presence of 70-80% of uneconomic particles that can be rejected over a wide size range, from 6 to 70 mm, TOMRA said.

The project was approved and, in view of the significant economic potential, was fast tracked and completed in just 14 months. TOMRA and its partner in Peru, which supplied and installed the XRT sorting system, worked closely with Minsur throughout the six-month ramp-up period.

The ore sorting project with TOMRA’s XRT system has delivered significant financial benefits from the beginning, with Minsur realising payback on its capital expenditure in just four months, according to TOMRA. In 2017, the ore sorting project contributed around 36% of Minsur’s total production with about 6,000 t of tin concentrate, the company said.

The project has reduced capital and operating costs at San Rafael in a number of ways:

  • Added value – TOMRA’s XRT sensor-based ore sorting is converting uneconomic waste material into economic ore, as material below the cutoff for the main plant can be treated with lower operating costs and converted into reserves;
  • Increased plant capacity – The main plant capacity has gone from 2,950 t/d before implementation to 3,200 t/d today, as a result of the crushing operation at the XRT sorting plant;
  • Significant improvement in the overall recovery in the main plant – from 90.5% to 92.5%. This is due to sensor-based ore sorting rejecting particles with very fine mineralised cassiterite that is too small for detection by the XRT system, resulting in higher grade and size of mineralisation;
  • Extended life-of-mine – today, about 24% of the feed to the sensor-based ore sorting plant come from low grade ore from underground, which in the past would have been below the cutoff. This increase in reserves significantly extends the life of mine;
  • Elimination of liabilities through the treatment and proper disposal of 100% of the stockpile; and
  • Decreased tailings disposal due to the sensor-based ore sorting system reducing the amount of waste by increasing the grade in the feed to the plant.

TOMRA concluded on the San Rafael case study: “The success of the project has demonstrated the high potential of TOMRA’s XRT technology, and as a result, the company plans to include XRT sensor-based ore sorting as a possible process route in all future projects.”

Hastings, TOMRA see potential for XRT ore sorting at Yangibana rare earths project

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TOMRA’s X-ray Transmission (XRT) ore sorting innovation has another positive industry reference to hand after Hastings Technology Metals said off-the-shelf technology had proven extremely effective at removing dilution on samples used in the testing program at its Yangibana rare earths project in Western Australia.

Testing on a 1.8 t sorted bulk sample had seen a 95.1% recovery of contained Nd2O3+Pr6O11 (neodymium and praseodymium), a 52% increase in head grade from 0.71% to 1.08% Nd2O3+Pr6O11, and a 37.1% mass rejection, Hastings said.

This shows XRT technology could be applied to separate out a barren waste stream from the ore, according to the ASX-listed company, presenting an opportunity to remove waste dilution material from the mining process before the material is fed into the processing plant – resulting in energy and reagent savings in the beneficiation circuit.

The testing involved the crushed bulk ore sample of 1.8 t being screened into two size fractions (10.5 mm) and (plus-10.5mm), with the sortable fraction (plus-10.5 mm)after being diluted with waste material at either 35% or 60% proportions screened on a TOMRA commercial sorter using XRT technology at 32 t/h feed rate.

In the base case, sorted ore samples, crushed and screened to plus-10.5 mm and diluted with 35% waste material, a total of 37.1% of the sample mass was rejected at a grade of 0.09%Nd2O3+Pr6O11, representing a loss of Nd2O3+Pr6O11 of just 4.9%, or an overall recovery of 95.1%Nd2O3+Pr6O11 in the ore. A corresponding 52% increase or upgrade in the ore head grade was achieved from 0.71% to 1.08% Nd2O3+Pr6O11.

In the sorted sample diluted with 60% waste material, the ore sorting test work program achieved an upgrade factor of 2.16 taking the feed grade from 0.43% Nd2O3+Pr6O11 to 0.93%Nd2O3+Pr6O11, while recovering 90.6% of the Nd2O3+Pr6O11, the company said.

Hasting said: “The full opportunity for including ore sorting technology into the Yangibana process flowsheet is still being assessed. Based on these test work results, technical and engineering programs will continue to investigate the benefits that can be realised across the project.”

The proposed beneficiation and hydro metallurgy processing plant at Yangibana will treat rare earths deposits, predominantly monazite, hosting high neodymium and praseodymium contents to produce a mixed rare earths carbonate that will be further refined into individual rare earth oxides at processing plants overseas, according to Hastings.

A definitive feasibility study in 2017, based on a 5.15 Mt reserve, detailed a production rate of 1 Mt/y to produce up to 15,000 t/y of mixed rare earths carbonate at Yangibana.