Reduction of Energy and Water consumption of mining Operations by fusion of sorting technologies LIBS and ME-XRT
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Luleå tekniska universitet - Avdelningen för Geovetenskap och miljöteknik |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 1 010 000 |
| Project duration | May 2018 - April 2021 |
| Status | Completed |
Important results from the project
This project, involving an international consortium of four partners, fulfilled the following main objectives: 1. Evaluation of improvement potential of ore sorting capabilities by sensor fusion of laser-induced breakdow spectroscopy (LIBS) and multi-energy X-ray transmission (ME-XRT). 2. Assessment of improvement potential and ideal particle size of rock selection strategies to optimize separation results at high treatment capacities. 3. Assessment of high-resolution, micro-scale scans of rock samples for (3D) geological investigation
Expected long term effects
- Save consumables such as water, energy and processing reagents by an increased separability of ore from gangue material. - Increase the efficiency of the separation process and reduce operating costs, as well as environmental and local societal impact - Reduce the uncertainty behind the separation of valuable material - Improve the quality of objective geological data acquisition for faster and more informed decision-making
Approach and implementation
Two different sensor technologies, LIBS and ME-XRT, were calibrated and tested with ore samples from various Cu porphyry mines in Chile. Machine learning algorithms such as deep neural networks were employed to test the capability to identify ore types and sort samples by cut-off grade. The detectability of geometallurgical parameters such as particle size distribution, material composition and ore texture were analyzed. In addition, the capabilities of the sensors to provide high-resolution, accurate imaging and data of specific rock samples were tested.